Raut Nacha of Chattisgarh

Raut Nacha translating literally to ‘Night Dance’, is a dance performed by the Yadav community of Chattisgarh. This dance is performed usually at night to worship Lord Krishna. The people of the Yadav community believe that Lord Krishna was of the Yadav bloodline. They consider themselves the descendant of Lord Krishna.

Origin and Performance

This dance originated in the state of Chhattisgarh. It is performed during the night to praise and celebrate the victory of Lord Krishna over the evil King Kansa. The primary occasion to perform this dance is ‘Dev Uthni Ekadashi’ or ‘Dev Uthaan’. Devotthan is a day when the gods awaken after a brief rest.

This dance resembles ‘Ras Leela’, which is also performed to worship Lord Krishna. Though the dance has its origins in Chhattisgarh, it has spread to other regions of the country. It has been adopted by many other communities following Lord Krishna.

Raut Nacha dance is performed with great zeal. The followers of Lord Krishna describe his playful behavior with the help of songs and stories. This playfulness reflects in their dance moves as the performers move around in groups. They dance with great enthusiasm and depict the story of Lord Krishna’s victory.

Raut Nacha Dance Costume

The costumes of Raut Nacha are very colorful both for the male and female performers. The female performers generally drape a saree. The male performers wear simple Kurta and Dhoti (loincloth) along with a turban on their heads. The dancers ornate themselves with Peacock feathers around the back. They use ghungroos (ankle bells) to add even more melodies to the performance. Along with this, the main attraction of the dance is the sticks and metal discs that they beat together to dance.

Music and Instruments

The songs sung are generally the iterations of the ‘dohes’ by Tulsidas and the musical instrument involved are dholak, mandar, and chimta.