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The Chhau Festival is a significant festival for the people of Orissa, which continues for three successive days. The Festival is observed by the ‘Bhuiyans Tribe’ in numerous areas of Orissa, particularly in Koraput, where the celebration is praised with most extreme intensity. The celebration is basically appended to Mayurbhanj Chhau, a noteworthy move type of Orissa. It includes artists wearing covers called “Chhau” which originate from the word ‘Chhaya’, signifies shadow. Thus the dance form suggests playing with the shadow. Performers wear vibrant costumes and play mythical characters or historical characters.
History
Previously, the Chhau dance was performed in the Parva Chhau festival to celebrate the successful harvest during spring time. Since its inception, the festival followed ceremonies related to Saiva (Shiva’s followers) wing of Hindu religion. Maharaja Krushna Chandra Bhanj Deo of Mayurbhanj was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. According to the mythology, Lord Shiva used to pray for betterment of mankind during this time of the year. Maharaja Krushna, to pay tribute to Shiva, started this festival in late 19th century.
Chhau Dance
Chhau dance also spelled as Chau or Chhau, is a semi classical Indian dance with martial, tribal and folk origins. it is popularly known as Mayurbhanj Chau. The dance ranges from celebrating martial arts, acrobatics and athletics performed in festive themes of a folk dance, to a structured dance with religious themes found in Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism. The stories enacted by Chhau dancers include those from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other Indian literature. The dance is egalitarian and brings together people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in a festive and religious spirit.
The dancers worship Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, famous for Tandava and Lasya dance forms respectively, before going for the stage show.Though the festival has a religious essence attached to it, its strong cultural significance eradicates the differences. The artists use masks when they appear on the stage for introduction to the audience. The dance is performed by male dancers, at night in an open space, called akhada or asar. The dance is rhythmic and set to traditional folk music, played on the reed pipes mohuri and shehnai.[2] A variety of drums accompany the music ensemble including the dhol (a cylindrical drum), dhumsa (a large kettle drum) and kharka or chad-chadi. The themes for these dances include local legends, folklore and episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and other abstract themes.
Fairs & Festivals in Odisha (Orissa) - With numerous religions, ancient temples, local shrines, tribes and an array of sacred places, Odisha (Orissa) observes uncountable number of festivals and fairs round the year. Major Odisha(Orissa) Festivals of Odisha is Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra and Durga Pooja. Three different religions flourished on the holy land of Odisha (Orissa) thus making it mandatory to celebrate various religious Odisha festivals with great fanfare. Odisha Cultural & Religious Festivals are very famous in india.
A land of varied cultures and traditions, Odisha (Orissa) automatically serves to be a land of festivals. Religion or folklores, tradition or agriculture and seasonal variations or ethnic dance forms; all serve to be a setting for the celebration. Odisha (Orissa) celebrates one or other festival every month giving an opportunity to the visitors and natives both to enjoy and have real fun.
With some of the special rituals attached to each, these festivals add bright colors to the landscape of Odisha (Orissa)'s cultural heritage. Some of the festivals of this land of Lord Jagannath are dedicated to His holy self. Some other festivals celebrated in Odisha (Orissa) find a close resemblance to a lot of festivals of North India; however they are called by different names and are even celebrated in a different fashion. But amazingly, every festivity centers around the prayer sacraments to seek the blessings of gods, exchanging goodwill, distributing sweets, decorating houses, wearing new clothes, music, dance and feasting. Whatever is the way, each festival really makes the country come alive throughout the year.
Apart from popular festivals in Odisha, these are many other regional festivals and tribal festivals are celebrated by Odia people at different regions, as example in Sambalpur (a district of Odisha) NuaKhai parab is very popular, and many other festivals are celebrated at different villages of Odisha. Tourist most of the time demand to include festivals tour in their tour packages, so Odisha Tourism created special Odisha Festivals Tour Packages for tourist.
