Local Festivals :
There are several Local Festivals and Dances celebrated in and around our location, Ananda Nagar.
TUSU
KARAM
The Karam festival is a festival of agriculture and is very sacred to the tribal people. A major festival celebrated in the Rarh region of West-Bengal,Assam & Jharkhand. It is held on the 11th day of Purnima of Bhado that generally falls in the month of September-October. Women dance to the beat of drums and folk songs. The Puja is followed by a community feast. The festival also has a close link to nature. People worship trees during this festival as they are a source of livelihood, and they pray to mother nature to keep their farmlands green and ensure a rich harvest.
CHHAU DANCE
A traditional dance of the Tribal community wherein participants wear Mask and depict characters of Indian Mythology. Its origin is traceable to indigenous forms of dance and martial practices. Its vocabulary of movement includes mock combat techniques, stylized gaits of birds and animals and movements modelled on the chores of village housewives. Chhau is taught to male dancers from families of traditional artists or from local communities.
This dance is listed under- “UNESCO- Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”
SOHRAI
The name Sohrai is said to have derived from a Palaeolithic age word — soro, meaning to drive with a stick. It is the winter harvest festival celebrated after the rice harvest on a new moon day in the month of Kartik(OCT-NOV). Santhal community celebrated Sohrai with traditional Santhal dance. Sohrai is the most important festival of the Santhals. Tribal villagers pay homage to their gods and ancestors as a thanksgiving for crops, cattle, ploughs, and everything that has helped them to attain the harvest. During the festival time villagers make Sohrai painting. In preparation of the festival, the women of the community repair their mud walls, floors and decorate the walls with their stunning traditional art. These paintings are believed to bring good luck.
