The Colourful Dance of Bahurangi or “git” of the Rabhas of Assam

Different groups of tribal people as the Nagar group,Rabhas living in South Kamrup and areas to the
the Luchai Kuki group and the Bodo group are living inSouth-east of Goalpara. They observe or perform the
different parts of Assam. The Rabhas whose gits asBahurangi dance along with its gits or songs.
well as the folk-dances play an important part in theThe Bahurangi gits have some characteristics. The
culatural history of Assam belong to the Bodo groupthemes or the matters of the gits are vast and varied.
of tribal people. However, most of the Rabhas ofThey deal with the different matters of the life of the
Assam are living in the districts of Barpeta, Nalbari,Rabhas. In short, the gits ventilate the eco-social life of
Kamrup, Goalpara, Darrang and Sonitpur. The Rabhasthe Rabha society. Historian Benudhar Sarma has
are of several divisions of which only the Rongdani, thespoken highly of the Bahurangi gits. According to him
Pati and the Maitory groups or divisions form the realthese songs are not the only resource of the Rabhas.
“Rabha Samaj.”They are the invaluable resource of the whole
The Rabha do not have any national festival of theirAssamese.
own. Of course, their different groups celebrate theirThe value or the importance of the Bahurangi dances
ritualistic festival relating to their own religions conceptsor gits can ever be under-rated. They are some
or beliefs. They express their life’s happiness andvaluable assets of the Assamese culture. So we
sorrow, and the feelings of love and sadness etc.should do the needful for their further development by
through the medium of their songs and dances. Asway of making actual exercises on them on the one
such they have become the lively mirrors of their life.hand and doing research works on them on the other.
The Rabhas sing some songs and dance someSelect Bibliography
dances. Apart from the Sather and Hurosay gits, the1. Sarkar Shri Harimohan, 1989, Rabha Samaj Aru
Farkanti dance and the Bahurangi dance are of greatSanskritir Abhas.
importance. The Rabhas sing songs in broken2. Bhattacharya P.C, 1999, Asamar Janajati.
Assamese for ventilating their different feelings of3. B.N. Bordoloi, G.C. Sharma Thakur, M.C. Saikia –
minds while taking part in their various festivals and1987 – Tribes of Assam Part –l
dance. That is called the “Bahurangi dance”, or4. Rajbongshi Paramananda , 2003, Asamiya Jati Aru
the “Bahurangi git.” It is still current in the RabhaSanskrtti. Guwahati.
society since its birth.5. Das Narayan, Rajbongshi Paramananda, 1996,
The Bahurangi git is also called Bagejari in some partsAsamiya Samskrtir Kanika Guwahati.
of south Kamrup. The Bahurangi dance or the6. Barman Sadananda, Asamar bhinna Gosthir
Bahurangi git alias Bagejari has earned a greatSamskriti Guwahati. 2003.
popularity as popular dance or song among the Pati