Chhau dance | Global Knowledge Systems

Overview

Chhau dance is a tradition from eastern India that enacts episodes from epics including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, local folklore and abstract themes. Its three distinct styles hail from the regions of Seraikella, Purulia and Mayurbhanj, the first two using masks. Chhau dance is intimately connected to regional festivals, notably the spring festival Chaitra Parva. 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. The dance is performed at night in an open space to traditional and folk melodies, played on the reed pipes ''mohuri'' and ''shehnai.'' The reverberating drumbeats of a variety of drums dominate the...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: India
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: India
Countries: India

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Food, Agriculture and Seasonal Practice Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Land, Sea, Sky and Ecology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuidf5baaec9-9211-46ee-b80d-0e6eae6586ab

ich_public_ref337

inscription_year2010

title_enChhau dance

title_frLa danse Chhau

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesIN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00337

concepts_primary_namesAcrobatics, Dance, Hinduism, Representative literary works

concepts_secondary_namesApprenticeship, Bladed weapons, Choreography, Costumes, Epic poetry, Festivals, Makeup, Martial arts, Masks, Percussion instruments, Religious practice, Seasonal ritual, Transvestism, Woodwind instruments

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/03387-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightSangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, 2009

main_image_authorSangeet Natak Akademi

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/u3YLq7CVavc

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Acrobatics Dance Hinduism Representative literary works Apprenticeship Bladed weapons Choreography Costumes Epic poetry Festivals Makeup Martial arts UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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