MP: Karma Naach dance makes it to Guinness World Records
The Karma Naach dance form from Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh has made its way to the Guinness World Records.
The Karma Naach dance form from Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh has made its way to the Guinness World Records.
To celebrate the culture and history of the Gond tribes, 3,049 people took part in the largest Karma Naach dance held in April this year which was uploaded on the website of Guinness World Records on Wednesday.
Organised by district administration of Mandla, the participants formed 61 large circles of 50 people and performed the traditional tribal dance.
In accordance with the Guinness World Records guidelines, the choreographed Karma Naach dance continued for a minimum of five minutes.
All the participants were dressed in traditional clothing to complete the attempt and the folk dance was accompanied by live music.
“It came as a surprise to us. It is just like an exam after which you wait for the result. The children were exhilarated when they got to know. The celebrations were a blend of Holi and Diwali for us as there were people bursting crackers and playing colours all over in Mandla,” said Santosh Shukla, additional commissioner of tribal welfare in Mandla.
“The students belonged to class 9-12 and since summer vacations were going on in schools at that time, we managed to make them rehearse,” Shukla added.
Then district collector of Mandla Lokesh Jatav said, “I used to see the dance form during the celebrations on special days and not only me, whoever used to witness it, was left mesmerised. The traditions and culture of tribes in India are very colourful and this was one attempt to make them a little popular.”
“Usually, in small places, there are no culture teachers, but real artists — people who worship culture and arts and are always ready to help. We formed a group of few such people who helped us for free and divided the participants. Also, music lessons were given and students also participated in providing live music. People were trained in a large ground, 10km away from Mandla. All the participants were lodged in a hostel for ten days and trained. The dance was a part of three-day Ram Nagar Utsav which is held annually here and was attended by many dignitaries,” Shukla informed.