Himachal: Sirmaur’s Sinhatoo dance to light up Kartavya Path

This is a traditional dance of Sirmaur in which artistes wear specially crafted masks of various animals and costumes for the performance. The masks are crafted from wood, sawdust and kidney bean dough, says an artiste

Facing extinction, Sirmaur’s Sinhatoo dance will be presented for the first time in the cultural parade on Delhi Kartavya Path on Republic Day on January 26. Artistes from Himachal Pradesh will perform the dance of the Hati tribal area of Sirmaur district.

The Sinhatoo dance, quite popular in the past, is facing extinction, say folk artistes. (HT photo)

Performed in many temples in the bygone era, this dance is nowadays limited to only one or two temples of the state. “This is traditional dance of Sirmaur in which artistes wear specially crafted masks of various animals and costumes for the performance. The masks were crafted from wood, sawdust and kidney bean dough,” said Sinhatoo folk artiste Joginder Habbi from Sirmaur.

The main attraction of Sinhatoo — the lion, will be displayed along with other dances in front of the main stage in front of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, chief guest of Republic Day, and President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi. Masks of bear, lion, monkey, bird etc, will be displayed at different places.

“Sinhtoo is derived from the word ‘Sinh’ and in the local dialect, Sinh is called a cub of a lion. The lion mask is prominent in this dance. Apart from this, this dance is performed wearing masks of wild animals like bear, orangutan, deer, monkey, birds, men, women etc” added Habbi.