With a magic wand, the bronze plate sings!

Tribal artists from Trimbakeshwar (Nashik) fill the atmosphere with mystical tunes created on an auto-phonic instrument made up of a bronze plate and a tiny branch of forest plant

Since times immemorial, music has been integral part of tribal lifestyle in Maharashtra. Traditional Bhil Adivasi artists from Harsul village of Trimbakeshwar, on the banks of River Godavari are in the city these days to perform in Orange City Craft Mela and Folk Dance Festival at SCZCC.


Masters of their ancestral art, these artists create mystical tunes from a wonderful instrument named as ‘Thali Vadya’. ‘Thali’ is a bronze plate played by a straight stick. The main instrumentalist moves the stick on the surface of the plate in order to create an auto-phonic sound. With perfect combination of pressure, speed and pauses; the plate starts creating traditional tunes. The singer supports the main instrumentalist by singing some couplets during the pauses.

“It is traditionally believed that someone suffering from stress and pressure could be cured with this traditional musical instrument,” said Laxman Raoji Bhangre, who runs an NGO that supports tribal art. Bhangare coordinates with tribal artists and the institutions like SCZCC those invite these artists for the performances. “Melody that flows from it not just has destressing qualities but can also help cure mental illness,” he added. Traditionally, it is played in tribal parts when someone dies and the whole clan mourns.
“In old times, people used to fear the dead body. Hence, they used to call the instrumentalists to play the ‘Thali’ and sing to distress them. Hence, our couplets are generally in praise of the dead person. We try to elaborate the dead one’s life and times,” explained eighty-year-old Chandardevji Nimbarte, the main artist in the group. Nimbarte remembered that he used to play the instrument non-stop for whole night many a times during his young age.


Art is an ancestral gift for him and he is happy to be the national ambassador of this art. “We have decided to bring this art out of Trimbakeshwar Forests,” the man who speaks fluent Nagari Marathi, said. With the help of NGOs, Nimbarte’s group travels all over India to perform. Sadly, this unique musical instrument is on the edge of extinction. But, Nimbarte is still hopeful as he has over 15 young students in his group learning the art from him.


“The main problem with the tribal artists is addiction to liquor. Many of them are reluctant to come out of their village, just because they don’t perform without liquor,” he said. However, Nimbarte’s group is different. They are devotees of Lord Vitthal of Pandharpur. “We wear ‘Tulsi Mala’ and liquor intake is prohibited for us,” he said.

Kudos to Punjabi Kudis !

These graceful Giddha performers at SCZCC’s Folk Dance Festival are in fact pursuing Post Graduation in various streams right from Linguistics to Computer Science...

WITH their colourful and beautiful appearance, these 11 girls from Ludhiana are making the SCZCC’s Folk Dance Festival a little more happening this year. Photographers’ favourite; these girls in their mid-twenties, present traditional ‘Giddha’ dance of Punjab creatively displaying the feminine grace, elegance and elasticity.

“We are here in Nagpur for the first time. Its wonderful city with cultured and learned audience,” said Lovepreet Kaur. She told that all the 11 girls are pursuing post graduation studies in various fields from Ludhiana’s best-known Satish Chandra Dhavan (SCD) Government College. Many of them are studying Computers, Management, History and English literature.

All of them speak fluent English and otherwise feel comfortable in jeans and T-shirts. But, at the time of the performance, they all glow in traditional ‘Salwar Kameez’ or ‘Khagra’ in bright and rich colours, Chudis, bindiyas, and all make-up.

Being modern in attitude, these girls are very much connected to traditional dance forms of their land, thanks to the awareness by their educational institutions.
“The Giddha is in our blood and we enjoy performing it as our co-curricular activity,” said Mandeep Kaur. There are college-level, university-level and state-level competitions for the Bhangda, Giddha and other group dances in Punjab. Groups selected from these tough competitions get opportunities to perform nation-wide. As part of the same project, the group is in Nagpur to perform Giddha.

“It’s in fact a learning experience for all of us sharing the stage with performers from various states of India. The stalls in the exhibition and traditional huts here are mesmerising,” said Pardeep Kaur, taking a pause from an elite photo session by SCZCC’s Director Ravinder Kumar Singal, an amateur photographer.

The girls are getting overwhelming response in Nagpur. The audience join them as soon as all of them start clapping and singing small couplets in Punjabi. “Basically humorous, these Boliyan (two-line couplets) cover themes such as the excesses committed by husbands and mothers-in-law,” said Jyoti Rama Jyot, one of the mentors of the girls.


All the girls are enjoying every moment of their stay in Nagpur. They are already a centre of
attraction of the Folk Dance Festival and they are happy to get the celebrity status.
“People appreciate our dance, songs, looks and drapery. Everything is encouraging for us. After all we are Punjabis. We create such sensation wherever we go,” expressed Sondeep Kaur.
'Punjabian Di Shaan Vakhri', exclaim all her friends in one voice as they get ready for another sensational Giddha performance.

Cutting of the same article published in The Hitavada on October 12. 2011