International Journal Of Language, Literature And Culture(IJLLC)

The folk dances, folk songs, traditional cuisines and traditional attires speak volumes about the culture and heritage of a community. Just like any other communities, the Tiprasas also have their own folk dances. We can learn a lot about a community such as their lifestyle, habits, culture, traditions etc through their folk dances. Lebang Bumani, Hojagiri dance, Tangbiti, Garia and Mamita dance etc are the folk dances of Tripura. Mamita dance depicts the act of cutting the rice grains, bringing those home and sharing the newly harvested rice from the Jhum fields together with family members on a fine chosen day. The dance is performed to celebrate the new harvest. Presently, there are not many who practice Jhum cultivation. On the contrary, in the old days, each and every household was involved in to Jhum cultivation and depended solely on it for their livelihood. Mamita dance is based upon having newly harvested rice together with family. Just when the rice grains ripen, a kind of grasshopper called Lebang feeds on it destroying the crops as a result. In order to prevent these insects from destroying crops, the young boys and girls beat sticks in order to catch these insects which also kind of mimics the sound that these grasshoppers make which further attracts the insects to the sound. This act of beating sticks together while catching Lebang is Lebang Bumani. Garia is one important deity of Tripura. The Garia song is based upon the traditions followed and the prayers offered to the deity. And so, the Garia dance also was crafted or formed, which is performed during the Garia festival celebrating the homecoming of Baba Garia, the deity. In the old days, the Tiprasas used to hunt down animals to consume meat later. Based upon this, the Mosok Sulmani dance, which literally means 'antelope hunting' dance is performed. Jhum cultivation requires various kinds of work to be done such as sowing seeds to growing organic agricultural produce. It starts from choosing land for Jhum fields, burning down the jungle in order to prepare the land for growing crops etc... These processes of working in the Jhum fields are enacted in to a dance genre known as Tangbiti. While Hojagiri dance is performed during the Hojagiri festival worshipping the deities of wealth and prosperity followed by a grand feast with family get togethers.