SSC
The Sarhul festival of Jharkhand, celebrated with traditional dances when the sal trees blossom, is especially associated with which tribe?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option C — Oraon
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is Oraon. Sarhul is a spring festival celebrated by the tribal communities of Jharkhand and neighbouring areas, especially the Oraon, Munda and Ho tribes. It is most closely associated with the Oraon tribe, who call it Khaddi. The festival marks the beginning of the new year and is held when the sal trees come into blossom, usually in the month of Chaitra (March or April).
The word Sarhul is often explained as "worship of the sal tree". The sal tree is sacred to these communities, and the festival honours nature and the village deities who are believed to live in the sacred grove, called the sarna. During the festival, the village priest, called the pahan, performs rituals at the sarna, offers sal flowers to the deities and predicts the coming rainfall. After the rituals, people sing and dance in large groups to the beat of the mandar and the nagara (drums). The men and women link arms and dance in lines and circles, and sal flowers are worn in the hair and given to every household. The festival celebrates the bond between people and nature, and it is a public holiday in Jharkhand.
About the other options:
- The Bhil tribe lives mainly in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and celebrates festivals such as Bhagoriya.
- The Gond tribe lives mainly in central India and is known for the Karma dance and, in Telangana, for the Dandari-Gussadi festival.
- The Toda tribe lives in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu and is known for buffalo herding.
- None of these tribes is mainly associated with Sarhul.
💡 Exam tip
Jharkhand's tribal festivals appear often in exams. Remember Sarhul (spring, sal flowers, Oraon and Munda), Karam (worship of the karam tree), Sohrai (harvest and cattle) and Tusu (a harvest festival celebrated in January).💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Festivals & Fairs of India Questions
View all ›- Q1.'Chad Sukra', a popular traditional dance festival of the Pnar (Jaintia) people of Meghalaya, is celebrated as a:
- Q2.Which festival, celebrated in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, honours Gogaji, the folk deity worshipped as a protector against snakes?
- Q3.The 'Doul Utsav', a celebration of Holi linked with the Vaishnava satras, is mainly celebrated in which state?
- Q4.The Bhagoria festival of the Bhil tribes of Madhya Pradesh is associated with which major festival?
- Q5.Sohrai, Karam and Jawa are tribal festivals celebrated mainly in which state?
More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.