SSC
Which freestyle dance of Bengal is performed with clay pots filled with burning incense, especially during Durga Puja?
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Answer: Option D — Dhunuchi Naach
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is Dhunuchi Naach. Dhunuchi Naach is a devotional dance of Bengal performed during Durga Puja, the most important festival of West Bengal, especially during the evening aarti (worship) on the days of the festival. The name comes from the dhunuchi, a clay pot (incense burner) with a handle, filled with burning coconut husk, camphor and dhuno (a fragrant resin).
During the dance, the performers hold one or more dhunuchis, sometimes even balancing them on their heads or holding them in their teeth, and dance in front of the image of the goddess Durga. The smoke from the dhunuchis fills the air with fragrance, and the movements of the dancers become faster and more vigorous as the beat of the dhak, the large drum played during Durga Puja, grows louder. Dhunuchi Naach is a freestyle dance, without fixed steps, and anyone can join in. It is performed as an offering of devotion and joy to the goddess. The dance is believed to represent the energy and power that the goddess Durga used to defeat the buffalo demon Mahishasura. In 2021, UNESCO inscribed "Durga Puja in Kolkata" on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which brought international attention to the festival and its traditions.
About the other options:
- Gambhira is a folk dance and song form of the Malda region of West Bengal, performed with masks during the Gajan festival in honour of Lord Shiva.
- Brita dance is a folk dance of West Bengal performed by women after recovering from an illness such as smallpox, or after a wish has been fulfilled.
- Purulia Chhau is the masked martial dance of the Purulia district of West Bengal.
- None of these is performed with burning incense pots.
💡 Exam tip
Link Dhunuchi Naach with Durga Puja, the dhunuchi (incense pot) and the dhak (drum). West Bengal's other dances to remember include Gambhira, Brita, Purulia Chhau, the Baul tradition and Rabindra Nritya.💬 Discussions on this question
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Indian Dance Forms — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Indian Dance Forms, 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.
Indian dance forms are one of the most frequently tested areas of static GK. This topic covers the eight classical dances recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi (Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam and Sattriya), the folk and tribal dances of every state, and related terms such as mudra, abhinaya, lasya and tandava. Most questions ask which state a dance belongs to, which community performs it, or which feature identifies a classical style. Learn the classical dances with their state and one signature feature each, such as the face make-up of Kathakali or the brass plate of Kuchipudi. For folk dances, group them state by state, since exams often list three or four dances and ask for the common state. Watch for dances shared by more than one state, such as Chhau, which has three styles. Practise the Indian dance forms 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.