Inaugurating a three-day national tribal dance festival, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi danced with the tribal community in Chhattisgarh's Raipur.
Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader tweeted, "I am in Chhattisgarh today to inaugurate the National Tribal Dance Festival, in Raipur. This unique festival is an important step towards showcasing and protecting our rich tribal cultural heritage."
Gandhi was seen wearing traditional red headgear and danced with the members of the tribal community while beating a drum.
Here's the video of Rahul Gandhi dancing with the tribal community:
#WATCH Chhattisgarh: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi takes part in a traditional dance at the inauguration of Rashtriya Adivasi Nritya Mahotsav in Raipur. pic.twitter.com/HpUvo4khGY
— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2019
"It is a very popular dance of Dandami madia tribe of Abujhamad in Bastar area and is also known as Gour dance. This dance is performed by a group of men and women. The men wear a bison horn crown and play the drum while dancing," the official page of the tribal festival tweeted.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other top party leaders also shared the stage with Gandhi and danced along with him.
The National Tribal Dance Festival is being organised in Chhattisgarh for the first time.
More than 1,350 participants from 25 states and Union Territories of the country and six countries will take part in this three-day dance fest and present folk art cultures, the state government said in a statement.
Twenty-nine tribal art troupes will be presenting more than 43 styles of four different dance forms.
Per the programme itinerary, dance competitions based on traditional folk dance forms related to weddings and other customary rituals, traditional festivals, agricultural activities will be organised from 11:45 am on the first day.
On December 28, from 9 am, the artists from Gujarat will stage Vasava dance, Andhra Pradesh artists will perform Dhimsa dance, artists from Tripura will stage Mamita dance, among others.
On the third day of the event, Lashpa dance of Uttarakhand, Bakarwal dance of Jammu, Bhadam dance of Madhya Pradesh, Gaddi dance of Himachal Pradesh, folk dances of Karnataka and Sikkim, Damkach dance of Jharkhand, Dandami dance of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh will be staged.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Member of Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, Ahmad Patel, Motilal Vora, Ex-MP KC Venugopal, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will also take part in the festival.
(With agency inputs)
