Natua is an ancient folk dance of Purulia district, much lesser known than the popular Chho, which has martial origins. Natua is in fact the mother form of Chho and is believed to be about 600 to 700 years old. Similarities can be seen in some of the stances of the two dances. Knowledge of Natua is essential to the practice of Chho. The form is dying in West Bengal with only two masters who practise the art.
Not so much a “dance” as a display of vigorous, physical feats to the beating of drums, the form is primarily tribal. Natua is performed by spirited men with chalk painted bodies. Colourfully dressed and with bright strips of trailing cloth tied to their arms and wrists, the Natuas present a high powered mix of martial art and acrobatic movements. Accompanied by the pulsating rhythm of the dhamsha, a kettle drum and the dhak, and sometimes, the wail of the modon (or madan bheri , a trumpet-like instrument), they prance, they leap, they roll, they somersault and perform extremely daring maneuvers sometimes employing logs of wood, bullock cart wheels, hoops and fire. Spirits are high and the atmosphere is charged with energy and tension. The beating of the drums encourages the performers to go forward and perform feats involving great risks and excitement, cheered on by the crowds that surround them. As in the Purulia Chho, the leader also sings a short Jhumur song.
Natua is an ancient folk dance of Purulia district, much lesser known than the popular Chho, which has martial origins. Natua is in fact the mother form of Chho and is believed to be about 600 to 700 years old. Similarities can be seen in some of the stances of the two dances. Knowledge of Natua is essential to the practice of Chho. The form is dying in West Bengal with only two masters who practise the art.
Not so much a “dance” as a display of vigorous, physical feats to the beating of drums, the form is primarily tribal. Natua is performed by spirited men with chalk painted bodies. Colourfully dressed and with bright strips of trailing cloth tied to their arms and wrists, the Natuas present a high powered mix of martial art and acrobatic movements. Accompanied by the pulsating rhythm of the dhamsha, a kettledrum and the dhak, and sometimes, the wail of the madan (or madan bheri ,a trumpet-like instrument), they prance, they leap, they roll, they somersault and perform extremely daring maneuvers sometimes employing logs of wood, bullock cart wheels, hoops and fire. Spirits are high and the atmosphere is charged with energy and tension. The beating of the drums encourages the performers to go forward and perform feats involving great risks and excitement, cheered on by the crowds that surround them. As in the Purulia Chho, the leader also sings a short Jhumur song.
Traditionally, Natua is performed during the Charak Puja festival on Chaitro Sankranti – the last day of the Bengali month of Chaitro (March-April), which brings to an end the month long Gajon celebrations in honour of Shiva held in the villages. In a carnival like atmosphere,the dance is a great crowd puller. The dances are typically performed by members of a subaltern community – the Kalindis. It is also occasionally performed during marriages.
The origin of this dance, it is believed, essentially lies in a ritualistic plea of the inhabitants to the gods for rain - the Chhota Nagpur plateau which is home to this folk form, being a dry hilly region. The practitioners perform exceedingly difficult physical feats,somersaults and fire eating being the minor ones, in their efforts to please the gods. According to another theory, Natua, is an ancient dance form that features in the text of the Shiv Puranas. The word Natua, may have been derived from the name of Lord Nataraj. The dancers believe that Lord Shiva performed this dance as part of his tandav nritya. The large Jai Dhak, whose beats accompany the dance is said to have been created by Lord Shiva.
In the days of yore however, Natua dancers were also employed by local kings to form a part of their procession – putting up a grand, charged performance, replete with acrobatics and courageous physical feats, to the sound of large, heavy drums.
Thanks to the efforts of a few NGOs and other governmental organizations, Natua performances are now being seen on urban stages and this can only help encourage this dying form.