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Culture of Dadra & Nagr Haveli

Dadra and Nagar Haveli is an Indian union territory that lies in the western part of the country. While Nagar Haveli is located between Maharashtra and Gujrat, Dadra is an enclave that lies 1 km northwest surrounded by Gujarat on all sides. The shared capital of the place is Silvassa. Once ruled by the Marathas, the place has a rich history and boasts of a vibrant culture.

More than half of the population of the region belongs to different tribal groups. Varlies, Koli, Kokana, Dhodia, Dublas, Naika and Kathodi are among some of the tribes residing in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and the culture, customs and traditions of each of these tribes varies to some extent. Folklores, folk dances and songs form an integral part of their culture. People belonging to this region are peace loving and the beauty of the place lies in the fact that different clans live in complete communal harmony.


The cultural elements of Dadra & Nagr Haveli :

    • Traditional Festivals

    The people of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are seen immersed in the festive spirit as they celebrate their traditional festivals. These festivals reflect the culture and tradition of the place and are a part of the cultural and social life of the tribes living here. Let us have a look at the main festivals celebrated here:

    Barash: The festival which is mostly celebrated by the Varli and Kokna tribes is quite similar to the biggest Hindu festival Diwali. The parts in which these tribes reside are illuminated during this festival and their gods and goddesses are offered prayers with utmost devotion.

    Raksha Bandhan: Another main Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan is also celebrated here. It is mainly celebrated by the Dodhia tribe.

    Divaso: This is another famous festival of Dasra and Nagar Haveli. It is celebrated by the Varli and Dodhia tribes.

    Akha Tij: This festival is mainly celebrated by the women belonging to the Kokna tribe.

    Kali Puja: The tribal people living in Dadra and Nagar Haveli strongly believe in the powers of Goddess Kali and thus gather in large number to conduct Kali puja during the crop harvesting season.

    Tarpa Festival and Craft Mela, Monsoon Magic Festival and Children’s Film Festival are some of the main celebrations of the region. Folk dances and music forms a major part of these celebrations and people from different tribes participate with great enthusiasm to make these joyous occasions absolute fun.

    Besides these, various other Hindu, Muslim and Christian festivals are celebrated here as people belonging to these communities also reside in the region.

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  • Traditional Dress

Dadar and Nagar Haveli also has traditional attires for men and women. Let us have a closer look at these traditional costumes:
Attire for Women
The main tribes living in the Dadar and Nagar Haveli are Varli, Dodhia and Kokna and women from each of these tribes dress up in their own unique way.
Dodhia Tribe: Women of this particular tribe seem to have a fascination for blue sari. Often seen clad in blue coloured saris, the women from Dodhia tribe also love wearing metal bangles, big kadas, necklaces made with beads and various other beautiful ornaments.
Varli Tribe: Women from this tribe are seen clad in lugden which is tied around the waist and flows down until their knees. Known to be influenced by the Maharashtrian region, Varli is like a sari which is about one yard long. The upper body is covered by loin cloth, also known as Padar. The women belonging to this tribe also love adorning silver and white ornaments.
Kokna Tribe: Women from this tribe love dressing up vibrantly and are seen adorning colourful saris. They also have a fetish for tattoos. You can see big and small tattoos engraved on their arms, legs and necks.
Attire for Men
Just as women, men from different tribes dress up differently.  
Dhodia Tribe: Men from this particular tribe living in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli wear a shirt, waistcoat and dhoti. They also wear different coloured headgears and beautiful ornaments around their waist and silver chains around their neck.
Varli Tribe: Men from the Varli tribe wrap a loin cloth to cover themselves. This is coupled with a waist coat and a turban that completes the look.
Kokna Tribe: Men from the Kokna tribe are often seen clad in a shirt, waistcoat and a dhoti. Unlike, the Dhodia tribe men who love adorning vibrant and colourful headgears, the men from this tribe keep it simple by wearing a turban. 

 

  • Music & Dances

The tribal’s residing in capital city Silvassa as well as the Dadra & Nagar Haveli are known for their creativity and colourful culture. Dance and music are a big part of their lives, and are a must see at tribal festivals and fairs that you can best experience in Silvassa. Their music instruments are made of locally available material like clay, gourd, bamboo, dried fruits and vegetables, wood and leather, and are prepared by the tribal’s themselves. You can see a collection of these instruments at the Tribal Museum in Silvassa.

The tribal dances in Dadra and Nagar Haveli are of many types, each of which is unique in their styles. The tribal dances in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are as follows:

  • Bhavada Dance , Tarpa Dance,
  • Bohada Dance, Tur and Thali Dance
  • Dhol Dance, Gherria Dance

  • Food

Gujarat being the neighboring state, the food of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is highly influenced by the Gujarati cuisine. Mostly the cuisine of the people here is vegetarian which is a blend of both soft and sweet in a very harmonius way. The thali is generally referred to a large silver platter consisting of innumerable bowls. These bowls mainly consists of lentil based gravies, vegetable curries, breads, crispy and spicy farsans, pickles, chutneys and a number ofsweet dishes. Some of the well known delicacies are Paunk, kadi, khamam dhokla, doodh pak and shrikhand.Tadi is a favourite liquor drink of the people of Dadra and Nagar Haveli which is made of 'Mahua' flowers. No celebration is complete without Tadi and is very common among the tribals.

 

  • Traditions

The tribal community being dominated by Hindus, give lot of importance to traditionalrituals and customs and infact they play a major role in the life of people of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.Maximum numbers of tribal villages are featured with a temple housing the local deity as well as the traditional God.The people of the Varli community are nature worshippers and mainly consider and worship sun and moon with high regards for they believe it to be gods's two eyes.The shrine of these people are found among the tree groves and the diety is usually a stone.Some of their main dieties are dev, Hirwa, Himai and Waghio.As a part of the Varlis custom on any traditional occassion, either religious or wedding they wear a loin cloth with a small waist coat and a turban and the women wear a knee-length, one-yard saree – lugde – and adorn themselves with silver and white metal ornaments. Allrituals and customs are performed by a person called Bhagat.The bhagat performs the rituals by playing a Ghangal which is a musical instrument made from gourd,bamboo and iron strings.The people of the Koknas tribal community both men and women, as a part of their traditional custom tattoo their bodies, especially their foreheads and they are always in their traditional costume. The man attires himself with a dhoti up to the knees and a waist coat or shirt and a turban. The women folk wear traditional colorfulsaris that are either knee length or full length. Almost every village has a temple of traditional God and a local deity with customs and rituals pertaining to their community.

 

 

  • Handicraft

The artisans of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are famous for their wonderful weaving and carving works. The people of Dadar and Nagar Haveli are known for their exemplary art and handicraft tradition which talks about their culture. They are noted for their unique style and variety in patterns. Leather crafts, Mat weaving and Basketry are some of the popular traditional craft work practiced in this area. The leather slippers from Dadra and Nagar Haveli are very famous throughout the country and are durable and long lasting. Because of the abundance of forest area in this region there are lot of craft and art work done with the locally available bamboos. Bamboo fibers are used by the experts to weave beautiful mats which are an essential part of their cultural life. Bamboo is also used in the wonderful basketry works of the area of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.The people follow lot of traditional designs and pattern with native motifs in their art and craft weaving which is famous worldwide. The green and gold torpe grass made items are the most desired ones. Making bamboo baskets is also a major occupation of the people in the rural areas of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

 

 

 

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