Question

‘Dekhni’ is a traditional dance form of:
1. Kerala
2. Odisha
3. Goa
4. Gujarat

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Goa

The correct answer is Goa.

• Dekhni dance represents an attractive mixture of folk culture and Western music, danced mostly by Christian girls in fully Indian dress.
• The gestures in the dance appear to have been borrowed from the Kathak and Bharata Natyam.
• Dekhni in Konkani language means bewitching beauty.
• Dekhni dance is one of the oldest dance forms of Goa.
• Dekhni dance can be associated with those people who converted into Christianity from Hinduism during Portuguese rule.
• Dekhni Dance is performed by a group of girls caring earthen oil lamps in their hands.
• These girls are represented as the servants of God in this dance form. It represents the life of a devadasi.
• Ghumat Drum is the main instrument used in this dance.

• Hanv Saiba Poltodi Vetam is one of the most famous songs of Dekni dance.
• It was written by Carlos Eugenio Ferreira.
• This song was first published in 1895 in Paris and then in Goa in 1926.
• This song talks about a dancer who wanted to cross the river but the boatman refused to take her because the river was very rough that day.