The word
dantha means “ dan and tha” i.e. jump and fight. So dantha is one kind of fighting dance. In this day
only male can take part. As per the oral history of Santal, this dance is as
old as Ramayana. When Raja Ramachandra conquered over King Ravan and brought
back devi Sita, all his subjects became mad out of joy. Santal people became
too and started dancing. From the way of dance and the material used i.e. bow ,
arrow and sword during dance any body can guess that this dance is no doubt is
a fighting dance and the santal people were the true shoulders of Raja
Ramachandra. Dantha dance also follows certain- rule and regulation.
- In this dance only male can take part.
- Flows, arrows-and swords must be in the hand' and the peacock feather be in the head and this peacock feather is nothing but a sign of conquere .
- It is held during the saharai festival only which falls after Bijoy Dashani or Dushahara. Other times it is forbidden.
- For this dantha dance, dantha songs are there. These are all about Ramayana. These songs are sung only during dantha dance and other times it is for-bidden.
During
Saharai festival, a separate type of songs are sung at home. These are called
Saharai songs. Some of the songs are full of pleasure and some are of deep
sorrow. So to say. Saharai songs are the cross net of pleasure and pathos,
which means that during the Raw Ravan fighting some people got back their own
men for which their hearts became full of pleasure and some lost their own man
which arose a deep sorrow in their hearts,
Like dantha dance and
song , the Saharai songs are the songs of history which proves that santal
people- had helped Raja Ramchandra to conquere over Ravana to get back devi
Sita.
DANTHA SONGS.
Dharamero Akharare,
0 koy tumday rui boyha,
0 koy tamak -e rui.?
Dharamero Akhara re
Okoyah lipur sade boyha
Okoyah ghugura sade,?
Dharamero Akharare
Ram tumdah-e-rui boyha
Lakhan tamak-e-rui.
Dharamero Akharare
Ram-a lipur sade boyha
Lakhan-a ghugura sade
Dharamero Akharare
Dharamero Akharare boyha
Ram tumdah-e-rui boyha
Lakhan tamak-e rui
Ram-a Lipur sade boyha
Lakhan-a ghugura sade.
Meaning: - In dharam akhara Who drums on tumdah"? In
Dharam Akhara Ram drums on tumdah Laxman drums on Tamak In Dharam akhara Whose
tinkling armlet sounds ? Whose jigling bells sound ? in Dharam Akhara Ram's
tinkling armlet sounds, Laxman jigling bells sounds.
Other traditional dance forms of santals.