One of the many cultural activities we got to witness during the International Ganesh Festival 2023 hosted by the Directorate of Maharashtra was the Tarpa Dance and for me, it was the show stealer for more reasons than one.
The tarpa dance performances usually happen at night during village celebrations, it could be a festivity like Ganesh Chaturthi, a wedding, or even on the arrival of a newborn.
A Handmade, Sustainable Musical Instrument
The tarpa or the trumpet-like musical instrument is the star of the show. Prepared using pumpkin leaves, and bamboo, the tarpa is a handmade wind instrument like no other. “It takes 5 days to make the tarpa, dry pumpkin and bamboo sticks are used to make this, assembled, and then kept for natural drying,” confirmed a tarpa member. It feels quite light to hold and is best accompanied with the sound of ghunghroo-laden wood sticks.
The tarpa is played by a senior member of the village and as he plays the instrument, men and women from the tribal village get together, join their hands, and dance in a circle around the tarpa player. Interestingly, this lasts for hours with a few breaks.
The tribal community goes sustainable with their outfits for the dance too, instead of any fancy outfits, mango leaves are laced together to make a skirt for men and a hair accessory for women.
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A Traditional Dance That Brings Tribal Communities Together
Native to Maharashtra, tarpa dance is primarily performed in Thane and Palghar, and for the people from tribal communities of these districts, this dance is over and above just a ritual. On speaking to one of the members of the tarpa group, I understood how tarpa defined unity for everyone. It was a celebration of their cultural heritage and relationships.
When you watch a tarpa dance, the sync leaves you awestruck. Not a lot of practice goes into the tarpa and that's the beauty of it. The coordination speaks loudly of the bond the tribal community shares. The steps are simple, mostly footwork and claps.
One of the female members of the tarpa group also shed light on how during big festivities tribals from other villages come in to be a part of the celebrations. At times, the groups just get too big and are divided for ease.
An Attempt To Preserve Culture And Family Values
“This tarpa dance means everything to us, it is something that connects us to our ancestors. We grew up seeing and being a part of the traditional dance and going forward, we would want the next generation to continue performing tarpa,” said the tarpa dance group lead when asked about the origin of Tarpa. Mostly middle-aged men and women were a part of the tarpa dance group that performed exclusively on request at our hotel. They have been doing it for years and hardly have an idea of the origins but that doesn’t take away from the respect the tribals have for the traditional form of dance.
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