{{Short description|Folk dance from Odisha, India}} [[File:Ghoda_Nacha.webm|thumb|thumbtime=1:58|right|320px| Ghoda Nacha or Chaiti Ghoda Nacha]]
'''Chaiti ghoda''' '''nacha''' is one of the popular [[folk dance]] forms of [[Odisha]], India. The dance is performed by aboriginal fishermen tribes like the [[Jalia Kaibarta|Keot (Kaibarta)]].<ref>{{cite web|title=10 Unique Dance Forms Of Odisha Which Are Spectacular In Their Distinctive Ways! |website=Mycitylinks |url=http://mycitylinks.in/10-unique-dance-forms-of-odisha-which-are-spectacular-in-their-distinctive-ways/ |access-date=3 October 2016}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> ''Chaiti'' represent the ''[[chaitra]]'' month of the Hindu calendar year, that is, from March to April to the full moon in ''[[Vaishakha|Baisakh]]'', that is, from April to May; ''ghoda'' means horse in Odia and Hindi language.
== History == A story in the epic legend ''[[Ramayana]]'' says that when lord Rama crossed the ''[[Sarju|Saraju]]'' [[river]] with the help of aboriginal Keot fishermen and in return, lord [[Rama]] had presented a horse to the fishermen.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title=Chaiti Ghoda Nata|url=http://www.odialinks.com/dances/folk-dance/chaiti-ghoda-nata/|website=odialinks.com|access-date=3 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003205018/http://www.odialinks.com/dances/folk-dance/chaiti-ghoda-nata/|archive-date=3 October 2016}}</ref>
The folk dance is connected with the worship of goddess ''Baseli''. In the 15th century, Odia poet [[Achyutananda Dasa|Achutananda Das]] had elaborated the details of the worship in book, ''Kaibarta Gita''. Also known as Baseli ''puja'', the goddess from the [[Shaktism|Shakta tradition]] in Hinduism is worshipped by the fishermen community. Das mentions in the book that the ''puja'' originated in the 10th century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Banerji Projesh. |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.507479 |title=The Folk Dance Of India (1944) |date=1944 |publisher=Kitabistan.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Vatsyayan |first=Kapila |title=Traditions of Indian folk dance |date=2010 |publisher=Clarion Books |isbn=978-81-85120-22-5 |edition=3., rev. and modified |series=India library |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Patnaik |first=D. N. |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.22945 |title=Some folk dances of Orissa |date=1972 |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi}}</ref>
The dance also played some role in India's freedom struggle movement. Scholars say that freedom fighters used the occasion to mobilise the fishermen community to fight against the British. There are some accounts saying that the fisherman community of [[Kujang, Odisha|Kujanga]] area used to use the dance to gain their freedom from the British administration.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
In present times, the folk dance is not limited to the fishermen community solely; many other communities have begun to participate in it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=((Bureau)) |first=O. B. |date=2025-01-11 |title=Ghoda Nach & Singer Antara's Performance Mesmerise Visitors At Ekamra Utsav In Bhubaneswar |url=https://odishabytes.com/ghoda-nach-singer-antaras-performance-mesmerise-visitors-at-ekamra-utsav-in-bhubaneswar/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Odisha Bytes |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In 2020, [[Utsav Charan Das]] from the town of [[Choudwar]] in Odisha was awarded with the [[Padma Shri]] for his efforts spanning six decades in keeping the art of ''chaiti ghoda nacha'' alive. His efforts helped in the revival and renewed research interest in the folk art form and its adoption as a means to raise awareness about various social issues.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-01-31 |title=Padma award for effort to keep art form alive |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/padma-award-for-effort-to-keep-art-form-alive/articleshow/73779840.cms |access-date=2025-02-08 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
== Performance == The folk celebration takes place over a month, from ''Chaitra Purnima'' to ''Baisakha Purnima''. The celebration begins on the day of Chaitra Purnima with the fishermen anointing the bamboo with candle paste, vermillion, and butter lamp, and splitting it into twelve pieces with which the frame of the dummy horse is built. The dummy horse frame is dyed with red clay and a wooden horse head is fixed to the frame, along with a garland of hibiscus flowers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Narayan |first=Shovana |title=Folk dance traditions of India |date=2004 |publisher=Shubhi Publication |isbn=978-81-87226-93-2 |location=Gurgaon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leach |first=Maria |url=https://archive.org/details/funkwagnallsstan00leac |title=Funk & Wagnalls standard dictionary of folklore, mythology, and legend |last2=Fried |first2=Jerome |date=1972 |publisher=New York, Funk & Wagnalls |others=Internet Archive}}</ref>
The frame is worshipped for eight days, and thereafter taken out for the ''ghoda nacha.'' Dancers dance with the rhythm of ''mahuri'' and ''dhola'' (drum) instruments. There are only two dancers: one male (known as Rauta) and the other is also a male in female attire (known as Rautani). They dance to the tune of folk songs. After the celebration concludes, the wooden horse head is removed from the horse frame and kept in the local temple to be brought out the next year.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />
The celebration draws a large crowd from the villages all around.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|title=CHAITI GHODA|url=http://orissadiary.com/orissa_profile/ruralfolk/CHAITI%20GHODA.asp|website=orissadiary.com|access-date=3 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410105535/http://orissadiary.com/orissa_profile/ruralfolk/CHAITI%20GHODA.asp|archive-date=10 April 2016}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Ghoda nacha in Chaitra Purnima|url=http://odialive.com/ghoda-nacha-in-chaitra-purnima/|website=odialive.com|access-date=3 October 2016|date=7 April 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Odia culture}}
[[Category:Folk dances of Odisha]]