Question

Which of the following dances of Rajasthan has been enlisted by UNESCO?
a. Gai Dance
b. Chang Dance
c. Kalbeliya Dance
d. Ghoomer Dance

Answer 1

Hint: This folk dance belongs to the state of Rajasthan and has been declared an Intangible world cultural heritage by UNESCO. The name of the dance has been kept after the tribe to which it belongs. This tribe of Rajasthan is popular because of their occupation of snake charmers, while the men practice this profession, the women are trained dancers.

Complete answer: Kalbeliya dance of Rajasthan has been enlisted as an intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO.
-The Kalbeliya dance is performed by the women of Kalbeliya tribe, found mostly in the Thar desert.
-Earlier the men of the Kalbeliya community used to sell snake venom, catch snakes and were snake charmers while the women of the tribe used to accompany them and perform dances to earn a livelihood, this is how the Kalbeliya dance became popular.
-This dance is performed to celebrate festivals like Holi. The dance and music of the tribe have been passed down through generations orally and is an important part of their culture.
-The female performers dress in elaborate costumes with mirror work (popular in Rajasthan) for the dance.

The correct answer is Option c which makes all other Options irrelevant because those are not enlisted by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.

Note: The Kalbelia dance is traditionally performed on the music produced by traditional Rajasthani instruments like the dufli, dholak, morchang, khanjari but the most important one is the poongi or a bean (used by snake charmers) which are played by the men of the community.