Bagurumba Folk Dance of Bodo Tribe of Assam

Bagurumba folk dance is a colorful folk dance from Assam. It is a traditional dance of the Bodo community of Assam. This folk dance is inspired by and dedicated to the nature.

With time, bagurumba folk dance has become one of the most popular folk dances of Assam. When Bagurumba is performed on a large scale, it feels like butterflies are dancing and roaming around the ground. That is the grandeur of this performance.

Bodo people live with nature. They live in forest from where they can feel mother nature close to them. Bagurumba dance is a manifestation of their love towards nature in rhythmic form.

Bagurumba Dance Performance

This folk dance is simple in performance yet delicate. Women move very softly in this dance, almost like a butterfly that has just started to learn to fly. This dance seems easy on watching Bodo women perform it, but it is not. This level of grace and softness can not come into a dance performance without a lot of practice. Mainly women perform the Bagurumba Bodo dance. 

As this dance is inspired by nature, all steps resemble what we see in our everyday life. For example, trees dancing with the wind, the river flowing in waves, animals playing with each other, etc.   

Bwishagu Festival

Bagurumba folk dance is performed at the Bwishagu festival. People worship cows and then bow to their elders at the Bwishagu festival. Bathou is the chief deity of the Bwishagu festival. People offer chicken rice beer and zou to him. Bagurumba folk dance is performed to please Bathou that is a symbol of Sizu plant for the Boro people.    

Bagurumba Folk Dance Costume

During the Bagurumba dance, women wear bright colored clothes. They wear traditional Assamese clothes which include a skirt, blouse, and a dupatta. There is one special cloth that they wear around the shoulder and hold in each hand. This cloth is the traditional cloth of the Bodo community. While performing Bagurumba dance this cloth is used as butterfly wings. All colors represent colors of nature. Main colors used are yellow, green, and red. 

Music Instruments Used In Bagurumba

• Serja– It looks like a violin.
• Sifung– An instrument similar to flute.
• Kham– It’s a drum made of animal skin and wood.
• Tharkha– Instrument made of two bamboo splits.
• Jota– This instrument is made of Iron.
• Gongwna– It is made of Bamboo.

It took Bagurumba folk dance generations to become the dance it is now. Every dance form goes through changes when it passes on to the next generation. This also happened to the Bagurumba folk dance. It now has two variations – one in which songs are sung and another in which songs are not sung.  

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