Jankriti International Magazine/ जनकृसत अंतरराष्ट्रीय पसिका
21. Tok khitung Jangirimani: Shaking
of hen's tail.
22. Harung maikisilmani: Wavy view
of paddy field.
Tokma yaching malmani: Shaking of
hen's leg.
23. Mayung hadul nakmani: elephant
dusting.
24. Sikambuk kholmani: Collection of
snail movement.
ISSN: 2454-2725
Labang in high and low slopes of
the jhoom field are imitated in the
Lebang dance. To conclude it may
be recapitulated that due to
changing
socio-cultural
circumstances, the life-style of the
Tripuris are also being caught in the
vortex
of
metamorphosis.
Consequently the dance is no longer
performed by the jhoom cultivators.
It has now assumed the form of
recreational dance form.
Mashak Surmani
Lebang bumani Dance
Lebang is akind of insect highly
destructive to jhoom crops. Tripuris
call it ‘kuk’. These insects at times
flock to the jhoom field when the
paddy plants shoot up to flower-
spike. The ‘kuk’ may be compared
to the locust, a terror to Bengals
agriculturists. Lebang is a green
coloured insect. To protect the
jhoom crops from destructive attack
of the swarms of insect ‘Lebang’,
the jhoom cultivators both men and
women adopt a kind of device to
drive out the Lebang. From this
device is originated the dance.
Lebangbumani dance can also be
called jhoom dance and it is
performed in the jhoom plot. It is a
group dance participated by both
men and women. the dancers stand
in along row with two bamboo
sticks in hands and produce a
peculiar rhythmic sound that
attracts the insect ‘Lebang’ to come
out from their hideout. When the
Lebangs come out in a body , the
dancers tumble down to catch or to
kill the insects. The different
movements required for driving the
Vol. 3 , issue 27-29, July-September 2017.
Mashak is a Tripuri word which
means deer. The origin of this dance
can be attributed to the fullest
expression of joy of the deer hunters
following their hunting gain. In a
word, the Mashak surmani dance
can aptly be called as the dance of
trophy. It is performed during
return journey of the hunters with
game. On their way home two or
four strong persons carry the game
on their shoulders and the
accompanying ones walking side by
side frequently, out of great joy,
make loud cry and make different
gestures while walking sometimes a
bit slower to keep pace with the
carriers of the game. In the Mashak
surmani dance, two forms of dances
are performedby the hunters. The
hunters who carry the game can
hardly move limbs fst due to
pressure of the load. So they can
make only slow and steady
movement while advancing ahead.
The persons who are free can make
various movement expressing their
joy to every beat of walking step.
Now-a-days this dance is totally
absent from the real scene as deer
hunting is totally banned by the
government. However this dance
वर्ष 3, अंक 27-29 जुलाई-सितंबर 2017