Bhortal Nritya of Barpeta Assam

BHORTAL NRITYA OF BARPETA ASSAM

    The Bhortal Nritya of Bapeta was developed by Mahananda Sutradhar, an artist who was a mason by profession. He developed it on the basis of Chotal of Bir Naam. The Bhortal Nritya, for the first time, was performed at Barpeta Satra by Narahari Burhabhakat, a well known Shattriya artist from Barpeta. He further developed the dance form and popularized it.  It may be performed in solo or in a group of three to six dancers or sometimes in larger groups. The main objective of the performance of Bhortal Nritya is praising of God.

    The dancers in Bhortal Nritya dressed in traditional dhoti, bygon, paguri etc. They carry large taal in their hands which they play with the very fast beat of music. The short and fast beat makes it very interesting and rousing. The movements in the nitya are designed to produce different attractive patterns which are unique amongst the other dance forms of Assam. This uniqueness of Bhortal Nritya makes it popular all over the world to people of all ages and cultures.