Bhawai dance is one of the famous folk dances of Rajasthan. One of the traditional and famous dances of Rajasthan is Bhawai Dance. This form of dance is extremely difficult and only the expert artists can perform it. This is a women dance in which women dancers’ dance concurrently balancing eight to nine pitchers on their heads. The super expert dancer’s stabilizes a number of brass pitchers or earthen pots and then swing with under surface of their feet balanced on a glass top or on the perimeter of a brass thali (plate) or even on the bare sword’s edge through the performance in this thrilling and panicky dance.
It is believed that the Bhawai dance was initially invented in the adjoining Gujarat state but was quickly selected to pick and modified it in a characteristic Rajasthani style and essence by local ethnic women and men.
The dancers and musicians are traditionally and beautifully dressed in colorful Rajasthani dresses to make this dance attractive.
The background music in Bhawai dance is played by the male musicians who are the adjunct of this dance. The extra beauty is added to the dance by singing the melodious folk songs of Rajasthan by musicians during dance performance. Many traditional musical instruments such as Jhanjhar, Dholak, harmonium, sarangi and pakhwaj are played to give musical effects during the performance of Bhawai dance.
The women folks belonging to the Bhil, Meena, Jat, Kumbhar, Kalbelia and Raiger groups of Rajasthani communities traditionally perform this kind of skillful dance. It is supposed that Bhawai type of dances were gradually evolved from the outstanding technique of the women of above mentioned communities while carrying several water pots at one time on their heads from long distances of the desert.