Charkula is a dance performed in the

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Haryana ...

region of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. In this dance, veiled women balancing large multi-tiered circular wooden pyramids on their heads dance to songs about

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

. Each pyramid has 108 lighted oil lamps arranged in a spiral. It is specially performed on the third day after

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

. It is believed that on that day

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

was born. According to legend, Radha's grandmother ran out of the house with the charkula on her head to announce the birth of Radha, Since then, Charkula has formed a popular dance form of Brajbhoomi, performed during various festivities. Every aspect of the culture of the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh is associated with Lord Krishna. So it happened with the Charkula dance as well – a folk dance of the Braj area, which has also found its origin in the Krishna legend. It is believed that the Charkula dance celebrates the happy victory over Indra by Krishna and the cowherd community of Braj. This dance, therefore, became a symbol of happiness as well as joyful rapture. Krishna raised the mount Goverdhan and as if to re-enact the Govardhan Leela the dancing damsel of Braj raises the 50 Kilo Charkula on her head while performing the Charkula dance.

References

Dances of India Folk dances of Uttar Pradesh Brij {{india-dance-stub