Dahuka boli (, also "Dahuka gita" (ଡାହୁକ ଗୀତ)) are poetic recitations which Dahukas (or ''Ratha bhanda''), the charioteer who recite during the

Rath Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. Ratha Yatra being a symbolic expression of

fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

and

Life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...

, these "boli" sung by the Dahuka contain bawdy songs. It is believed that unless the Dahuka boli is sung 'Ratha' doesn't move. These songs are sung publicly without any kind of hold on the lyrics. Dahuka controls the movement of Ratha during the festival. This tradition is the remnant of

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

and the lyrics bear the signature of the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

poetry. The ''Dahuka''s are believed to be the descends of the famous 84

Mahasiddha Mahasiddha ( Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic ...

Lyrics samples

Asit Mohanty.
ରଥେ ଭଣ୍ଡ ଡାକ ଡାକଇ ଡାହୁକହେ ଭଗତେ ହୋ
. The Sunday Indian (In Oriya). July 20, 2011

History

"Dahuka boli" have many derivatives from

Charyapada The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese/Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. It was w ...

. One of the earliest Dahuka boli by

Kanhapa Kānhapā, Kanha or Kanhapada or Krishnacharya ( c 10th century AD) was one of the main poets of ''Charyapada'', the earliest known example of Assamese, Bengali, Maithili and Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia peopl ...

is as follows: ମାରି ଶାଶୁ ନଣନ୍ଦ ଘରେ ଶାଳୀ ମାଅ ମାରିଆ କାହ୍ନୁ ଭଇଲ କବାଳୀ ''Roman transliteration'': māri sāsu naṇanda gharē sāḷi māa māriā kāhnu bhaila kabāḷi In the "Swatwalipi () or ''Adhikara abhilekha'' () service no 104 there is the description of Dahuka and their service on "Ratha""Swatwalipi". Service clause no. 104 There is no description of such service in "Purusottama mahatmya" in Skandha purana. But there are descriptions of "Dahuka" in Purusottama Karmangi.''Purusottama Karmangi''

Text from Purusottama Karmangi

The boli/dahuka boli were also called as "Tucha pada" (ତୁଚ୍ଛ ପଦ), "Bhanda gita" (ଭଣ୍ଡ ଗୀତ) or "Bakra gita" (ବକ୍ରଗୀତ). During the earlier 20th century Jagadeba Mishra, a poet from

has written about the "Dahuka boli" his book "Sahari jalam":

Ban on Dahuka boli

During 1995 The Jagannatha temple trustee officials banned the recitation of Dahuka boli. Apart from few exceptions since 1997, ''Dahuka''s never sung Dahuka gita.

References

External links