Lakhs of devotees thronged Assam’s Kamakhya Temple for the vibrant Deodhani Festival in which temple dancers, also known as ‘Deodhas’, bring together a perfect blend of dance, music and devotion to please the goddess of power at the Neelachal Hills.
Deodhani dance is a centuries-old tradition of the three-day-long festival, which began on August 19 in Guwahati and is prevalent in Mangaldoi and southwest Kamrup area.
Artists at the festival have been performing relentlessly for the last two days on the beat of the drums, the shrill of cymbals and the hoot of the special trumpet horns.
The dance form involves the artists to perform on sharp edges of machetes. Temple dancers or the Deodhas are said to be in a sublime phase during these three days of the festival and are believed to be possessed, which allows them to perform intricate moves.
Smeared with vermilion all over, they are the ultimate courtesan of the temple and are regarded as the highest seat of Shakti in the country.
The religious dance form is associated with the worship of the goddess of snake, ‘Manasa’. According to some, ‘Deodhani’ is derived from two words ‘Deo’ and ‘Dhani’. Deo means God and Dhani refers to woman.
Devotees participating in the festival go through a month-long preparatory phase, during which they are not permitted to meet their families and have to stay on the temple premises with a photograph of the deity they want to represent. They also seek knowledge from their gurus (religious leaders) during this period.
The dance festival that dates centuries back is held for three days during the end of the Assamese month of Shaon and at the beginning of Bhadra month (during August).
The ‘Deodhas’ are not included among the Kamakhya temple priesthood, nor do they enjoy any special privileges. The inspiration comes to them a month before the festival and it is believed that they are visited by the gods or goddesses. Each god or goddess has his or her own ‘Deodha’ who is also called ‘Janki’ or ‘ghora’.
The Assamese word ‘Janki’ means spiritual inspiration or a state of being possessed by a spirit. So here, ‘Janki’ might refer to one who is possessed by a god or goddess. For a month, a ‘Janki’ lives a life of piety and purity, eats very little, and likes to stay at lonely places. It is said that as soon as he hears the sounds of drums and Kali (a kind of pipe), he rushes out of his place to perform his divine dance. It is firmly believed that ‘Deodhas’ during this hour acquire the capacity of predicting the future of the society and the country. Devotees gather for the occasion and offer pigeons, goats, clothes etc., to get their future predicted by the ‘Deodhas’.