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Dhallo

Amelia Dias and Group
Audio
Dhallo

Dhallo is a song-dance form and also a festival during the month of Pausha and Magha of the Hindu calendar. It is performed predominantly by women of the Gavda community, as part of harvest and fertility rituals. Dhallos are played out in the mandd, a sacred performance space in villages, and generally start around midnight. This song is sung on the mandd at the start of the Dhallo festival. It speaks of lighting the earthen lamp and placing the ritual coconut on the mandd. It also describes people playing on the mandd, and other images associated with the celebration of Dhallo.