Dhambali: Tracing its origin
After a very long gap we could recently see few glimpses of centuries old dhambali, whirling at few Sufi shrines, most prominently at the Grand Reshi Shrine of Sheikh Noor Ud Din Noorani RA, where people went barefoot to seek forgiveness from God, and an end for this dry spell. The dhamali dancers all along the road from Chadoora to Charishrief performed the Sufi whirling on the beats of the drum. Most of the people enjoyed this spiritual whirling while for the new generations it was something unusual. The people familiar with their cultural past felt nostalgic as after a very long period they watched their traditional whirling.
Since few decades back it was considered as one of the most popular dances of Kashmir and was played at the major Sufi shrines and on different cultural and social events within the valley villages.
But things have changed; this art has lost its popularity and is nowadays rarely performed on certain special occasions of few Sufi saints or at few organized cultural shows.
The community of the artists called ‘Bhands’ or ‘Dhambali Faqir’ have also given up the art and have shifted to other professions, as Dhambali no longer earned them a decent livelihood.
The new social order and the indifference of the authorities towards its artists, according to the artists, are the causes of decline of this art.
Muhammad Ramzan Bhand, who is in nineties, while remembering his young days says,’ Those days have become now a memory when Dhambali Faqirs were treated as dervishes and esteemed artists. The people had a spiritual association with dhamabli and they would consider us as one of the means of connecting with divine. We would be dancing on the tones of the drums while raising our hands and would pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation. Indeed there would be individual prayers as well. The people would share their grief and anxiety with us and would compel us to raise our hands for their respective prayers (Dua).’
In fact things look to have changed so fast that this dance has not only lost its sanctity but its social and cultural display as well. The artists associated with this trade felt social alienation; they say people no longer like the dance and treat it as somewhat inferior form of art. They claim that even their grown-ups do not like to be called sons of Bhands or Dhamali Fakirs.
Ghulam Rasool Bhand, while seconding the views says, “The government never took this art seriously and the artists had to face difficult times. The Dhambali dance of Kashmir neither was ever re-organized nor was ever recognized as an institutional art. It was only on local, social and cultural levels, recognized by the local people and its artists, which with the change in the social and cultural fabric also lost its social concurrence.
Since in its last phase it has also lost its spiritual sanctity and with the expansion of conservative thoughts and with advancement of science and technology and other entertainment sources, this centuries old spiritual dance has almost disappeared from this society. Many people are not aware about essence of this traditional dance; they would often question its social and cultural validity. But as our cultural history is witness to this fact that this dance has been a significant performing arts of Kashmir, and up to late nineties was performed not only at Sufi shrines but in social and cultural events as well.
The records suggest that this dhamabli dance basically was a type of spiritual dance, called Sufi whirling or Semazen borrowed basically from Persian Sama-zan. Sama meaning listening, and zan, meaning doer. It is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa’i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes aim to reach greater connection with Allah. This is sought through abandoning one’s nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one’s body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting around the sun.
Originally this Darvesh dance evolved from Turkey in the 13th century AD, during the times of grand Sufi mystic Moulana Rumi (RA) . It is said that his followers and his son Sultan Walad Sultan founded the Mawlawiyah Sufi order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, that is famous for its Sufi dance known as the sama ceremony. The people who perform this Sama are called Dervishes and are held in high regard by the Sufis of Turkey.
It is at this Sufi centre that the followers of Rumi’s school of thought gather at his tomb and present Sama. The followers first make circles and then dance while standing in chorus.
It is said that from here this Sufi practice travelled to central Asian states and also reached Kashmir, while reaching Kashmir it changed its name from Darvish dance to Dhambali dance. In Kashmiri form they have also added double sided dol (drums). The dervishes would come into groups with dol beaters, in their distinctive dresses and with their distinctive flags symbolizing their respective identities. They would also perform in different groups. They would first make circles and then they, within these circles, would turn by turn make jumping steps on the beats of dol. The dancer would go deep in the tunes of the dole, which is a kind of meditation. The dancer would not stop until he fell unconscious. Then he was taken away from the chorus and the next would start his performance. The show goes on until all performers, perform their respective dance activity.
In conclusion, all performers of the group would join the chorus and raise hands for prayers. The entire concert reflected a spiritual meditation where not only its performers, but the people watching the concert went into this whirling.
Many Kashmiri Sufis followed and promoted it in their respective Khanqahs. This spiritual whirling spread to the distant lands of this glorious valley and gradually it became the traditional performing art of Kashmir. The performers of this art came to be known as Fakirs and bhands which later grew as a community.
Baba Naseeb Ud Din Gazi (RA), the most learned Sufi of this land, also followed the Mawlawiyah Sufi order and adopted it for its spiritual pursuits. This spiritual dance also helped him to connect people with his Khanqah where he also has been distributing alms among the orphans and poor people. He would also involve people in social and public works.
Baba Naseeb ud Din Gazi’s Khanqah is situated at Baba Mohallal in the historic town of Bijbehara, in south Kashmir. He is also titled as ‘Abul Fuqara’, the father of the poor. It is said that the saint had spent his entire life caring for orphans, poor and the destitute and building of Khanqahs and Mosques.
A curious legend associated with this saint states that about 1200 Khanqahs and mosques were built by him.
The spiritual dance was also used to call people for participating in public works and constructions.
The tradition continued for very long and later on this spiritual dance got permanently associated with his shrine and other Sufi shines of this land.
But the time reached when Darvish or Damali dance also could not preserve its spiritual sanctity. Its performers turned to be entertainers rather than Sufi performers. Since they did not respect their art which resulted in loss of importance also, they could also not get better treatment and as a community they were faced neglect.
In fact most of the people could not understand the real meaning of a fakir, and also missed the spiritual essence of this dance. Its performers also could not carry forward its spiritual substance. They also tampered with its basic tents and spiritual essence. Gradually, it turned as another folk dance of this land.
Presently, the dhamali institution is in shambles while artists performing this art have also shifting towards other professions. As such the centuries old Dhamali dance has almost vanished from the cultural scene of this land.
Iqbal Ahmad, senior archaeologist and author
