Bagheli Folk Dance and Karma Festival Music of Katni

Katni district has a substantial Gond and Baiga tribal population in the eastern tehsils whose Karma dance and music tradition is practiced at the Karma festival in the month of Bhadra. Karma is a fertility and harvest celebration centred on the karma tree — a shrub whose branch is planted in the dance ground as a symbol of life. Young men and women dance in concentric circles around the karma branch for three days and nights. The music is played on mandar — a barrelshaped drum — and bansuri — bamboo flute. The dance songs are in the Baiga dialect, a branch of Dravidian language distinct from Bundeli Hindi. Katni urban market centres have introduced the Karma celebration into civic festivals, though the core ritual remains in village settings. State cultural academies have recorded Karma songs from 12 Katni villages.