Bhangra is a lively form of folk music and dance that originates from Punjab. People traditionally performed Bhangra when celebrating the harvest. While Bhangra began as a part of harvest festival celebrations, it eventually became a part of such diverse occasions as weddings and New Year celebrations. Moreover, during the last thirty years, Bhangra has enjoyed a surge in popularity worldwide, both in traditional form and as a fusion with genres such as hip-hop, house, and reggae. Bhangra is truly becoming more popular worldwide and people of non-Punjabi background are listening to and performing Bhangra.

Bhangra includes tricks and acrobatic feats in its performance. The female version of the bhangrais known as the gidha. It is performed by a group of female dancers, but like in the bhangra, pairs of dancers or individual dancers break away to show off their skill while the rest of the dancers clap in rhythm. The gidha is performed at the time of the festival of Teeyan to welcome the monsoon.

Today, bhangra is not just a dance form, but a term that embraces a new form of music. Initially it was a dance performedto celebrate a good harvest. Soon it was not just confined tothe harvest time but found its place at weddings and almost all other celebratory occasions. It looked beyond the boundaries of Punjab with its inclusion in innumerable Bollywood films. Performers like Daler Mehndi, Bhuppi, Jassi, etc. have taken it to the top of the Indipop charts. Finally, it crossed the seas to become the most happening thing on the Asian club scene in London. Modern DJs found that the foot-tapping rhythms of bhangrawere almost begging to be remixed. Today, you can’t escape it. It’s on television; you hear it in cabs and discos alike. It has crossed all boundaries of religion, caste, community and country. Bhangra has gone international.

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