Menu
The Saila-Reena dance is performed by the Gonds of Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. The Gond is the second largest tribal community of the country numbering around six millions. They are found in Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Piadesh, and Uttat Pradesh, besides Madhya Pradesh where they have their largest population. They are an agricultural community. The Gond of Mandla are artistic people. The women wear distinctive ornaments and tattoo marks. After a successful harvest men and women express their joy and happiness in a dance festival that takes them from village to village. The young men dance Saila a number which is danced with a baton in one hand and a spray of peacock feathers in the other. The Reena is the dance that the girls perform. When they join the group of young men the dance gathers momentum and the rhythm rises to a very fast crescendo.