Bhangra Music

What is Music?
The art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

What is Bhangra?
A type of popular music combining Punjabi folk traditions with Western pop music.

Traditional Bhangra Dress For Men

Dress for Bhangra is as colourful and vibrant as the Bhangra dance itself. Bhangra costumes effectively portrays the rich and vivid colors of rural Punjab and also the zest for life of Punjabi folk. Bhangra costume is simple and is normally worn by the men in rural Punjab, in lighter hues though ! Before we study how the Bhangra costume looks like let us see what exactly constitutes the traditional Bhangra dress for men !!

Turla or Torla (fan like adornment on the turban)

•Pag (turban, a sign of pride/honor in Punjab): This is tied different to the traditional type of turban that you can see Sikh’s wearing in the street. The turban has to be tied before each show, and is not ready made like a hat.

•Kaintha (necklace), some men also wear earrings

•Kurta – Similar to a silk shirt, with about 4 buttons, very loose with embroidered patterns.

•Lungi or Chadar – This is a loose loincloth tied around the dancer’s waist. Again it would be decorated.

•Jugi: A waistcoat, with no buttons.

•Rammal: These are essentially scarves worn on the fingers. They look very elegant and effective when the hands move during the course of bhangra performance.

One of the most striking features of bhangra dress or shall we say the pride of bhangra dress is the pag. The bhangra pug is different from normal Sikh pag. It resembles more with the turban tying style followed by jatts in rural Punjab. The pag is further adorned with fan shaped turla. Traditionally, turla is made from one end of the heavily starched pag. At times, performers prefer to attach a more fancy fan-like turla. Pag is further highlighted with the use of gota (broad golden lace). Many dancers also tie colourful chunni around their waist.

Quite often the kurta of bhangra dancer is in white color but the use of other bright colours can also be normally observed in modern times. Lungi, vest and pag are of the same colour. Bright shades like yellow (to symbolize sarson, mustard), green (meaning prosperity), red (auspicious saffron) are mostly chosen for these. Lower part of a bhangra dress is a lungi. This is a rectangular piece of cloth tied around the waist. Men also wear juttis (Punjabi shoes), but dance barefoot.