Rouf, Kashmir’s folk dance performed on occasions like Eid, is dying slowly

The song for Rouf dance comprises one group of women asking questions and the second group answering them. (Photo: Irfan Amin Malik)

Rasheeda, 55, vividly remembers her younger days when she and other women in her neighbourhood would get together to perform Rouf—Kashmiri’s traditional folk dance—on festive occasions like Eid. In the 1990s, dozens of young women would assemble in the courtyard of her house in south Kashmir’s Pulwama and perform Rouf.

Rouf (pronounced ‘Ruf’) is one of the most well-known dance forms of Jammu and Kashmir. Decades ago, Rouf was also performed during the holy month of Ramadan to celebrate the beginning of the holy month and later to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha.

Many in Kashmir Valley say that the Rouf dance is inspired by the bee and its movements towards and away from the bud. During the performance, a group of women stands facing each other. The most notable feature of this dance form is the footwork. Chakri, a sequence of complex foot steps, is one of the most significant attractions. Also, the song on which the dance is performed comprises one group asking questions and the other providing answers in song form. For example in a popular Rouf song, one group would sing: Eid aayi ras ras (Eid has arrived slowly and slowly). Another group replies by singing, Eidgah wase weyi (Let’s go to Eidgah).

The women wear colourful pherans—loose woolen gowns—with silver jewellery to sing and perform the Rouf, bringing together neighbours and relatives.

Although Rouf dance form has earned appreciation nationally and internationally in recent years, the dance is slowly fading away.

Rouf is now limited to just marriage celebrations, as the new generation of Kashmiri women takes little to no interest in learning or performing it.

Hailing from Srinagar’s downtown area a young woman Shajarat U. Durr recalls that her mother used to tell her the stories about the women who gathered after Iftar in Ramadan and on the day of Eid to sing folklores in the downtown areas of the city.

"Though my mother wouldn't participate because of family restrictions, she and her sisters would stealthily watch the Rouf in their neighbourhood,” she adds.

Rasheeda laments that women these days feel shy while following their own culture. “We feel ashamed to embrace our culture otherwise there is still room to bring back the zeal and zest of Eid Rouf,” she adds.

Kashmir’s popular broadcaster and satirist Talha Jehangir Rehmani says that the political disturbance in the Valley has hit the Rouf. “Usually women would perform Rouf in the evening but due to the political turbulence, it became difficult for women to assemble, sing and perform traditional dance," Rehmani says.

Rouf, Rehmani adds, is derived from Sanskrit language which means semicircle. “In Rouf, a group of women would make a semicircle and perform dance with utmost focus on footwork. I have seen women in 1980 performing Rouf while singing and praising the holy month Ramadan, Eid and the beauty around.”