Maruni Dance: A Traditional Magar Folk Dance

Maruni dance, one of the oldest and most interesting folk dances, is popular in the Magar community. It is a practice passed down by our ancestors that encapsulates the beauty of Magar culture. This dance is performed during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar. An interesting fact about this dance is that it is performed by boys. Boys aged 12-16 years are dressed as girls and are called Maruni. There are 5-6 Madales who play the madall (a traditional drum). The Maruni dance to the beat of the madal in a very slow manner. In this dance, hand gestures, slow body movements, and facial expressions are given great importance.

When it comes to makeup and ornaments, dancers wear items like sirbandi, pauju and mala as mentioned in the songs they perform to. While preparing the Marunis, people invoke the name of God and pray for their safety. After they are ready to perform, diyo, batti and kalas are prepared. Only after this are the Marunis taken out of the house.

In ancient times, Marunis were supposed to perform in every household, but nowadays, they show their performances in each tole (neighborhood) for about 2-3 hours. In addition to the Marunis and Madales, there is one person who plays the role of Kusunge. His role is to entertain the crowd by creating romantic moments and teasing the Marunis during the performance.

In today's generation, people who teach Maruni dance are complaining that the modern dance style has affected the traditional Maruni dance. Almost all children prefer modern dance movements, which has caused their body movements and gestures to differ from those of previous generations.