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Choliya dancers and bagpiper performing at Kumaoni wedding function, a young boy play the Dhol damau spinning it which is hang on his neck... Who would have imagined bagpipes making it this far into the Himalaya, and transforming into a life of their own? Chholiya is a dance form practised in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand. It is basically a sword dance accompanying a marriage procession but now it is performed on many auspicious occasions. Kumaoni weddings are very simple but are solemnized with a number of rituals and traditions. In the villages and in interiors traditionally, a white flag called 'Nishan' leads the marriage procession representing the bridegroom, followed by drummers, pipers and a white palanquin carrying the groom. The last man of the procession carries another flag,
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