Maelajada - Traditional Kosli Sambalpuri Folk Dance 

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Out of the many folk dance that is still in practice from thousand of years in KOSAL region (Western Orissa)..Maelajada is one of the most popular folk-dance of Kosal, It falls under the folk dance DALKHAI category....its performance is very common on all festivals such as Bhaijiuntia, Phagun Puni, Nuakhai, etc. This is mostly danced by young women of Binjhal, Kuda, Mirdha, Sama and some other tribes of Sambalpur, Balangir, Sundargarh and Kalahandi districts under the Koshal region ..Dhangara means unmarried boy and Dhangiri means unmarried girl in Kosli/Sambalpuri & Kui language. Boys of one village go to another village where the girls welcome them. They dance together without any instruments. The girls stand in rows holding each other firmly with their arms around each others waist. The boys dance merrily in front of and around girls. While the Dhangidis wear special costumes, the boys do not wear any special apparel.
Leaving apart the Koshali Language, the various types of exotic folk songs and dances which exist in the KOSHAL (western orissa) area give ample evidence of its speciality and originality. These songs and dances are not merely outbreak of emotions but finer elements of life and livings, scientifically fused into the rhythm of the percussion instruments of the region which spontaneously touches the heart; irrespective of caste, creed, sect, religion and time. Any human being who sincerely hears the music of the songs and dances, feels the vibration- in its body, heart and mind..