Lavani (Marathi: ) is an extremely popular genre of traditional music currently popular in Maharashtra, India. Lavani is essentially a fusion of traditional music and contemporary dance, that especially performs to the fast-beats of Dholki, an indigenous drum. The word Lavani is derived from a Hindi word, “lav” for “drum”. The story of the origin of the Lavani music goes back many decades, when it was first performed at a masquerade ball by a renowned dancer, who would go on to be known as Madhubala.
Today’s version of Lavani dancers are mainly recruited from among the cast of the popular Marathi romantic movies. The main reason behind this is that most people in India consider the dance form associated with the era of the Maharajas, and the romantic themes in these films. As a result, most of the Lavani dancers are people who have either lost their childhoods or have been underage during the reign of the Maharajas. While there has been a few instances of criticism of Lavani from Indian Muslims and Christians for their depiction of Hinduism and the portrayal of the Virgin Mary, there has been no incidences of hate crimes against the dances performed in India. In fact, the only complaint that has been raised is that some portions of the music are too ‘girly’ for the masses to understand.
The history of the lava dance form in India is closely tied to its spiritual heritage. Lavani is largely composed of the hymns sung during the wedding ceremonies of Rajput kingdoms. In the state of Maharajasthan, the dance forms like Lavani, Kumbhalay, Naivedya and Gadar were performed by women musicians who were known as “Dhams”. The name ‘Lavani’ is derived from ‘la’, meaning beauty and ‘vedhi’ meaning dance. The word “vedhi” is said to mean ‘telegra’ in the Marathi language. It was through the influence of Balinese musicians that the first forms of the lava dance began to take shape.