Raut Nacha or Rauta Nachan is a religious dance traditionally performed by Yadavas. For the people of Shimla in the Indian state of Uttarakhand it is an important ritual performed before a temple. It is called “Rakshabandhan” when performed at the final moment of Shravan. It is also called Nandimukha and “Pancha Ghrut” when performed at the auspicious occasion of a wedding. It is one of the five classical dances performed during the Navaratra. The name Raut Nacha came from the word Raut in Hindi.
Raut Nacha means “one who has the cowherd’s song”. The term has been around since the 15th century. Initially it was a tribal dance form that had links with the Lakkar and Rastrim movements. A new genre emerged within the community called the Raut Nacha which mainly deals with the theme of cowherd communities.
There are two forms in particular called the Raut Nacha Purana and the Raut Nachan Purana that are performed with the same ritual, the difference being in the background music and choreography. In both the dances, the dancer performs the dance as an offering to lord Krishna in the temple accompanied by music and a dance recital composed mainly of shamans and dancers. Some of the older generation in the community call this form of dance as “Kirtan”. The brief rest between the two performances of Raut Nacha and Raut Nachan is taken as an invitation by some of the elders of the community to the cow herders to take a bath and sprinkle sweet milk on each other as a token of blessing.