Paiki (also known as Painki and Paika) is a Sadani Nagpuri martial folk dance of the Chotanagpur plateau region of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

and

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. In the dance, people wear dhoti, a turban with peacock feathers in it. They hold sword in their right hand, a shield in their left hand and dance to the tune of musical instruments of Nagara, Dhak,

Shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a type of oboe from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end. It was one of the nine instruments found in the royal court. The shehnai is sim ...

and Narsingh. It is done by men and reflect valour. It is performed at weddings and functions. '' Paik'' were foot soldiers during medieval period. It is primarily performed by Rautia, who used to be soldiers during reign of Nagvanshi dynasty in Chotanagpur. It is also performed by some Munda tribe in

Khunti Khunti is the headquarter of Khunti district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is in South Chotanagpur division and one of the 24 districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The district of Khunti was carved out of Ranchi district on 12 Sept ...

and

Mayurbhanj district Mayurbhanj district is one of the List of districts of Odisha, 30 districts of Odisha state in eastern India and the largest in the state by area, nearly equivalent to Tripura. The district's headquarters is located in Baripada, with other majo ...

References

Folk dances of Jharkhand Folk dances of Odisha Folk dances of Chhattisgarh Nagpuri culture {{India-dance-stub