1878.] 
F. S. Growse —Mathura Motes. 
128 
Feb. 28th, Kosi .—After sitting a little while at a nach of the ordinary 
character given by one of the principal traders in the town, I went on to 
see the ehaupais, or more special Holi performances, got up by the differ¬ 
ent bodies of Jat zamindars, each in their own quarter of the town. The 
dancers, exclusively men and boys, are all members of the proprietory clan 
and are all dressed alike in a very high-waisted full-skirted white robe, 
reaching to the ankles, called a jhaga, with a red pagri, in which is set at 
the back of the head a long tinsel plume, Kalangi, to represent the peacock 
feathers with which Krishna was wont to adorn himself as he rambled 
through the woods. The women stand at one end of the court-yard with 
their mantle drawn over their faces and holding long lathis with which at 
a later period of the proceedings they join in the Holi sports. Opposite 
them are the bands-men with drums, cymbals and timbrels and at their 
back other men with sticks and green twigs which they brandish about over 
their heads. The space in the middle is circled by torch-bearers and kept 
clear for the dancers, who are generally G in number, only one pair dancing 
at a time. Each performer, in the dress as above described, has a knife or 
dagger in his right hand and its scabbard in his left. At first darting- 
forward they make a feint of thrusting at the women or other spectators 
and then pointing the knife to their own breast they whirl round and round, 
generally backwards, the pace growing faster and more furious and the 
clash of the band louder and louder till at last they sink down, with then¬ 
dowing robe spread out all round them, in a sort of curtsey, and retire into 
the back ground to be succeeded by another pair of performers. After a 
pair of men comes a pair of boys, and so on alternately with very little 
variation in the action. Between the dances a verse or two of a sons: is 
sung, and at the end comes the Holi khelna. This is a very monotonous 
performance. The women stand in a line, their faces veiled, and each with 
a lathi ornamented with bands of metal and gaudy pendents, like the Bac¬ 
chantes of old with the thyrsus, and an equal number of men oj)pose them 
at a few yards’ interval. The latter advance slowly with a dedant air and 
continue shouting snatches of scurrilous song till they are close upon the 
women, who then thrust out their lathis and without uttering a word fol¬ 
low them as they turn their back and retreat to their original standing- 
place. Arrived there they let the women form again in line as they were 
at drst and then again advance upon them, precisely as before, and so it 
goes on till their repertory of songs is exhausted or they have no voice left 
to sing them. To complete my description I here give some specimens of 
these sdkhis or verses, and have added notes to all the words that seemed 
likely to require explanation. They are too coarse and at the same time 
too stupid to make it desirable for me to translate them. 
