Art and Culture of Sagar

Sagar is a picturesque town situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. It gets its name due to the lake Lakha Banajara, around which the city is settled. Sagar is known for its beauty and cultural heritage. It has been home to many famous writers, poet, artists and other personalities of varied fields.
The city has played crucial role during British era and was also a major hub during those days.

Religions in Sagar

Sagar is predominantly inhabited by the Hindus. Though Muslims and Jains also form part of the multicultural society of the region. Hindus are further divided into their sub-castes. Jians are mainly business community. They are quite orthodox regarding their religion and continue to follow the norms and rituals. They have their own temples and religious festivals. The muslims are mainly farmers and are more concentrated in the villages. Akhti or Akhtij marks the start of the festival season. It denotes the beginning of the agricultural work.Pakh - Bandhi is worship of rain God for good monsoons and a bumper crop. Nag Panchami as the name suggests is worship of the Snake to please Lord Shiva. Janamashtami, Navratri, Dushhera, and Diwali , Holi, Id, Ramzan, Shabe barrat are cleberated across Sagar.

Folk songs and Dances of Sagar

Sagar is famous for in the field of folk art and music. The celebration of any festival remains incomplete without folk music and dance. The most popular folk dances of the district are aredi, moni, saira and dhimaryai. Baredi is performed soon after the Diwali and for the cattle herd. Moni dance as the name suggests is performed throughout the day but a silence is observed.Saira dance is performed with sticks in hand much like the Dandia. It has very meaningful lyrics and the songs are melodious. Dhimaryai is the folk dance of the caste of Dhimars – the water carriers. An important dance form is Rai, performed by the Bednis or the professional dancer.

Language in Sagar

The main language in Sagar is Hindi, which spoken all around the state. But since the city lies in the Bundel khand area of the state, Nagri and Kaithi characters are also used as a written language. The local dialect in for its the surrounding areas of the district is called Bundel khandi. The other regional people from all over India settled there speak Punjabi, sindhi, gujarati Marathi and English too.

Costumes in Sagar

Dressing style in Sagar is not too different from north India. The rural men still wear a cotton dhoti, wrapped in different styles, over a kurta. A Gandhi cap is optional and muslims wear their own special round caps. In winters, a traditional Mirzai, which is a full sleeved jacket stuffed with soft cotton wool, is worn by men. Nimastin is the half sleeved version of mirzai. Villagers also usually carry a cotton cloth called angocha over their shoulders.Though with times, the dress code has become shirts and trousers, coats, sweaters and also jeans and t-shirt for the youth of urban and rural areas. The markets in Sagar have many shops which sell branded and un branded clothes and dresses to suit every taste.

Art and Craft in Sagar

Madhya Pradesh as a state, is well known for its artisan and their varied craft. The handicraft is mostly done by the tribal communities. They excel in the craft of papiermache, figurine in human and animal form in terracotta, wood work, metal craft, iron craft and also paintings. The folk paintings done by the Sagar tribals depict the life of the people in vivid colors and intimate details. Owing to this heritage, the modern day people also have been inspired to excel in art and craft, paintings and literature.