File:Firkal slowly decaying martial dance of ChotaNagpur of Jharkhand IMG 1069 02.jpg

English: Bhumij are a Munda ethnic group of India. They practice the martial art Firkal, although it has been reduced to a single village among the Bhumij who perform it. Firkal is basically a folk-dance of showing the power of Bhumij under odds. Needless, this dance is male oriented and a martial art from time immemorial. No history,documents are there relating to its origin. The main instruments of Firkal are swords, arrows, bows and shields. The themes of the dance correspond to their livelihood styles. In firkal dance, we used to wear traditional attires made of leaves woven by the family members, dancers use to paint their body with natural colors, heads were covered by turbans and tied with peacock's feathers, they all used to assemble in the Akhra to perform the hunting dance . It was a collective dance, symbolizing the collective hunting process. The dance used to get its high pitch with the beating of Dhols and Madals. In fact how wild animals were haunted in the dense jungles, how did they capture wild animals and did they come back home with animals for feast were displayed through the dance."

They were the warrior of Chotonagpur plateau. Fighting with invaders or Dikus were always there. Thus, the glory of their bravery were represented through Firkal. They used to show their strength to the generation through their bravery actions.

"firkal is very much a living art form. It is a martial dance performed by the Bhumij tribes of the Chhota Nagpur area in Jharkhand and is much older than kalaripayattu and other martial art forms like that of Manipur, and even those whose origins can be traced to China and Japan.

The only distressing part is that firkal survives in just one obscure village, Janumdih, of Potka block in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. No more than 25 Bhumij families are holding on to it, little knowing that after them, there will be nobody to take the tradition forward."

Firkal, even though an endangered tribal art form, has received very little support or encouragement from any quarter. With the number of families performing it dwindling, the art could very well have become extinct by now. Says Amitabh Ghosh of TCCAF: "Unlike other martial art forms in the country, Firkal did not receive any help or patronage. Gradually, with the passage of time, it virtually died for want of resources." ^[1]