Muscat Festival: Traditional folk dances attract tourists

Muscat: The Omani folk dancers at 21^st Muscat Festival being held at Naseem Garden and Al Amerat Park have been a great attraction for the tourists. However, the songs and movements differ from region to region but what captured the attention of the audience was the traditional folk dance Razha and Hambal.
While Hambal is a march song from the Sharqiyah region in which drummers lead the procession, Razha is a dance which is characterised by the sword and poetry exchange and is less centralised as wilayats in Oman boast a form of Razha. Participants leap into the air carrying their swords during the performance of Razha, which is considered the ‘dance of war’.
“I am from India and have been based in Muscat for about seven years now. I have seen various traditional forms of dance during these years at wedding ceremonies and at other social occasions. Of all the dance forms I have seen, Razha is my favourite as I find it intense,” said Suresh Kumar.
“I have been coming every year to the festival now to watch Razha although I don’t understand the verses they are reading or singing but it is beautiful to watch them perform it with so much passion,” Kumar added.
Another expat visitor at Al Amerat venue said this was the first time for her to watch Hambal perform live, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
“I was surprised to see such various traditional dance forms in the country for the first time but I absolutely enjoyed watching Hambal. It had very different beats than what I was expecting looking at the group of people holding drums. It was indeed highly entertaining,” the expat visitor who hails from the UK said.