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| By
: Ly Vanna, Picture Courtesy of Ministry of Culture and Fine
Arts. |
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As New Year
rolls towards another village in Siem Reap province,
a group of dancers in traditional dress move from
house to house, acting out an annual pilgrimage,
singing their intentions to any who will listen.
"Oh pretty girls! With genuine hearts, you
may come to join us to dance troddi, a Khmer dance.
“Cha-chara chara, darling! Now, our troddi
troupe is arriving in front of your house. Are we
allowed to perform for you?" they sing.
Troddi is an ancient dance of New Year, performed
to drive out the bad luck spirits of the past year
and encourage good luck for the new. Troddi is a
Sanskrit word meaning a separation or cut, and is
usually adapted in modern Khmer as trusty. The dance
is thought to have originated with the Samrer people,
an ethnic group living with the Khmer in the time
of Sovannaphoum (Golden Land) before Indian influences
reached the empire. Over time, this became an annual
festival. This theory may be related to an ancient
legend associated with the story embodied in the
troddi dance.
Once upon a time, a hunter named Bun and his wife
Ouma lived in the mythical |
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Troddi dancers perform the ancient
traditional Khmer New Year ritual.
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| Savthei district.
One day, they ventured into the forest to hunt, but none
of the animals they usually encountered were anywhere
to be found. Bun suspected the forest spirits had intentionally
hidden all their potential prey. So he prepared offerings
and prayed to the local spirits and goddesses, begging
to be allowed to see one animal. At last the spirits took
pity, and a golden deer with bejeweled horns appeared
and he was able to kill it. Looking at his prize, he realized
that it was too auspicious for a poor hunter such as he,
and delivered it instead to his king. The king was delighted,
and as a reward granted Bun the provincial governorship
and made Ouma an Excellency. To express his gratitude
to the gods and spirits, the hunter-turned-governor developed
a dance describing the miracles that had raised him to
his new position. This dance, the legend contends, was
troddi. Others contend that troddi describes a chapter
of Buddha's life on his journey to enlightenment. While
seeking Nirvana, Bodhisattava (the mortal incarnation
of Buddha before he reached Nirvana) was confronted by
a mear, or devil, disguised as a golden deer. His wish
to destroy this enemy shook the celestial ring, prompting
gods to transform themselves into hunters (in this case,
ogres) and other followers to kill the golden deer.
Those who believe this version say troddi was thus
created with different performers to represent different
characters in the Buddha's struggle deer and wild bulls
are devils, tep - apsar or goddesses are represented
by musicians, other players representing tevada (gods)
in human form and the musical instrument dang-kangchher
representing the umbrella used to shelter the Bodhisattava
during his journey. The number of dancers depends on
the troupe. In some localities all the performers are
men. Usually, however, they are mixed, and made up of
performers aged between 16 and 25.
"…A panicked deer is running to escape from
a hunter, the hunter has shot the wrong target….
The deer's appearance catches the eyes of many giants
and they chase the deer, too…. While monsters with
very long nails appear and set ambushes in the forests...
Peacocks and wild bulls also turn to block the deer's
way…. And the deer's fate is sealed… May our
troddi troupe, our instruments packed away in oxcarts,
say good-bye to you."
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