Chhaliya dance in Uttrakhand

Cholia is a dance form prevalent in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India. It is basically a sword dance performed with the procession but now it is performed on many auspicious occasions. It is especially popular in the Pithoragarh, Champawat, Bageshwar and Almora districts of the Kumaon division in the martial traditions of the Aukumaoni people. More than a thousand years old, the Choliya dance originated with the warring Kshatriyas of the Khasa of Kumaon, when marriages were performed at sword point.