Which folk dance is performed on the occasion of Deepawali in the interior regions of Sagar?

Question

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Correct — A, Moni Dance (also spelt Moniya). It is performed by men of the Ahir (cowherd) community in the rural, interior tracts of Sagar district — part of MP's Bundelkhand belt — around Deepawali. Dancers, carrying sticks, move in vigorous, martial-style formations to the beat of the dholak and nagaria, in a tradition tied to the Govardhan-puja legend of Krishna protecting Gokul's cattle.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Mandalya is a women's folk dance performed at life-cycle occasions such as birth and death ceremonies — it is not the dance associated with Deepawali in Sagar's interior.  (c) Fefariya is a folk dance of the Nimari tract of MP (Khandwa–Khargone–Barwani–Burhanpur), performed around Holi and Akshaya Tritiya — a different region and a different festival from Deepawali in Sagar.  (d) Danda is a Diwali stick-dance too, but of the Ahir community in the Chhattisgarh belt (Bilaspur–Raipur), not Sagar's Bundelkhand tradition — a close but geographically distinct answer.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's Deepawali-season folk dances are strongly community- and region-specific: the same broad 'Ahir stick-dance on Diwali' pattern recurs as Moni/Moniya in Bundelkhand (Sagar, Tikamgarh) and as Danda in the Chhattisgarh belt — MPPSC exploits this overlap by offering a real Diwali dance from a different region as a distractor.

State PCS 2023 Q93 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q93 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer