Bundelkhand's Rai Dance: 10-Hour All-Night Spectacle Keeping Tradition Alive in Sagar

• Rai dance, a Bundelkhand tradition, features 'Apsaras' from the Bedia community dancing continuously for 8-10 hours all night.
• Dancers wear a 16-yard lehenga (now 8-yard silk), 'benda', and ghungroos, with faces veiled, captivating audiences for hours.
• Padma Shri Ram Sahay Pandey popularized Rai dance; his son Santosh Pandey now carries on the legacy.
• The dance begins with 'sumarni', followed by songs like Fag, Swang, Gyal, accompanied by mridang, timti, and nagariya.
• Performed at weddings, birthdays, social events, and significantly during Holi in Krishna temples, preserving cultural heritage.