Manbhumi dialect

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Manbhumi Bengali (Bengali: মানভূমী বাংলা, romanized: Mānbhūmī Bāṅlā, pronounced [manbhumi baŋla]) or Western Bengali is the local Bengali dialect spoken in the district of Purulia and adjacent area of other districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand, previously Manbhum district in Bengal Presidency. It is one of the Bengali dialects, having some influences of neighbouring dialects of Hindi and Odia in it.

Manbhumi Bengali has a rich tradition of folk songs sung in various occasions. Tusu songs are sung by village girls during a month-long observance of Tusu festival in villages of Purulia and some parts of Barddhaman, Bankura and Birbhum districts of West Bengal and parts of East Singhbhum, Saraikela Kharsawan, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Ranchi districts of Jharkhand. Bhadu songs, Karam songs, Baul songs and Jhumar songs are also composed in Manbhumi Bengali. Manbhumi Bengali songs are used by Chhau performers of Purulia School to depict various mythological events. Chhau is one of the distinguished dance forms of this geographical region which has been accorded the status of Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2009.^[1]