Yalli

Halay or Yalli or Dilan (Azerbaijani: Yallı; Armenian: Շուրջպար šurǰpar; Syriac: ܚܓܐ‎ Ḥeggāʾ, Greek: Χαλάϊ Chaláï; Kurdish: Govend or Dîlan‎, Turkish: Halay, Persian: هالای‎‎ "Hālāy",Yakut: Ohuokhai) is a popular dance in the Middle East.

Etymology

The word of Halay comes from Kurdish words of "Hilayi", "Halayi" which means "to stand", "jump" and "dance".

Style

Halay is traditionally played during wedding on the zurna, supported by a davul, but in the recent years, electronic instruments have started to replace them. Typically, Halay dancers form a circle or a line, while holding each other with the little finger or shoulder to shoulder or even hand to hand with the last and first player holding a piece of cloth. It is a national dance in Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The initial form of which dates back to so many centuries long when it was held around a ceremony bonfire, having the meaning of hot, light and meal. The word “yal” in Azerbaijani means row, line of chain. The Yalli dancers stand in one line or two rows and sometimes in some rows.

Yali (mythology)

Yali ([jaːɭi]; also known as Vyala or Vidala in Sanskrit) is a mythical creature seen in many Hindu temples, often sculpted onto the pillars. It may be portrayed as part lion, part elephant and part horse, and in similar shapes. Also, it has been sometimes described as a leogryph (part lion and part griffin), with some bird-like features.

Yali is a motif in Indian art and it has been widely used in south Indian sculpture. Descriptions of and references to yalis are very old, but they became prominent in south Indian sculpture in the 16th century. Yalis are believed to be more powerful than the lion/Tiger or the elephant.

Iconography and image

In its iconography and image the yali has a catlike graceful body, but the head of a lion with tusks of an elephant (gaja) and tail of a serpent. Sometimes they have been shown standing on the back of a makara, another mythical creature. Some images look like three-dimensional representation of yalis. Images or icons have been found on the entrance walls of the temples, and the graceful mythical lion is believed to protect and guard the temples and ways leading to the temple. They usually have the stylized body of a lion and the head of some other beast, most often an elephant (gaja-vyala). Other common examples are: the lion-headed (simha-vyala), horse-(ashva-vyala), human-(nir-vyala) and the dog-headed (shvana-vyala) ones.