LAVANI LITERATURE AS A SOURCE OF SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL MAHARASHTRA

History of Lavani Originated in the medieval times lavani continues to be a folk performance even now. Their geographical areas of movements were mainly in Maharashtra, albeit some of them went to the places like Thanjavur., some parts of present Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The peshwas and their sardars (officers) celebrated the festivals like Holi and Dasahara with grandeur and many of the shahirs were a part and parcel of these festivals. Peshwa period generally, the pomp and show in the celebrations of the Hindu festivals increased. The festivals like Ganeshotsav and Sankranti also came to be celebrated with pomp. In the latter Peshwa period. The lavanis contain various textile varieties and thereby it is possible to reconstruct the textile history of Maharashtra.The lavanis contain description of the palaces and gardens. Wearing the ornaments made of pearls, diamonds, rubies and emeralds was considered to be prestigious. lavani had been an integral part of a broader folk- performance called tamasha. though at times poetic fancy gets reflected in the compositions the descriptions in lavani do contain the picture of the life that the shahirs had seen and hence such descriptions are a source of history.