Meanings
- IndiauncountableA type of folk theatre from Gujarat.
In the courtyard of the Ambaji temple near Mount Abu the Navaratri festival is celebrated with Bhavai performances.
1992, Manohar Laxman Varadpande, History of Indian Theatre, volume 2, page 1742 more examples
She was not in the Princess' hair all the time nor did she watch her like a comic spy in a high drama of intrigue and discovery from a bhavai.
1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 75By introducing “literary drama,” Westernized theatre on the subcontinent also led to a rejection of such popular forms as the jatra of Bengal, the bhavai of Gujarat, and the tamasha of Maharashtra as “debased” and “corrupt.”
2009, Aparna Bhargava Dharwadker, Theatres of Independence, page 135
Origin
- Sanskritभाव“expression, emotion”
- Gujaratiભવાઇ
- Englishbhavai
From Gujarati ભવાઇ (bhavāi), perhaps from Sanskrit भाव (bhāva, “expression, emotion”).
More words from Gujarati, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bhavai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bhavai
“bhavai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bhavai. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bhavai,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bhavai.
Source: bhavai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.