The Original Langiri goes back to the time of Sultan Shamsuddin III who ruled The Maldives in the early 20th century. The youth of that time developed and modified the then popular Thaara to their taste giving the name Langiri.
Langiri is a dance and music played by young men as an evening stage show. To perform Langiri each dancer holds two sticks that are about two feet long. The sticks known as "Langiri Dhandi" are decorated, each having a colourful artificial flower at the head end.
In the dance the performers sit in tow rows of twelve or in six and as they sway their bodies waist up and at the same time keep clapping the Langiri Dhandi in different styles. Each dancer will hit six Langiri Dhandi belonging to his three neighbours seated in the front row. There is also a lead singer who sits in the front of their right row. The length of a Langiri show varies but usually it lasts until seven or six songs.
