More than a dozen Carnegie Mellon University students have been staying awake into the early morning, sweating over a centuries-old tradition.

The growing popularity of bhangra -- a South Asian style of music and dance -- has transformed it into a melange that incorporates hip-hop and reggae into its Punjabi origins.

The CMU students have organized the region's first bhangra competition, set for Saturday and Sunday at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland.

Called "Bhangra in the Burg," it will feature 10 bhangra teams from colleges and the Pittsburgh area competing for $5,250 in cash while raising money for the Homeless Children's Education Fund of Allegheny County.

"Bhangra's been pretty popular in Pittsburgh for a long time," said Pooja Godbole, the CMU sophomore who's coordinating "Bhangra in the Burg."

"It's a very energetic, lively dance. It's almost like the Indian version of hip-hop."

Ms. Godbole's interest in bhangra, like many other Pittsburgh residents, had its roots at the Hindu Jain Temple in Monroeville, where pre-teens from the area met and participated in cultural performances. Ms. Godbole, a native of Upper St. Clair, began dancing bhangra at the Pittsburgh Folk Festival.

That's how she met Shiv Dua, now a senior at Emory University in Atlanta and captain of Three Rivers Bhangra. Dua and Smita Kumar, a 19-year-old sophomore from Butler who captains the CMU women's team, began developing their choreography in September.

College teams from NYU, Rutgers, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Virginia, Drexel, and Northeastern will compete. The first-place prize is $3,000.

"Bhangra in the Burg" is part of CMU's International Festival.

For ticket information, contact www.bhangraintheburgh.com.