The music of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

consists various genres of folk and modern music, drawing its artistic basis from the history of Assam, from Assamese culture and its ancient traditions. In recent times, starting from the late eighties, popular artistes have modernized the music catering to local popular demand. A basic characteristic of the indigenous ethnic music of Assam is its descending scale similar to East Asian music which distinguishes it from the '' Mode-based'' or folk music ''( Raaga-based)'' forms from the rest of India. The tunes are structured in a pyramid and are in always in

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many an ...

similar to other traditional music of Asia like China, Mongolia etc and dissimilar from the seven-scaled Indian music, (in contrast to the music of rest of India which is '' Meend'' based), such as the ''

Bihu Bihu is a set of three important Assamese festivals in the Indian state of Assam – 'Rongali' or 'Bohag Bihu' observed in April, 'Kongali' or 'Kati Bihu' observed in October, and 'Bhogali' or ' Magh Bihu' observed in January. The Rongali Bihu ...

'' songs, (common in South-East Asia and East Asia) besides languorous music of other forms. The legend of ''Princess Usha of

Sonitpur Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the is derived from a mythological story f ...

'' and her cohort '' Chitralekha'' also enlighten us on the musical expertise of the Assamese women. The connoisseurs however, have divided the classical Assamese music into two parts – ''

Borgeet Borgeets ( as, বৰগীত, lit=songs celestial, translit=Borgeet) are a collection of lyrical songs that are set to specific ragas but not necessarily to any tala. These songs, composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva in the 15th ...

'' and ''

Ojapali Ojapali is a traditional shamanistic type of indigenous folk dance from Assam in the northeastern region of India. Ojapali is believed to have evolved from Kathakata tradition and is performed in a group; it is believed to be one of the oldest ...

''. The composers of ''

''s, ''

Sankardev Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of i ...

'' and his disciple ''

Madhavdev Madhavdev (1489–1596) (Pron: ˈʃrɪ ˈʃrɪ ˈmɑ:dəbˌdeɪv) is an important preceptor of the Ekasarana Dharma known for his loyalty to his guru, Srimanta Sankardev as well as his artistic brilliance. Initially a sakta worshipper, he wa ...

'' added versatility to Assamese music.

Musical genres

Devotional

* Vivek *

Dihanaam Dihanaam is a type of congregational prayer sung by women in Assam in praise of the Assamese saint Sankardev. Instruments like the '' Negera'', '' taal'', ''khol The khol is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India f ...

* Harinaam

Indigenous Traditional Folk

Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has rec ...

Musical instruments

*''Bahi'' *''Sifung'' *''Bihu or Uja Dhul'' *''Tukari'' *''

Dotara The ''dotara'' (or ''dotar'') Persian ( bn, দোতারা, as, দোতাৰা, literally, 'Of or having two strings') is a two, four, or sometimes five- stringed musical instrument, originating from Iran and Central Asia. It is commo ...

'' *''

Gogona The ''gogona'' is a type of jaw harp, a vibrating reed instrument that is used primarily in the traditional Bihu music in Assam. In Boro language, it is known as ''Gongina''. It is made of a piece of bamboo/horn that has a bifurcation on one end. ...

'' *'' Khol'' *'' Mridongo'' *'' Nagara'' *''

Pepa Performance Evaluation Process Algebra (PEPA) is a stochastic process algebra designed for modelling computer and communication systems introduced by Jane Hillston in the 1990s. The language extends classical process algebras such as Milner's ...

'' *'' Taal'' *'' Xutuli'' *''Doba'' *''Xinga'' *''Bor Tal'' *''Bin'' *''Paat'' *''Toka'' *''Kham'' *''Kham'' *''Muri'' *''Pati Dhul'' *''Joi Dhul'' *''Bor Dhul'' *''Dhepa Dhul'' *''Kahlia'' *''Toka'' *''Xinga'' *''Bortaal'' *''Huluxi'' *''Hutuli''etc other indigenous musical instruments

Early contributors to Assamese music

Ambikagiri Raichoudhury Ambikagiri Raichoudhury (1885–1967) was an Assamese poet, lyricist, singer, powerful prose writer, news worker, magazine editor, patriotic, social-worker and the leading freedom fighter of India's freedom struggle. He is known as Assam Kesa ...

Anima Choudhury Anima Choudhury (born 28 February 1953) is a singer from the Indian north eastern state of Assam. Her musical career over more than four decades has focussed on folk and modern Assamese songs. She has been awarded local and state level mus ...

Bishnuprasad Rabha Bishnu Prasad Rabha was an cultural figure from Assam, known for his contributions in the fields of music, dance, painting, literature as well as political activism. As an advocate of people's cultural movement, he drew heavily from different ...

Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika () (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, filmmaker and politician from Assam, widely known as ''Sudha Kontho'' (meaning cuckoo, literally "nectar-throated"). His ...

Dipali Barthakur Dipali Barthakur (30 January 1941 – 21 December 2018) was an Indian singer from Assam. Her songs were sung mainly in the Assamese language. She received the fourth-highest civilian award of India, the Padma Shri, in the year 1998. Early life ...

Jayanta Hazarika Jayanta Hazarika (20 September 1943 – 15 October 1977) was an Indian singer and composer associated with Assamese music. He wrote lyrics for a few songs and composed music for several movies. He was the younger brother of Bhupen Hazarika. Po ...

* Jyoti Prasad Agarwala *

Khagen Mahanta Khagen Mahanta was a singer and composer of folk and traditional music of Assam. Khagen Mahanta was a notable person in Assamese folk music and known as the "King of Bihu". His Bihu songs, Borgeet and other folk songs remain popular in Assam. T ...

* Madhavdeva * Parvati Prasad Baruva * Patina Baruah *

Rameshwar Pathak Rameshwar Pathak (1 March 1938 – 3 December 2010) was an acclaimed Kamrupi Lokgeet singer from Kamrup, Assam, India. He also worked as a teacher in Arya Vidyapeeth Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School, Guwahati from 1963 to 1996. Early ...

* Moghai Oja * Tarulota Bori Mili

Other notable composers, musicians and singers

Angaraag Mahanta Angaraag Mahanta (born 24 November 1975), known by his stagename Papon, is an Indian playback singer, composer and record producer from Assam. Papon has also sung in many languages apart from Assamese like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Marathi ...

Anurag Saikia Anurag Saikia (born in December 1988) is an Indian film score composer , music director , music producer and instrumentalist from Assam, India. He is one of the youngest composers to be awarded with Rajat Kamal for Best Non-Feature Film Music ...

Axl Hazarika Axl Hazarika is an Indian avant-garde musician and film-maker. Hazarika, hailing from Guwahati, Assam, is a pioneer of electronica/ industrial/avant-garde music in Northeast India.

Beauty Sharma Barua Beauty Sharma Barua (born 18 June 1951) is a singer from Assam, India. She is one of the best-known and most respected Assamese Culture, Assamese folk music, Indian classical music, ghazal and bhajan singers of Assam. More popularly known as Th ...

Dhrubajyoti Phukan Dhrubajyoti Phukan ( as, ধ্ৰুৱজ্যোতি ফুকন) is a National Film Award winning musician who has worked as a Music Producer, Music Arranger and Music Programmer in Hindi Films. Widely known as DJ Phukan, he has also wo ...

Dipak Sarma Dipak Sarma is a flutist from the Assam state of India. Works Music director *''Jonky Panoi'' *'' Jatinga Ityadi'' *Working on Luitak Vetibo Kune Discography *''Story of Love'' released by Raaga and Rocks International Company Ltd. *''Beyond th ...

Jim Ankan Deka Jim Ankan Deka (born 1 June 1980) is an Indian musician, documentary film maker, photographer and director of Bangalore based organisation and music school Eastern Fare Music Foundation. He is the first person from Assam to open a music instit ...

* Jitul Sonowal * Joi Barua * Kalpana Patowary * Mayukh Hazarika * Nirmalendu Choudhury *

Queen Hazarika Queen Hazarika (born 16 October 1976) is an Indian playback singer and actress from Assam. She has sung for Assamese films like '' Hiya Diya Niya'' ''Garam Botaah'', ''Mon'', '' Suren Suror Putek'' and ''Sneh Bandhan''. She is the recipient of R ...

* Rudra Baruah * Tarali Sarma * Zubeen Garg

References

{{Reflist * Phukan, Mitra (2003) ''Musical Identity and being an Assamese''
October 2003

Assam Portal
Music of Assam,