Tarja (তর্জা) is a form of folk poetry contest from

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

with a long tradition. Historically it used to be performed in the village gathering around a chandimandap or altar for village god, mela and other social events, in streets, and marketplace religious festivals. The themes of the contest are usually taken from

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

or Puranas the poets sings his/her part in the form of doggerels and the other participant has to guess the meaning of it. During the rising

bhadralok Bhadralok (, literally 'gentleman', or 'well-mannered person') is Bengali for the new class of 'gentlefolk' who arose during British rule in India in the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Caste and class makeup Accordi ...

population of the

Bengal renaissance Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

many of these clubs as well as jhumur clubs had been destroyed ''Recasting Women:Essays in Colonial History'', Kumkum Sangari et al. , page 157 on the basis of its

obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be us ...

content. An example of a tarja couplet will be like:

Maagi minsheke chit kore fele diye buke diyechhe paa
Aar chokhta kare jhulur jhulur, mukhe neiko raa

This literally translates as "the hussy has thrown the bloke flat on his back, with her foot on his chest/ wordless she stands glaring in anger". The answer to this puzzle will be the goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

and the legend connected to her. The answerer to this will also sing out his/her answer in a poem made at that instant of time.

As an art form

The music grown out of this poetry contest has a particular flavour in it. It is also highly conntected to the other similar forms like jhumur,

tappa Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly by ...

and has contributed to a degree to the music of

References

{{Reflist Poetry movements Bengali-language literature Indian literary movements Spoken word contests Folk poetry