Chowtal or Chautal or Chawtal, aside from being the name of a "
taal"/"tala" or meter in
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...
, is a form of folksong of
North India
North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...
's
Bhojpuri region, sung during the
Phagwa or
Holi
Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
festival.
In chowtal, two rows of singers face each other (semi-circle), with a "
dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries s ...
" drummer at one end, and sing lines of Hindi text antiphonally. While the melodies are relatively simple, the song undergoes various modulations of rhythm and tempo, alternating between subdued passages and exciting climaxes. Chowtal is generally sung by enthusiasts for their own pleasure, rather than for an audience. "Chowtal" is an umbrella term for the format, which comprises various subgenres including {{Transliteration, hi, italic=no, chowtal proper, jhumar, ulara, lej, baiswara, dhamar, rasiya, kabir, jogira, and others. Chowtal is performed today in various parts of the Bhojpuri region, but is in decline.
During 1838–1917, chowtal was one of the Bhojpuri folk music genres transmitted by indentured workers to the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
(primarily
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
,
Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
, and
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
),
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. In these sites it has flourished vigorously—in spite of the decline of the Bhojpuri language in Trinidad and Guyana. It also flourished in secondary diaspora communities of Indo-Caribbeans in New York and Florida in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, Indo-South Africans in the United Kingdom and the United States, Indo-Mauritians in the United Kingdom, France, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and of Indo-Fijians in Australia, New Zealand, the west coast of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
References
* Manuel, Peter (2009). “Transnational Chowtal: Bhojpuri Folksong from North India to the Caribbean, Fiji, and Beyond.” Asian Music 40/2: 1–32
* Manuel, Peter (2010). "Tassa Thunder: Folk Music from India to the Caribbean." Documentary video.
* Sasenarine, Rudy, compiler (2009). "Chowtal Rang Bahar: A Treasury of Chowtal Songs from India and the Caribbean." Queens, New York: The Rajkumari Centre.
Indian folk music