This type of music originates from the

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, one of the states of India and home to several important centers of

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

al development, including

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

and

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. The region's music shares similarities both with nearby areas of India and the other side of the border, in the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i province of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Overview

Rajasthan has a diverse collection of musician castes, including Langas, Sapera,

Bhopa The Bhopa people are the priest-singers of the folk deities in the state of Rajasthan, India. They perform in front of a scroll, known as (''par'' in the Rajasthani language) that depicts the episodes of the narrative of the folk deity and func ...

, and

Manganiar The Manganiar are a Muslim community found in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India; mostly in the districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, and in the districts of Tharparkar and Sanghar in the bordering province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are k ...

. There are two traditional classes of musicians: the Langas, who stuck mostly exclusively to

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

audiences and styles, and the

s, who had a more liberal approach. Traditional music includes the women's

Panihari ''Panihari'' is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th ...

songs, which lyrically describes chores, especially centered on water and wells, both of which are an integral part of Rajasthan's desert culture. Other songs, played by various castes, normally begin with the

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccomp ...

, which sets the tune and is followed by a recital of a couplet (dooba). Epic ballads tell tales of heroes like Devnarayan Bhagwan,

Gogaji Gogaji Chauhan, also known as Jahirpeer or Jaharveer Chauhan, is a folk Hindu deity in the northern India. He is worshipped in the northern states of India especially in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab region, Uttar P ...

, Ramdeoji,

Pabuji Pabuji is a Folk religion, folk-deity of Rajasthan in India. Pabuji is worshiped in historical region of Rajputana. The Narrative of Pabuji The narrative of Pabuji is sung by the Bhopa poet-singers of Nayak (caste), Nayak community is based a ...

and

Tejaji Veer Tejaji (29 January 1074 - 28 August 1103) “ ''As per historians, he was born on Friday, Magha Shukla 14 samvat 1130 (29 January 1074)''. also known as Tejaji Maharaj, or simply Tejaji, was a great warrior, social reformer, cow protector ...

. The celebration of changing seasons is also very central to folk music of Rajasthan. Celebration of the coming of the

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

or the harvest season are central to most traditional folk songs. Songs also revolve around daily activities of the local people-- for instance, a song about not sowing Jeera (

Cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

) as it is difficult to tend. Or, for instance, another song about Podina (

Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

) and how it is liked by various members of the family (an allegorical reference to a local liquor extracted from mint is also made). Every day common themes are the center of traditional rajasthani folk music. Komal Kothari was a pioneering scholar who worked for roughly 25 years researching and recording the local practices of Western Rajasthan musicians. The Modern Endangered Archives Program funded a team at the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology (ARCE) at the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) to digitize nearly 1200 sound recordings documenting ballads, oral epics and storytelling by hereditary musician castes. This collection is available digitally through the UCLA library.

List of Rajasthani folk singers

One of the most famous Rajasthani Maand singers is

Allah Jilai Bai Allah Jilai Bai (1 February 1902 – 3 November 1992) was a folk singer from Rajasthan, India. Early life Born in Bikaner to a family of singers, by the age of 10 she was singing in the Durbar of Maharaja Ganga Singh. She took singing lessons ...

of the Bikaner Gharana. *

Kutle Khan Kutle Khan (born 10 January 1984) is an Indian singer, music composer, and songwriter from Rajasthan. He has been a playback singer for numerous films and TV Series such as Aambala, Action, Afwaah, Dahaad, Love Shaadi Drama. Kadish Ulga Por. K ...

*Kheta Khan *

Mame Khan Mame Khan is an Indian playback and folk singer from Rajasthan, India. He has been playback singer for numerous Hindi films such as '' Luck By Chance'' (2009), ''I Am'' (2010), '' No One Killed Jessica'' (2011), '' Mirzya'' (2016) and '' Sonchiri ...

Seema Mishra Seema may refer to: Films * ''Seema'' (1955 film), a Bollywood film * ''Seema'' (1963 film), a Pakistani film * ''Seema'' (1971 film), a Bollywood film People *Seema (given name), an Indian feminine name used in South Asia **Seema (actress) (bor ...

*Prakash Mali * Satkeer *Chotu Singh Rawna *Anupriya Lakhawat *Hemraj Goyal *

Dapu Khan Dapu Khan was a Rajasthani Folk singer known for entertaining tourists from India and abroad in the fort of Jaisalmer over 30 years. He died at the age of 62 on March 13, 2021, after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Dapu is one of the very f ...

Ila Arun Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk-pop singer known for her works in Hindi cinema, and Indian pop. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood films such as '' Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', '' Shaadi Ke Side Effe ...

References

External Links

* The Modern Endangered Archives Progra
Recordings of Hereditary Musicians of Western Rajasthan
collection is available through the UCLA Library. * ''Monograph on Langas: a folk musician caste of Rajasthan''. by Komal Kothari. 1960. * ''Folk musical instruments of Rajasthan: a folio'', by Komal Kothari. Rajasthan Institute of Folklore, 1977. * ''Bards, ballads and boundaries: an ethnographic atlas of music traditions in West Rajasthan'', by Daniel Neuman, Shubha Chaudhuri, Komal Kothari. Seagull, 2007. {{ISBN, 1-905422-07-5.

Overview

List of Rajasthani folk singers

See also

References

External Links