|
Rajasthan's
folk music, dances and per forming arts reflect the Indian
way of life which bases itself on a composite view of
things. The cosmos, the environment, the weather; one's
beliefs and traditions; and life and death itself: every
philosophical, spiritual and physical plane merges into the
cultural expression to shape an entity that continues to
remain alive and vibrant. The state's geographical
boundaries touch those of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh in India, and
Sindh in Pakistan. It is hardly surprising that the
varied cultural segments of its neighbours have combined
imperceptibly into the music and dance of Rajasthan to
enrich it. Rajasthan represents that vital reality of the
Indian way of life where the past exists and lives in the
present.
In the villages of Rajasthan, as in other parts of India,
the people base their festive calendar on the movement of
the moon. Their music, songs, dances and associated
festivals are all nature-bound: celebrating the elements and
the environment around them.
In this arid zone, it is natural that the season of the
rains is celebrated with rather more zest than most. In the
rich repertoire of Rajasthani songs, even birds find a
reference as friends and messengers. The peacock and the
crow inspire village bards to create songs that epitomise
romance. Similarly, the vegetation, the trees, the sun, the
moon, and the clouds have become folk idioms that are used
to express everything from the loneliness of a young beloved
pining for her lover, their union, inter-personal
relationships, laughter, faith and happiness.
The extensive variety of folk songs come under many
categories: there are those sung by women, such as
Panihari, that describes the daily chores of fetching
water from the well and a chance encounter with the beloved
who comes riding on a camel. Still another song. Dal
badli ro pani, expresses the preoccupation of a village
belle with water which, in the desert, is such a rare
commodity. No wonder water has acquired myriads of creative
connotations in imagery as expressed in the folk songs of
Rajasthan. And in Chirmi, a plant becomes the friend
to the young child bride who uses it as a confidante for her
nostalgic emotions. In the myriads of other songs sung by
women on the birth of a child, or on the occasion of a
marriage in the family, familial relationships form an
important part.
Strong religious beliefs in turn have given rise to songs
dedicated to family deities, gods and goddesses. There are
religious songs in the folk idiom, as well as those composed
by saint poets such as Surdas, Kabirdas, Meerabai,
Malukdas, and Dadu. These songs are heard at
ratijagas, the night-long soirees of devotional songs
which sometimes induce a trance-like spiritual milieu. In
this particular cultural aspect of music, the division
between classical and folk music begins to blur — the same
devotional songs, as sung by village folk singers, form a
vocal as well as a dance accompaniment to the classical form
when sung by a classical singer. |
