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The
Jasnathi Siddhas tribe of the Thar are
followers of Guru Gorakhnath who was famous for his
yogic feats. Even today, they perform an amazing fire dance
to the accompaniment of devotional songs, drums and pipes
which reaches a climactic high with devotees dancing on a
bed of live coals. In the same vein are the Nath Jogis
of Rajasthan who, as mendicant singers, play the jogia
sarangi to provide musical accompaniment to their
singing. The Nath Jogis also carry a chimta,
literally fire tongs, which they clack rhythmically to
create a musical beat. These Jogis are venerated for their
knowledge of herbal medicines and the villagers place great
faith in their prescriptions.
Other songs cannot be as easily categorised, but such
favourites as Endooni, Morubai, Diggipuri ka raja, and
Dhola dhol majira baje re are sung at homes, at
community get-togethers, and, of course, on the occasion of
festivals and fairs. Popular tunes such as those of
Panihari and Dhola... have been included in the
repertoire of army bands. It is not unusual to see
colourfully attired young men and women en route to a
village fair break into these songs, and an endearing sight
is of a bunch of young women on a tractor being driven by a
dandy while singing Diggipuri ka raja.
The musical tradition of Rajasthan includes its unique
entertainer tribes — the Langas, Manganiyars, Mirasis,
and Dholis, to name only a few, are retainers of a
tradition that has no parallel in the world. Some singers
from these communities are well initiated into the nuances
of classical music, though their idiom remains folk in
nature. Their education in music begins early in life, and
the art is passed on naturally from father to son. It is a
routine sight in a Langa or Manganiyar family to see a
grandfather sitting cross-legged with his five-year-old
grandson while prompting him into the intricacies of a raga.
These entertainer communities have survived on a social
system of patronage provided by land-owning agriculturists,
business families, and the royal clans. Each family of
singers has its designated jajmans or ancestral
patrons at whose homes these artistes congregate to
celebrate births, marriages, a child's naming ceremony, or
other festive occasions.
The entertainers often make their own instruments, whether
it is the simple daft dholak or ektara, or more
complicated ones such as the kamayacha, sindbi sarangi,
ravanhattha, jantar, surnai, flute, bankia, or algoja,
calling for their ingenuity in the use of their somewhat
limited resources: goatskin, guts, metal strings,
hollowed gourd, and wood.
While the Langas and Manganiyars of the Marwar region
(around Jodhpur) could form the subject for an 1
anthropological and environmental study, there arc certain
characteristics that even the amateur music lover cannot
fail to notice about them. These musicians form a precious
link between the classical and the folk, what in technical
terminology would be called the Margi and Deshi music of the
land. Most of them are masters at delineating melodies in
rag-raginis while sometimes remaining unaware of the
grammar. They also have the musical prowess to switch over
from one scale to another effortlessly while maintaining
tonal and notational variations. |
