Folk Songs

Monsoon Music: Maharashtra sings of farmers and fruitful harvests

Maharashtra's folk music is deeply inspired by the monsoon and agriculture, and the songs speak of sowing, harvest and the farmers' plight and prayers

Monsoon Music: In Assam, prayers for the arrival of rain — and its departure

The genres of folk music created by tribes in Assam address the monsoon in varied ways, depending on their relationship with this destructive and nourishing season

Monsoon Music: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar's Kajri — an ode to dark clouds

The most popular forms of the Kajri can be found in the Bhojpuri language, but it is also sung in Awadhi and Maithili. The prominent motifs in this genre are Radha-Krishna, looming clouds and peacocks

Monsoon music: From Manipur, mystical songs for the rain

The Meitei people of Manipur have songs for every aspect of the rains. There are songs for when the rain does fall, and songs for when it doesn’t. Songs to appease the rain gods, and songs that embrace all manner of flora and fauna.

Monsoon music: In Rajasthan, the Manganiars dedicate ragas to the rain

The earth has a deeply symbiotic relationship with the rain, but few places anticipate the monsoon with as much anxiety, or welcome it with as much joy, as the desert

Monsoon Music: From Himachal Pradesh, songs about sowing and separation

Each of Himachal Pradesh’s 12 districts has its own tradition of folk songs about the rains, defined by the topography.

Assam's popular folk singer Khagen Mahanta passes away

Mahanta was actively involved in the state's "language movement" in 1960 under the stalwarts Bishnuprasad Rabha, Hemanga Biswas and Jugal Das.

Marwari folk songs now laud Jaswant Singh, the new hero

Imagine the goodwill generated by Muslim bards and singers praising a BJP leader as a symbol of unity on the very border of India and Pakistan. But, somehow, the BJP contrived to throw out an accepted symbol of unity.