Rajasthan: Folk Dance, Drama and Music

What the official syllabus says

RPSC, RAS/RTS Preliminary Examination, General Knowledge and General Science, under “History, Art, Culture, Literature, Tradition & Heritage of Rajasthan”:

• Performing Art: Folk Dances & Drama. Music (Classical and Folk) & Instruments.

Topics in detail

Folk dances by region and community

• Ghoomar: the best-known women’s dance of Rajasthan, performed at festivals and weddings
• Kalbeliya: dance of the Kalbeliya (snake-charmer) community; Kalbeliya folk songs and dances are on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list (2010)
• Chari (Gujjar women of the Kishangarh-Ajmer area, a brass pot with a lamp on the head), Bhavai (balancing a stack of pots, dancing on glass or a sword’s edge), Terah Taali (Kamad community, devotional to Ramdevji)
• Kachhi Ghodi (dummy-horse dance of Shekhawati), Gair (men’s stick dance at Holi in Mewar and Marwar), Chang (Shekhawati, at Holi), Dandiya (Marwar)
• Agni (fire) dance of the Jasnathi sect (Katariyasar, Bikaner)
• Tribal dances: Gavari (Bhils of Mewar, a long ritual dance-drama), Walar (Garasia), Ghoomra and Ger of the Bhils, Chakri (Kanjar women, Hadoti), Shikari dance of the Sahariyas
• Professional and other dances: Kathak’s Jaipur gharana, Ghudla (women carrying a perforated pot with a lamp in Marwar)

Folk drama and theatre

• Khayal: Kuchamani khayal, Shekhawati khayal, Jaipuri khayal, Turra-Kalangi of Mewar
• Rammat (Bikaner and Jaisalmer), Tamasha of Jaipur (patronised in Sawai Pratap Singh’s time), Nautanki (Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli)
• Swang and the bahrupiya tradition; Raas-lila and Ram-lila (including the silent Ram-lila of Bisau)
• Phad-vachan: the Bhopas performing the story of Pabuji or Devnarayan before the painted scroll; kathputli puppet shows of the Bhatt community

Classical music

• Royal patronage: Rana Kumbha’s works (Sangitraj on music; Rasikapriya, a commentary on the Gita Govinda), Sawai Pratap Singh’s Radha Govind Sangeet Sar, the court musicians (gunijankhana) of Jaipur
• Gharanas: Jaipur-Atrauli gharana of Khayal (Alladiya Khan), Jaipur gharana of Kathak, the Dagar tradition of Dhrupad, Senia tradition of instrumentalists
• Haveli sangeet of the Pushtimarg temples (Nathdwara)

Folk music and singing communities

• Manganiyars and Langas of western Rajasthan; Mirasi, Dholi, Damami, Dhadhi; Bhopas (singers of the epics of Pabuji and Devnarayan); Kalbeliyas; Jogis
• Maand singing, the courtly-folk style of Marwar and Bikaner (‘Kesariya Balam’, sung by Allah Jilai Bai)
• Types of folk songs: Panihari, Kurjan, Moomal, Gorband, Hichki, Olyun, Jhorawa, Kangsiya, Banna-Banni (wedding songs), Jalla; songs of fairs and festivals (Gangaur, Teej); Languriya (Kaila Devi)
• Devotional singing: bhajans of Meera and Dadu, Jamma-jagran of folk deities, Harjas

Musical instruments

• Stringed (tat): Ravanhattha (Bhopas of Pabuji), Kamaicha (Manganiyars), Sarangi and Sindhi Sarangi (Langas), Jantar (Bhopas of Devnarayan), Ektara, Bhapang (Jogis of Alwar), Chikara, Surinda
• Wind (sushir): Algoza, Satara, Narh, Shehnai, Pungi (been), Murli, Mashak (bagpipe), Karna, Shankh
• Percussion with membrane (avanaddh): Dhol, Nagara, Chang, Daph, Mridang/Pakhawaj, Damru, Dholak
• Solid percussion (ghan): Manjira, Khartal, Jhanjh, Morchang, Chimta, Ghungroo, Thali

Puppetry, story-telling and street performance

• Kathputli: string puppets of the Bhatt community, with stories of Amar Singh Rathore and other heroes
• Kavad-vachan: story-telling with the folding painted shrine of Bassi
• Bahrupiya performers and acrobatic traditions (the Nat community)

Cultural institutions

• Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi (Jodhpur), Jawahar Kala Kendra (Jaipur), Ravindra Manch (Jaipur)
• Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal (Udaipur; puppetry and folk arts, founded by Devilal Samar), Rupayan Sansthan (Borunda, Jodhpur; folk music research)
• West Zone Cultural Centre (Udaipur) and the Shilpgram crafts village

Overlaps

Mains Paper I asks about performing arts, folk music and folk dances (Unit I, Part A); the interview awards marks for knowledge of Rajasthani culture (RAS Interview).