Varsha Pandey
Some of the major folk songs of Chhattisgarh – The dances of Chhattisgarh have a distinct identity all over India.
The dances and folk tales here make its culture important. The folk dance of Chhattisgarh is very rich in terms of stories. The oldest human culture is still present here in the form of wall paintings, theatres, temples and folk dances.
Many castes came here in the medieval period and brought Aryan culture along with them.
There is a lot of similarity in the folk dances of Chhattisgarh. These dances are not just a means of entertainment, but also a part of ethnic dance, religious rituals, and rural gaiety.
After worshiping the gods and ancestors, the life of the people merges with the companionship of nature. Here folk dance developed in different styles with the change of season according to nature.
Musical instruments Mandar, cymbal, manjira, and danda are mainly used in folk dances here.
The people of Chhattisgarh wear Chhattisgarhi jewelry like peacock feathers, pig’s heads, lion’s nails, goose, cowry, and cowrie garlands, etc. while dancing.
The main folk dances of Chhattisgarh
Panthi Dance
Kaksar Dance
Muria Dance
Rawat Dance
Sua Dance
Danda Dance
Domkach Dance
Gaadi Dance
Karma Dance
Sarhul Dance
Gaur Madiya Dance
Pandwani Dance
Some of the major folk songs are as follows
Sua Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
Sua Geet is one of the major popular songs in Chhattisgarh.
The meaning of the Sua song is that women are sending messages through Sua i.e. Mitthu.
Sua is just a bird who keeps on saying rote things.
That’s why women tell their minds to Sua with the belief that he will surely convey their sorrow to their beloved.
That’s why Sua Geet is a separation song.
The girlfriend expresses her grief very easily.
That’s why these songs are poignant.
Listening to this song shows how great poets the women of Chhattisgarh are.
Don’t know how many years these songs have been going on.
These songs are also coming orally.
Sua songs always start with the same lyrics and those lyrics are
“Tari nari naha nari naha nari na na re suana”
And these are repeated in the middle of the song.
The tempo of the song progresses with applause.
Bhojali Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
Bhojli song is another identity of Chhattisgarh.
The brides of Chhattisgarh keep singing this song in the month of Sawan.
The month of Sawan, when greenery is visible all around.
Sometimes a daughter-in-law sings alone and sometimes together with everyone.
Small children of Chhattisgarh grow up in this melodious environment and that’s why they carry that tune with them, they live life on the strength of that tune.
Bhojali means Bho-Jali.
It means there should be water on the land.
This is what women wish through this song.
That’s why Bhojali worships the goddess, that is, nature.
Gaura Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
Gaura Gauri festival celebration with great pomp in Chhattisgarh.
It is Shiva and Gauri is Parvati.
This folk festival is every year after Diwali and Lakshmi Puja.
This festival is during the Krishna Paksha Amavasya of the month of Kartik.
People of all caste communities participate in this puja.
Shuruhutti festival is on the day of Diwali Puja in this region.
That is the beginning of the festival.
On that day at four o’clock in the evening, people go outside the village in herds and worship at one place.
After that, they return to the village with soil from the same place.
After coming back to the village, they wet the soil and make an idol of Shiva-Parvati from that wet soil.
Shiva is Gaura – Gaura is the bull ride and Parvati means Gauri is the ride of the tortoise.
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After making these idols, they keep on a wooden platform and decorated with great beauty.
Gauri on the bull on one wooden platform and Gauri on the tortoise on the other platform.
Four pillars are in the four corners of the pit and oil lamps are placed in it.
It is a beautiful scene.
At night after Lakshmi Puja, from 12 o’clock in the night, the Gaura Gauri tableau keeps roaming in the whole village.
While roaming around, two unmarried boys or girls carry Gaura Gauri’s flowers on their heads.
And Gaura Gauri’s songs start around, dancing and singing both start.
Singing and dancing people circumambulate around the tableau and circumambulate the village.
Some men and women dance with such enthusiasm that they do not come apart.
People believe that at that time the gods and goddesses ride on them.
Gaura folk songs are only by women.
Women sing and men play Damau, Sing Baja, Thol, Gudum, Mohri, Manjira, Jhumka, Dafda, and Trasak, it is called Gandwa Baja because these instruments are played by people of the Ganda caste.
The worship that is done before this festival is done by the people of the Baiga caste.
This worship is called offering rice because rice is offered to Gaura Gauri while singing songs.
Panthi Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
The glory of spirituality is in this dance.
The song by the Satnami sect.
Sohra Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
The song about birth rituals is “Sohar Geet”.
But these songs are sung till the birth anniversary along with the assurance of pregnancy. Such songs are sung more than the birth of a son.
Barua Geet
The song sung at the time of Upnayan Sanskar is called “Barua Geet”.
Wedding Songs/vivah geet
They are sung on various occasions during the marriage ceremony.
The wedding songs sung by the groom’s side and the bride’s side differ.
Funeral Song
These types of songs are prevalent in the state’s Kabir-panthi society, which is sung to make the “soul” recite the words of the Guru.
Bhajan Songs
In these songs there is an emotional description of the Nirguna and Saguna worship of the saints.
Karma Song
Karma song and Karma dance are songs of entertainment and dance.
it is said about Karam Devta that after worshiping Karam i.e. Karma Devta, songs are sung and dances are performed.
That is why it is called Karma Geet Nritya.
Some people say that many years ago there used to be a king named Karamsen.
A sudden calamity came in the life of King Karamsen.
The king did not lose courage. He prayed to the Lord and danced, and sang songs in front of the Lord.
Slowly all his problems went away.
From that time that dance and song came to be known by the name of that king.
Raut Geet
Every year starting from Kartik Shukla Ekadashi, this dance song is sung in the “Raut” community in a festival that lasts for about 10 days.
Holi Songs
These songs are sung collectively after Holika Dahan. This song is called “Faag Geet”.
Perennial Song
The program of singing this song starts from the month of Jetha and the description and glory of the seasons is expressed in it.
Manjhi Song
This dance-song sung by the people living in the hills of Jashpur region of the state is very ear-loving.
Bamboo Song
The singers of bamboo songs are mainly people of Rawat or Ahir caste.
There are a lot of routes in Chhattisgarh. Raut caste is as Yaduvanshi.
That is their ancestor Krishna.
It seems that when the cow was taken to the jungles to taste it, at the same time they gradually started using bamboo as a musical instrument.
The beginning was probably like this – the cow was busy eating grass and Raut young man or maybe the boy would pick up a piece of bamboo and try to get some tune out of it, and then suddenly one day that creative boy started playing that bamboo.
The bamboo song is a very important genre in Chhattisgarhi folk songs.
This bamboo piece is about four feet long.
This bamboo fascinates people with its special tune.
There is a singer in the bamboo song.
He is accompanied by two bamboo players.
The singer is accompanied by two more people called “Ragi” and “Dehi”.
The first player plays the bamboo, and where he stops he exhales, from there the second player takes that note forward.
And only after this, do we hear the voice of the singer.
The singer presents folk tales through song.
Only the singer knows the vocabulary of that folk tale.
“Ragi” is a person who does not know the vocabulary, perhaps completely, that accompanies the singer’s voice.
“Dehi” is the person who encourages the singer and the ragi.
Like “Blessed” “Good” and “Wah wah”. “Ragi” is the one who knows the melody of that song.
In Chhattisgarh, bamboo of the Malin caste is considered the best.
The tone does not break in this bamboo.
Four holes are made in the bamboo by hollowing it from the middle, just as the fingers of the flute player dance on the holes, in the same way, the fingers of the bamboo player also dance on the holes, and that special tune starts coming out.
Rawat people are very hardworking.
Waking up before 4 in the morning, they take the animals out for grazing.
Never return home before evening.
And even after returning home, they have to take care of goats, sheep, and cows.
Seeing her husband constantly busy, Ravatein sometimes gets angry and asks her husband to sell the animals.
Dhola Maru Song
This very famous love song of Rajasthan is also sung very fervently in the rural areas of Chhattisgarh.
Lorik Chandni Song
Based on a folk tale, this song is sung very freely in the rural areas of the state.
Pandwani Song
It is that single drama of Chhattisgarh, about which people of other countries also know. Teejan Bai brought fame to Pandwani in today’s context, not only in our country but also abroad.
Pandvani means Pandavvani – ie Pandavkatha, the story of Mahabharata.
This story is the singing tradition of the “Pardhan” and “Dewar” castes.
Pardhan is a sub-caste of Gods and Dewar is a smoker caste.
There is a difference in the speech and instruments of these two castes.
The people of the Gond tribe live all over Chhattisgarh. The leading singers used to go to the house of their judges and recite Pandwani. Similarly, Pandwani gradually made its place in the subconscious of the residents of Chhattisgarh.
Pardhan Pandwani is a fusion of Gond myths along with being based on the Mahabharata.
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There is no need for any festival or festival to perform Pandwani.
Can present Pandwani anytime anywhere. Sometimes Pandavani goes on continuously for several nights. At present Pandwani singers present the story while roaming around the stage with tambourine in hand. The tambourine sometimes becomes Bhima’s mace and sometimes Arjuna’s bow. The artists of the Sangat sit behind in the semi-circle. One of them is a “raagi” who hums and sings along, helping to propel the narrative through interesting questions.
There are two styles of Pandvani – one is the Kapalik style which exists in the memory or “Kapal” of the singer. The second is the Vedmati style whose basis is Shastra, the Kapalik style is based on reader tradition and the basis of the Vedmati style is Sabalsingh Chauhan’s Mahabharata in Khari language, which is in verse form.
Devar Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
Dewar songs are sung by people of the Dewar caste.
Dewar is a traveling sheel caste or smoker caste of Chhattisgarh.
Sometimes here and sometimes there, maybe that’s why there is so much interest in his songs, there is so much magic in his voice.
Many stories are prevalent about the Dewar people, in one story it is said that the people of the Dewar caste used to sing in the court of Gond kings.
Due to some reason, he was expelled from the Rajdarbar and since then he has been wandering here and there by adopting a smoky life.
Looking at life more closely, he composes songs and dances.
There is a struggle, there is joy, and there is fun in his songs.
Devar songs are sung with Ruju, Thungru, and Mandar.
Devar songs are based on oral tradition.
The subjects of the songs are many, sometimes it is about heroic characters and sometimes it is about atrocities.
Sometimes it is full of humor and sometimes it is full of compassion.
Somewhere in Pandavagatha, there is about war – like – Doon ke pher ragdi ga ragda ga beli ga bela ga dhaadi ga dhada ga rata ri ae, dhadadhid”.
Bharthari Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
There are two characters in Bharthari Geet Katha – Bharthari and Gopichand, with whom this story begins.
Raja Bharthari and nephew Gopichand.
The story of Bharthari is prevalent in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal.
Scholars have different opinions regarding how the story of Bharthari came to Chhattisgarh.
Nandkishore Tiwari ji says that when the Jogis of Bengal used to go to Ujjain, the story of Bharthari became popular in Chhattisgarh as well during that journey – both Bharthari and Gopichand were Nath-fans.
The sect of Nath Panthi Yogis originated in Nepal with a mixture of Buddhist and Shaivite practices.
And after this, this sect spread in the entire Hindi region.
The people of this community were considered uneducated because they were not educated.
But many educated people could not give the education they used to get.
These people used to call themselves Jogis.
People used to reject them by saying that these people are devoid of scriptures.
These people used to win the hearts of people through folk songs.
In Chhattisgarh, Bharthari is called Yogi.
Chhattisgarhi Bharthari is not a song of any particular caste.
Those who sing the song of Bharthari are called yogis.
Jas Geet-Folk songs of Chhattisgarh
The Folklife of Chhattisgarh is incomplete without songs.
The effect of Jas Geet is very important in the folk songs of Chhattisgarh.
Jasgeet is a song of praise to the goddess, a request to the goddess, a prayer.
The place of the goddess is very high in Chhattisgarh.
We get to see the temple of Mahamaya Devi in many places like Ratanpur, Arang, Raipur, Patan, Dantewada, Ambagarh Chowki, Dongargarh, Kanker, and many other places.
Don’t know for how many years the devotees of the Goddess have been writing Jasgeet.
The festival of Navratri comes twice a year.
One is Sharad Navratri, the other is Basant Navratri.
Durga Puja takes place in autumn.
Jawara is sown on the first day of Navratri and it is immersed on Navami day.
When they go for immersion, women go singing Jasgeet.
Goddess Dhanaiya and Goddess Koudaiya are repeatedly mentioned in Jasgeet of Jawara.
The names of both goddesses are always mentioned together in the folk songs.
Chhattisgarh is famous for Paddy and Kodo crops.
People consider both the goddesses as goddesses of crops and that is why their names are taken with respect in folk songs.
That’s why idols of both goddesses are not found anywhere.
Nor is the temple of these goddesses visible anywhere.
Through Jasgeet, both these goddesses have made their place in the hearts of the people.
Mata Seva Geet
Phag Geet
