FOLKLORE

ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES

OF THE SAARC REGION

TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

SAARC LIBRARY OF SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE

FOLKLORE FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS

AND LITERATURE
ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES SAARC APEX BODY
OF THE SAARC REGION SAARC Literary Wing of
ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AND LITERATURE
4/6, Siri Fort Institutional Area, New Delhi-110 049
TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
FOLKLORE
ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES
OF THE SAARC REGION
Editors TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
K. Satchidanandan • Ajeet Cour
First published in India, June 2010

© All rights of this book are reserved with the Foundation of SAARC Writers and
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Cover Painting : Suresh Kumar Dhurvey

ISBN : 81-88703-19-2

FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE Printed by Pasricha Art Printers, Delhi-110 031
 6 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

PART-II
FOLKLORE : THE INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
IN THE SAARC REGION

Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 49

Sitakant Mahapatra
Contents From Canon to Folk : A Dialogic Study of Nepali
Ramayanic Traditions 56
Abhi N. Subedi
Preface 9
Creation Myths : The Infinity of Starting Points 67
Folklore : Centuries-Old Culture of Tribals and
Suryakanthi Tripathi
Adivasis and Rural Folk
Ajeet Cour Folklore, Cultural Roots and State:
Towards a SAARC Identity 77
Introduction 15 Selina Hossain
K. Satchidanandan
Breaking the Boundaries :
The Folk, the Classical and the Modern 89
PART-I K. Satchidanandan
INITIAL REMARKS
PART-III
Culture Begins With Folk 25
SPECIFIC TRADITIONS
Abid Hussain
Bangla Folklore :
Against Extinction 30
Socio-cultural Background and the
B. N. Goswami
Formation-process of Oral Traditions 103
Homage to SAARC 37 Shamsuzzaman Khan
Azizuddin Ahmadzada Panjshiri
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from
Folklore : A Shared Heritage of Humanity 41 Northeast India : In The Context of Naga Ethnicity 113
Chinmaya R. Gharekhan Anungla Aier
Contents 7 8 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain : An Icon of Restructuring Tradition : An Experiment in the
Folklore in the Social Context of Bangladesh 125 Introduction of Performance Pedagogy
Abul Ahsan Choudhury in an Indigenous Performing Art of Bangladesh 246
Lubna Marium
Folklore : Heritage and Identity
in the SAARC Region 140 Our Contributors 263
Mamang Dai

Devotion, Syncretism and Politics:

Myth and Legends of the Indus 150
Raza Rumi

Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language:

In Social Perspective 168
Bhagvandas Patel

Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 181

C. M. Bandhu

Pashto Language : A Great Source of

Human Folklore Studies 193
Abdul Khaliq Rashid

Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 198

Molly Kaushal

The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 214

Rakhshanda Jalil

Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 228

Piyush Daiya

PREFACE
Folklore : Centuries-Old Culture of
Tribals and Adivasis and Rural Folk
If there is something that unites humanity at the deepest
level of culture, it is folklore.
Our folklore is the innocent tale of the wonder that life is !
In the whole of the SAARC region, we share our skies, our
lands, our rivers and oceans, our flora and fauna. Our folklore
reflects the same traditions and histories, the same memories
and indigenous knowledge systems. In our folk tales and folk
songs, gods come to earth to interact with human beings,
birds and animals tell tales of ancient wisdom.
All cultures are rooted in their folklore – in their folk songs,
fables, folktales, folk paintings, folk crafts, folk dances, folk
theatre, myths, legends, and grandmother’s tales. We, the
people of South Asia, are connected at a deeper level through
different forms of articulation; through our shared myths,
traditions, cosmologies, rituals and folk knowledge systems
that together constitute our cultural identity.
SAARC is probably the only region in the world where we
celebrate marriages, pregnancies, child-births, and even
10 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
deaths with songs. We have songs for the changing seasons,
for harvests, for monsoons !
Folklore, as part of our Intangible Heritage, is the most
potent civilisational link among nations of the SAARC region,
extending to even Burma (Myanmar).
The folklore of the SAARC region is the collective
consciousness of the people of this region.
If one drew a line from Afghanistan to Bhutan, and another
from Kashmir to Sri Lanka and Maldives, one finds that there
is no break in communication between any two contiguous
points.
Of all the emotional linkages, our Intangible Heritage and
FOLKLORE is of most vital importance, because it emanates
from our centuries-old historical memories, and goes back
to centuries of civilisational evolution of this region.
Besides sharing our clouds and monsoons, our birds and
animals, our oceans and rivers, our flora and fauna, we in
the SAARC region share long civilisational journeys,
horizontally and vertically, on micro and macro levels.
Folklore has multi-dimensional layers of cultural connectivity,
historical implications, patterns of mythology and their role
in contemporary popular culture in today’s post-modern
world.
Folklore and Intangible Heritage represent our ever-green
roots, with centuries-old moisture soaked in their entrails,
the roots which spread out across the region, and give us our
unique cultural ethos.
Our Intangible Heritage includes Folklore and our
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Historical Memories
of thousands of years, since the Indus Valley Civilisation, as
Preface 11
the landmark of anthropological evidence of one of the most
ancient civilizations of the world.
The genesis of all cultures is in the oral tradition which has
been responsible for passing on, from generation to
generation, the pristine grandeur and haunting fascination
of memories, narrated in our Folklore. Every SAARC
country’s culture bears the imprint of that oral heritage.
Folklore is a terribly ignored subject, particularly in our
SAARC region, where languages are dying, and so are the
folklore traditions. It is high time that mad and committed
people like me, and intelligent people like you should wake
up to the SOS call of our oral traditions of folklore, and try
to resurrect and save a vital part of our cultural and
civilisational heritage.
This is the culture which does not depend on the elite. It is
the culture of the folk: Tribals and Adivasis, and the
common masses. It is the culture still living, throbbing,
thriving in the mud-huts of villages, in the fields of the
farmers, in the forests which are the dwellings of the
Adivasis and the Tribals.
Like the one before which FOSWAL organised in
December 2007, the first-ever such event in the SAARC
region, this Second Folklore Festival also re-orients the
entire cultural paradigm by foregrounding the culture of
our common people expressed so fully and beautifully
through folk tales, songs, myths, legends, proverbs, rituals,
dances and plays.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS EVENT EMANATES
FROM THE FACT THAT CONTEMPORARY
LITERATURE AND RESEARCH AND CULTURAL
PROGRAMMES FOCUS ON THE INTELLIGENTSIA
12 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
AND THE ELITE. THE WHOLE CULTURAL THRUST
IGNORES THE VOICE OF THE MASSES, WHICH
CAN BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD THROUGH
ORAL TRADITIONS OF FOLKLORE AND FOLK
SONGS WHICH ARE LYING AT THE ROOT OF
HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MEMORIES OF OUR
SAARC NATIONS.
Through cultural awareness, and rekindling the spirit of a
shared cultural and civilisational history, which is rich and
unique in its vastness and depth, crystallized over thousands
of years, a new and distinctive SAARC SPIRIT can be
kindled, evolved, brought into focus.
In this era of globalization, when communities and
countries are feeling that their local cultures are being swept
away, it is profoundly essential that cultural connectivity
through ancient traditions of folklore, the repositories of
our common cultural and civilisational heritage, are focused,
projected, strengthened and reinforced by initiatives of
creative fraternity and folklore scholars.
This Second FESTIVAL OF SAARC FOLKLORE, will
be a unique forum for providing a platform to share,
exchange and present the multi-faceted dimensions of
Culture of the Masses ! The Folk !
In the last and first-ever SAARC Folklore Festival in Delhi,
in 2007, about 50 scholars from across the SAARC Region
resolved that :
• Folklore, as the foundation of our peoples’ culture, be
given a special place in the SAARC cultural agenda.
• They unanimously resolved that SAARC Secretariat must
establish a working group on the Folklore, Oral and
Tribal Culture of the SAARC Region with
Preface 13 14 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

recommendatory powers. this Academic Seminar and wide-ranging Folk

• All the Governments of the SAARC Region should be Performances don’t become another ritual.
sent a strong recommendation by the SAARC Secretariat • We at FOSWAL don’t believe in ritualistic happenings
to form Working Groups in their countries to explore, and festivals. We believe in solid, result-oriented work.
collect and preserve Folklore, the original dreams of Work that explores our collective sensitivity in the SAARC
mankind in songs, dances, and drama, before the birth Region, and brings the people closer at an emotional,
of the written word. These should be preserved before cultural and friendly level, so that the people of the region
they get lost. When Folklore dies, languages die, centuries can live in peace and tranquility.
die !
The most urgent job for the SAARC community is to collect,
• These Working Groups should launch a sustained
promote, record, and study Folklore of the SAARC Region,
programme to collect and preserve folk and tribal lore,
preserving the research in books, films, photographs, and in
and study folk culture and the related fields.
audio and video CDs.
• For this purpose, an Institute should be established in a
The most commendable step taken by the SAARC Division
chosen country in the region, and the concerned
of Ministry of External Affairs has been to decide that SAARC
Ministries should establish link-institutions in their
Folklore Festival should be an ANNUAL EVENT, organised
respective countries, besides instituting chairs and
by FOSWAL.
initiating programmes in major Universities, for Folklore
Studies and Research.
• The programmes should also extend support to the living
practitioners of Folklore and the communities – that have
sustained this rich cultural treasure through centuries –
even in circumstances of material scarcity, almost on the Ajeet Cour
verge of starvation – before they become extinct !
• It is tragic that nothing substantial has been done in this
direction, neither by the SAARC Secretariat nor by
Ministry of External Affairs or by the Ministry of Culture.
• It is evident that it needs a collective effort by all these
powerful people to resolve this important issue, for which
a strong, collective will is required.
• Let us hope that another SAARC Folklore Festival with

INTRODUCTION
Here is a second collection of articles on South Asian folklore:
a selection of sixteen papers-along with some introductory
remarks- from the presentations made at the second SAARC
Folklore Festival organised by the Foundation of SAARC
Writers and Literature, India in 2009. The introductory
remarks are meant only to set the tone rather than make a
point. B. N. Goswami speaks of the interconnectedness and
the essentially secular nature of our Margi and Deshi –the
national and regional-traditions and raises his voice against
the threatened extinction of our rural craftsmen and folk
performers. Abid Hussain speaks of the multi-layeredness of
culture and the need to allow its free growth and says literacy
is not central to civilization as our illiterate masses have
contributed heavily to the making of our culture and our
ways of life and thought. Azizuddin Ahmadzada traces the
beginnings of Afghan civilization and its systematic
destruction by foreign invaders and religious
fundamentalists. Chinmaya R. Gharekhan emphasizes the
need to recover the polyphony of our culture getting lost in
the standardizing and monolithic practices emerging from
the new development paradigm.
The section on general considerations carries four papers
that attempt to take stock of the whole folklore scene and
16 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
reconsider basic paradigms. Sitakant Mahapatra considers
folk culture a cumulative title given to the cultural matrix in
which folk societies give expression to their identity. And
spread over a vast arena of folk living-myths, legends, folktales,
songs, dances, paintings, poetry and other modes of cultural
expression. “Historicallty folk cultures are richer in societies
which have low levels of literacy and consequently, much
greater bonding in social life.” Education gives individuals a
greater sense of identity, their way of apprehending the world
and finding a place in society while it also distances them
from the folk culture where the producers and consumers
are the same, taking them closer to elite culture where the
producers and consumers are two distinct groups. Folk
believes in a participatory culture: there are no performers
and spectators; they are the same. Commodification of culture
that comes with modernisation however leads to packaging
and selling of culture, with producers and consumers and
the middle men in the market in between. In the process
either folk culture dies or is forced to take on new forms to
suit the new market and the mostly urban consumer. This
leads to hybridization and vulgarization of the folk in the
interest of the nouveau riche. Mahapatra also speaks of the
effects on folk culture of the emergence of nation-states and
the positive interventions of organizations like the UNESCO
in preserving the diversity of culture, especially what it calls
‘the intangible heritage’. He concludes his key-note address
with a note of hope for the SAARC nations: “On the basis of
discovering the roots of cultural identity, there can be more
meaningful development at two levels: dovetailing them into
the development process and making possible their systematic
and complete documentation and analysis and exchange
programmes with the member-states.”
Introduction 17
In my paper I try to interrogate the neat divisions between
margi and desi, or the classical and the folk I argue that most
of the classical forms are only systematised folk forms and
this systematisation is often the product of what M. N. Srinivas
would call ‘Sanskritisation’, a process of up classing that finally
excludes the original practitioners. This has happened in
Indian painting, music, dance, theatre and architecture in
all of which at a particular stage the original artists were
elbowed out by upper class/upper caste upstarts. We know
how for example Bharatanatyam that was originally the dance
of the Devadasis was sanitized and brahminized by Rukmini
Arundale who then kept the original dancers out equating
them with sex workers. The Marathi theatre is another
example. It is necessary to re-establish the lost continuities
and stop applying the clean European categories to Indian
art forms. I also argue against museumizing folk art instead
of allowing them to remain alive and vibrant and responsive
to the actual discourse of life. They are not ethnic curiosities
to be sold in the market place or taken out as exhibits during
the Republic Day celebrations or international cultural
shows, we need to support the practitioners in their own
situations, their soil and milieu instead of uprooting and
preserving them ‘in tact’.
Suryakanthi Tripathi looks at creation myths which are
mother-myths giving a form and a definition to reality as
currently observed starting from the point when such reality
was not. These stories evolved as the emphasis changed from
the magical to the religious and the scientific. Myths of
creation, by seeking to go back to the absolute origin of
existence and of the universe, legitimize the freeing of
imagination. The South Asian tradition has always
accommodated myths where our beginnings are probably
18 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
hidden. Our future , the writer warns, will be insipid if we
decimate the abundance of myths with our growing
insensitivity, greed and the lazy demand for uniformity. Selina
Hossain examines the possibility of a SAARC identity at the
level of cultural roots. She reminded the audience how
Finland is engaged in retrieving its epic, Kalevala and
encouraging research on folklore as part of establishing its
sense of identity almost lost under the Russian-Swedish
influence. South Asia which has a much richer folklore should
deploy all its available resources to preserve and develop
folklore. As an example to women’s wisdom as expressed in
folklore she presents the case of Khana whose proverbs
connected fruitful agriculture with good governance.
Indigenous knowledge had much to do with our food
security in times of yore. The writer also speaks of
Chandraboti Ramayana where Sita, and not Rama, is the
real protagonist. Sita’s pain and disgust are described in rural
idiom so that ordinary women can identify with the tragic
heroine. Selina also speaks of her own novel based on the
folktale around Goddess Monosha and Chand Sowdagor,
depicting the former as the State and the latter as the
protesting public – this is one way of using folklore as a
cultural resource that can carry contemporary messages. She
dreams of a day when South Asian Union will become a
reality.
The section on specific traditions carries twelve studies of
specific traditions and practices. Shamsuzzaman Khan
analyses in detail the socio-cultural back ground and the
process of the formation of Bangla folklore. Abhi Subedi
looks at the Ramayana traditions in Nepal to show that they
moved from monologic to dialogic forms, breaking the
canons and adapting to local and indigenous forms. The Lok
Introduction 19
Ramayanas of Nepal have evolved out of an interpretative
adaptation of the Nepali transcreation of the Sanskrit
Adhyatma Ramayana by Bhanubhkta Acharya, and have
been popularised by the troubadours known as Ganines. In
the dialogic process the folk oral form shows that the textual
boundaries of the epic forms do not create cul-de-sacs. They
liberate the genre by opening up new vistas of dialogue
between texts as well as different layers of human experience.
Anungla Aier examines the folklore of the multiethnic and
multicultural Northeast India in the context of Naga ethnicity
and identity, drawing from the concepts of folklore developed
by Mazarul Islam and Richard Baumen. With more and
more people living outside of their own cultural group within
the region or in urban areas in different parts of the country,
as it has been happening recently, the writer observes, ethnic
folklore as a response to the new social experiences is emerging
as an important aspect of their cultural repertoire.
Abul Ahsan Choudhury seeks to study the mystic Baul poet
Lalon Shain as an icon of folklore in the social context of
Bangladesh. Lalon represents, he says, the genres like
traditional art, literature, culture and practice disseminated
largely through oral communication and behavioral example.
His songs carry his views on religion, society, human beings,
race and culture and goes beyond the distinctions of caste,
creed, race and class. His philosophy is syncretic, drawn from
diverse religious sources and he confronts the orthodoxy and
the fundamentalists with a radical understanding of the
divine. It is Lalon’s liberal and secular outlook, his attempt
to foster brotherhood among the people and to rise above
the narrowness of religion, caste and sect and his humanism
that have made him an icon of human love especially relevant
in our troubled times. Mamang Dai surveys the folklore of
20 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Arunachal Pradesh and establishes the connection between
stories, beliefs, taboos and rituals in folklore through several
interesting illustrations.
Raza Rumi examines the myths and legends of the Indus
and traces the evolution of a composite culture in the region
over centuries of amalgamation of diverse spiritual practices
that continue even today. This consensus, the scholar says,
was truncated by the assertions of Muslim identity and the
claims to nationhood that resulted in the Partition of India.
It is unfortunate the Sindh and its myriad subcultures have
fallen victim to the higher games of politics, power seeking
and economic interests of local leadership. India cannot be
without the Indus and Pakistan cannot function as a viable
ecological zone without this magic river. We need to reclaim
the Indus folklore and conserve the shared heritage of India
and Pakistan. The author concludes with the question, “What
could be a better agenda for the two countries to agree upon
and take their cooperation forward beyond the constructed
walls of acrimonies and bitterness?”
Bhagvandas Patel studies in detail the songs of courtship in
Dungri Bhili language from a social perspective The songs,
he maintains, express intense feelings but never glorify
personal experiences. Their message is egalitarian; they are
honest and sincere and express a deep harmony with nature.
The lovers are aware of the ephemeral nature of their
courtship; there is pain, but no bitterness in their parting
when one of them is getting married; the girl asks the mate
to find her namesake and live happily with her. The pair
celebrates the last moments in eating and drinking together.
The language of the songs is simple, unornamented and
poignant. C. M. Bandhu travels towards the common roots
of South Asian peoples and cultures through a study of their
Introduction 21 22 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

folklore. He looks closely at the Nepali traditions like Damari, how it is essential to rehabilitate the pioneers of folk practices
Charyagiti, Sorathi, Baharathari and Gopichan. He and resurrect their arts , solemnizing their symbiotic ingenuity.
emphasises the need to collect and preserve our folklore Lubna Marium in her well-thought out essay examines lathi-
including the rural laws, tales, songs, rituals, ceremonies, khela, a martial art of Bangladesh involving the use of bamboo
proverbs and prayers. Abdul Khaliq Rashid sees in Pushto sticks, as an example of the enduring popularity of indigenous
language a great source of human folklore studies. He looks performing arts even in the age of globalisation and consumer
at the relationships between Pashto Pali and Sanskrit as also culture. She also suggests the elements and stages of a
at the genres like Landay, Charbaite,Bagaty, Saruki and performance pedagogy using this art form as an example.
Dastan. I am confident that these papers together form a valuable
Molly Kaushal’s scholarly study of Sanjhi, a traditional art addition to the growing corpus of folklore studies in South
form present chiefly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Asia and as such would be welcomed by scholars and lay
Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra and Goa, is a rare readers alike. I also hope they will lead to more comparative
contribution to folklore studies in India. She examines the folklore studies as well as concerted attempts to keep alive,
songs as well as the stories behind the forms of Sanjhi as well promote and enrich our folklore and support its hapless
as the motifs and the ways they are decorated. Rakhshanda practitioners.
Jalil finds folk element to have been an integral part of Urdu K. Satchidanandan
literature from its very inception. The great Amir Khusro
himself illustrates the impact of the folk on Urdu poetic
imagination. Qissas and Baramasas are close to lokgeets in
origin. Even in the contemporary fiction by Ismat Chughtai
or Qurratulain Hyder one can find the influence of folk
traditions that helps them to be rooted in the soil. Poets like
Nazir Akabarabadi are also deeply oriented towards the folk.
Piyush Daiya attempts a vital critique of the research on
folklore, the ways in which the researchers present culture
and society and their creative forms, often adulterating the
integral elements of the system. He advocates a new cultural
cartography that brings together the creative skills and works
of our rural communities. He concludes his elaborate and
well-illustrated critique like this: “Before our living traditions
and cultures get a trangled in the vortex of consumerism, we
all must take an initiative to keep them invigorated”. He says
 PART - I
INITIAL REMARKS

Abid Hussain
Culture Begins With Folk
The presentations, which have been made so far, have given
you some idea how folk culture goes beyond the local.
Actually, the local becomes the universal, without walls. A
particular identity becomes universal. I think that folk music,
folk culture, folk language has been in a constant struggle
with what is artificial, because, if you really ask me, there is a
difference between an actual flower and a plastic flower, and
today when we think of what has been lost, it makes us sad.
My own feeling is that culture is layers and layers of what has
been contributed by mankind over a period of time and this
particular pyramid does not end in a small peak but continues
to grow like a pillar or something constantly moving and as
you go higher up, it widens rather than narrows and that is
what I think the culture is. And about the folk culture my
own feeling is that its simplicity should not be confused with
a lack of understanding. And that is why, in my own humble
way, I feel that when we think of the folk culture or folk
music, the first thing we have is feeling rather than
understanding. Because it’s a natural thing. Beauty is not
what you call beauty, beauty is created by the feeling and
what we consider beautiful is really an expression of our
feeling about an object that we have seen.
26 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
There are different paths of culture, even in India, it has got
to be pluralistic. Culture can not be otherwise. Culture will
break down, culture will be futile, unless and until it is
allowed to go its own way. It is like a stream, which flows
from heart to heart. As long as the stream flows, you can
irrigate and you can go forward. And the day the stream
gets dried up, life is nothing but a wasteland. And, therefore,
I would definitely consider without knowing much, without
being classically aware of the sanctity of the finest of culture
and folklore, that it really makes a lot of difference when
you start with the feeling rather than trying to understand.
As somebody has said: the unhappy man is one who is trying
to find out what happiness means.
I like Goswami talking about Urdu Poetry and what he said
about Hyderabad and Golconda, “We see the beauty of that
particular culture is that its language” borrows things from
the local languages, Telugu and Marathi and others, rather
than from Persian. What would you call this one? A girl,
whose husband has taken up a job in the city and has not
come back home, is really worried that perhaps she has lost
her husband to a girl in the city and her whole life is destroyed
and she says :
“Naukari paar pavo, jaan ko aafat ho gai
Bachchey ro ro ke una ki buri haalat ho gai
Neend lagatich nahin, har raat kayamat ho gai
Mere maalik ko kya kya bol ke ghumai haungi
Kya kya pila ke sulayien haungi
Allah karo uske halaq main badi machchali ka kaanta
aad jao
Again she thinks her man is going to come back and she
Culture Begins With Folk 27
says:
Uno din bhar kahan pe bhi rahane,
Raat ko aana baase,
Ghouda kahin tau geere
Than tau aana baase
All the vocabulary in this has nothing to do with Persian or
Arabic. Look at this :
Samadhi Sahab se jab meine poochcha,
Kya Samadhan phir ummeed se hai
Sharama ke bas itna bole
Kya baulun nahin bola tau sunte nahin
Mein peeth palta ke sau gaya tau chuntiyan le ke uthaati
Nahin bola tau sunte nahin
What I am trying to say is what Goswami rightly stated that
the local language has got a particular beauty of its own.
The other day, I heard another piece:
Huaa so ho gaya
Ab uspe pachchtaye tau kya hoga
Bheegi baarud ko angaar lagaye tau kya hoga
One more example:
Taras taras ke mar gaya
Panake mila nahin doodh ka ek kataraa
Khabar hai ke bhains ka maanda
tume abla e tau kya hoga
Then you are quoting Urdu poetry of the north:
Jab aadami ke haal pe chchaati hai muflisi
28 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Kis tarah se aadami ko sataati hai muflisi
Kya khoob sauda nagad hai
is haath le us haath de
Meva khila meva mile
Phal phul le phal phat de
Ya din ko de aur raat le
Very ordinary in a way, but so true. You can have fiction, you
can write novels, you can create literature, but the basic idea
is absolutely there and it’s India.
Ladki voh jo Ladkiyon mein khele
Na ki voh jo mardaun mein dund pele
I don’t agree with that at all, but at the same time, one has to
appreciate how people’s culture, people’s language and
people’s way of thinking look at our women; it looks good.
Let me also say :
Vah ri takrir ki lijjat, jo usne kaha
Mein yeh jana ke goya yeh bhi mere dil mein hai
I mean what he was trying to say was exactly the thing which
perhaps already is in our hearts. The only thing is, we were
not able to give expression to it. Art is a mix of many things,
which one can’t easily understand. Sight has been given to
us but that understanding has not been given to us. In art, I
think, feeling comes first and the expression follows. I look
at a face and feel happy; I look at another face and I feel
angry; I look at a third’s face and I feel anguish. The individual
becomes extremely important in these particular areas. I was
also wondering as to how we describe the folk art of India.
My own feeling is that illiterate society is the most civilized
Culture Begins With Folk
society. You think that literacy makes civilization; not
necessarily. Literacy is perhaps one form in which you see
that an expression can be given to your thought or
imagination. But otherwise literacy is any vehicle of
expression, that language can be dance, it can be music, it
can be acrobatics, it can be anything. There is a struggle
which is constantly going on.
Let me put forward one more idea : what is considered
civilization is really artificiality built around reality. How do
we build a strategy which makes us understand folk dances
and the folk music? The basis is folk; folk is not individualism,
folk is collectivism. Folk has got no inhibitions as in
Christianity or Islam in terms of sex or sin. The idea of shame
really came from Christianity and Islam. Hinduism says
nothing about ‘shame’. About Ellora and Ajanta – some of
you have already been there – a poet said:
Takhaddus ke sahare ji raha hai jank- e- uryani
Really it is true, the naked bodies are there, but they are
purified because of takhaddus, because for devotion. Ajanta
was not built in one day, hundreds of days passed, thousands
of artists worked on it. So folk culture too.
29
B. N. Goswami
Against Extinction
On this occasion, I am reminded of a wonderful book, which
a friend of mine gave me a long time ago, called the Golden
Peaches of Samarkand. I do not know how many people are
aware of that wonderful book. What it does essentially is
that it traces the movement of objects, mainly fruits and
vegetables from one area to the other, how they were carried.
A great book! It really reads like fiction. It has a great story
in it, but more than that it establishes rivalries between nations
which is very often forgotten.
What Dr. Ahmadzada said is critical to our understanding
of what happens not only in our own region but in the world
outside, of their neglect of the true sources of civilization.
They say : You and I cannot fight so and so. So let us leave it
at that for the time being.
When we talk about folklore and folk festivals, the most
important thing that comes to my mind is that we really do
not have enough respect for the persons who have preserved
folklore for us. The respect, which is due to these people,
this respect which really should be built into culture, is
missing in our own thoughts. I am reminded of a great poet
Against Extinction
of this sub-continent, Azim Kazmi, who wrote, long time
ago, a very beautiful poem from which I quote some lines:
Khuda Azim
Zamana Azim
Waqt Azim
Agar haqir hai koi yahan
Tau sirf nadim
Vahi nadim vahi ladala bahishtaun ka
Vahi nadim jau masju tha farishtaun ka
Voh jisne jab ishq ke badale mein saza pai
Tau kaynaat ke saraun bahar aayi
Uda tau geet bikhere, jhuka tau phool khilaaye
Badha tau rahain tarashin, ruka tau khasar banaye
Voh jiske naam se azmat qasam uthaati hai
Usi ki aaj khudai hansi udaati hai
I had quoted this at a meeting of the Crafts Council of Delhi,
as they were celebrating the Golden Jubilee. We were
honouring a particular type of craftsmen and very simple
people who have come from various parts of the country
and so, I said that at this moment of time, we are standing
here honouring them with shawl and small gifts and
testimonials. But I can assure you that one of these people,
like Sonabai, who has been honoured, tries to enter the
corridors of power in Shastri Bhavan, she would not get past
a peon. Not in the future, but tomorrow; this moment we
recognize her but tomorrow she would be completely not
31 32 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
only lost but forgotten, and that is the imbalance in our
society. That is an extraordinary lapse in our civil society that
we do not have a developed and sustained respect for the
makers, the sustainers, the people who have preserved the
culture of our land, our region, in this extraordinary fashion.
So I think a seminar like this is meaningful as it draws
attention not only to performances but to performers also.
Performances are here today and gone tomorrow, but the
performer-_ the person who is the creator of the art, the
person who has preserved it for us, the person who has
transmitted it to the next generation, is easily and shamefully
forgotten. And if we in this Seminar or anywhere else, can
try and restore the balance even in a small degree, we would
have done something useful and meaningful.
In our great texts of the past, like the Natyashastra, we speak
of two parallel streams; one is called marg, the other desh.
Marg is the classical and it is a broad path that we travel, and
desh is regional, the local, the folklore very interesting
development has taken place over centuries; a relationship is
being established between marg and desh. Marg may be a
broad path, may be this is particular, but the connection
between them is our essentially secular nature. Because it is
not possible for culture to travel from the top to the bottom,
but it rises from the bottom to the top.
If we look at any event, let’s take any area, let’s take the area
of music, I mean classical music, we have six ragas, six raginis,
seventy two ragputras and so on, and they are repeated like
parrot, from person to person. But, how many of us
remember that great many of these ragas, which are adopted
into the classical tradition over centuries, are based on folk.
Against Extinction 33
Kumar Gandharva, for instance, goes back to raag maand
of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Anything this gathering can do in terms of keeping happy
the maker of this simple tune, simple poetry, that voice needs
to be articulated and those voices must reach the high
Almighty, because without that we would have lost
enormously. Everyday something is disappearing, languages
are disappearing, dialects are disappearing, species are
disappearing. We all know that everyday some destruction is
taking place and this moment if we can make an effort to
shore up whatever is alive, we would have done a meaningful
and useful thing.
The second thought which comes to my mind is, a discussion
about the lack of translation from one area to the other. It is
a very important matter, which was discussed. But while the
general point is taken from one language to the other, from
one region to the other, there is hardly any translation which
is being done. So the literature of the people from one region
is hardly known to the people of other regions. An equally
important point was raised that all translation is bad. At this
moment, they are mostly unreadable. If you look at the
extraordinary translations which have been made from other
languages to the European languages, for example you read
the translation of Tolstoy from Russian to English, it’s a
seamless translation; it seems as if it has been originally written
in English. The quality of our translation – I tried in my own
younger days to read some regional literature, I took a very
famous book of Kannada language, which was translated in
English–I could not go beyond 8 or 10 pages, it was so literal,
it lost all flavour, so as a part of our endeavour, to reach out,
writers, poets across regions and cultures should merely
34 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
encourage translation but should found an institution where
translation is taught.
A university we have founded in Delhi, South Asian
University. I was involved, some time ago, in a meeting where
we were deciding a logo for that university. Enormous
amounts of money have been spent by the government on
this institution and most valuable land in the heart of Delhi
has been reserved for it, I suppose, it would get off the ground
in 2010. So why is it not possible to raise our voice, so that a
major institution facilitating the translation from one
language or dialect to others, should form an essential part
of that University? I can assure you that if we do not raise
our voice, it will be completely neglected or ignored. All
emphasis will be on other areas, like economics and political
science and sciences. Perhaps language will be taught but an
institution for translation, which teaches people how to
translate is necessary and is critical to the whole enterprise of
moving from one culture to the other. My submission
therefore is, whenever you are adopting a resolution at the
end of the Seminar, which is a common thing to do, I would
recommend very strongly that you pay attention to this
particular thing and see if it is possible to raise our voice in
the corridors of power and have that incorporated as an
essential part of the South Asia University that is coming
into being.
There are a number of things one can touch upon; I am not
really competent to enter those areas. We have seven zonal
cultural centres in this country; they were set up a number
of years ago, twenty five years ago. The idea was excellent,
we should have zonal cultural centres, so that the local
culture, whatever has survived, can be projected; it can really
Against Extinction 35
be showcased and encouraged. But what have the zonal
centres got reduced to, is essentially “Mela Culture”,
essentially what they are doing is “Melas”. There, most
ordinary performances take place; nothing in terms of
literature, nothing in terms of meaningful contribution to
culture. There may be exceptions, forgive me my ignorance,
but that seems to be the general case.
I think what we really need to keep sharply focused in our
mind is exactly what we are doing at this particular time.
There is an element of performance which is at a very high
level. We are devaluing it, if the level of that art is not kept
very high in that particular area. Similarly, in academic events
like this, you are responsible for that encouragement to be
given. Two things must go side by side; we must create
something, not only showcase. If we create something
through the seminars, if we can put all the papers together,
I mean whatever is going to be read here, if we can prepare
a document, which will receive attention, then we would
have done something. The arts I am involved with, the visual
arts, I shall keep for another occasion in a couple of days
from now.
At this particular moment of time, what I would say is that
the focus must remain absolutely sharp; we must make
meaningful suggestions which are translated into reality. If
more time is lost, fewer the chances that it will survive. A
wonderful poet, who used to write generally caustic,
journalistic pieces, wrote a poem called “Mahagyani” on the
emergence of the caste system. I will not burden you with
that poem, but I would recite a few lines :
Dudhiya chaand mein phir dale gaaye chaar shigaaf
36 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Aur dhadakane lagi, phatane lagi simi kiranin
Mmaat main aansu ubhar aaye, fizaa mein fadake
phhaaleke maasoom kaleje phoonke
Cheekh utthe devata, rukane lagi brahmaand ki saans
Aur use batate hue, kahate hue aalam mein
Chaand ki badhati nooraanee ne dam taud diya
Ek ki chaar shuuaan ka shikari bola
Dekh farzand mein tere liye kya laya hoon
Brahma ka mukaddas farzand, ye zavaan kshatree
Shamsheerau humumat ka dhani
Vaish sarmaya aur daulat ka khuda bande vani
Aur ye shudar hai, kafas doz, shudrau bolo mahagyani
manudev ki jai
If the craftsman that I am speaking of, is unknown, forgotten,
negelected – I am not talking of caste system as such, I am
not talking of dalits and so on, I am talking about crafts people
– Those innocent people who have been the base which did
every thing – if they are neglected, as they are, there is very
little hope.
Let me simply present to you a writer’s dilemma as far as
writing on art is concerned. The artist remains a kind of
elusive person. We know remarkably little about it, this world
of silence that we are entering, and it is very, very hard to be
able to pick up whatever whispers we can, from the past.
When we look at a painting, we do not know anything about
it at all. What is the intent of the artist, there is no document
that has come down; not a single diary of any painter has
survived, unlike in Europe to enter the mind of the artist
who produces that kind of work.

Azizuddin Ahmadzada Panjshiri
Homage to SAARC
Thank you very much. Madam Ajeet Cour, for your kind
words. First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting us to
such an august and prestigious meeting–among the scholars,
writers and poets–the most sensitive people of the world. As
Madam Cour put it, SAARC was established on December
8, 1985, with an initiative from Bangladesh, Nepal and India.
SAARC would have been incomplete if Afghanistan had not
joined, because civilization started from Balkh, going all the
way to Bhutan and Myanmar. With persuasion and with the
help of the Government of India, in May 2007, Afghanistan
joined as a full member of SAARC.
For the first the time in December, 2007 I was asked by
President Karzai to represent Afghanistan in the SAARC
Secretariat. It was a lower post for me, but I accepted it
because I wanted to represent Afghanistan and I am the
first Director from Afghanistan in the SAARC Secretariat.
At the SAARC Secretariat, there are eight divisions of work
and the head of each division is a Director from the eight
countries, and there is a Secretary-General, selected by the
Ministerial Council, in alphabetical order for three years.
Now, it is the turn of India and Dr. Srikant Sharma is running
the Secretariat on behalf of India.
38 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Our SAARC activities are various and extensive. We are
working on large areas like culture, agriculture,
environment, finance, trade, economics, poverty alleviation,
media, women’s rights and terrorism. We are also involved
in the area of culture and youth. SAARC has eleven regional
centres. In the summit of 2008, it was decided that SAARC
should establish a SAARC Cultural Centre and it is located
in Colombo. This Cultural Centre became functional in
January 2009 and there is a prominent cultural personality
appointed as its director.
At the SAARC, we feel this kind of gathering, particularly
in the area of culture, is of great importance. Writers and
poets, are the pillars of every society. These are the people
who create things and these are the people who can motivate
the society. These are the people who advise politicians with
constructive ideas.
Our civilization started 1500 years ago in the city of Balkh,
the present city of Mazar-e-Sharif or Bukhdi, and they call
it, the mother of cities. All prominent scholars have visited
Balkh and they have lived there, for example, Omar
Khayyam, the famous poet of Iran. He was a frequent visitor
and he was living for some time in the street of Bardaprushan–
they call it the Slave Street. He was a frequent visitor to this
area to learn astronomy, mathematics and literature from
scholars of Balkh. When Changez Khan invaded Afghanistan,
he conquered Balkh and appointed his nephew Halaqu the
Governor of Balkh, the present Mazar-e-Sharif. At this time,
in this city we have somewhere around 1.5 million literary
and cultural documents. Certain tribes of Afghanistan broke
the agreement with Changez Khan and Halaqu, his nephew,
was assassinated. Changez got angry and he ordered that
every living finch should be killed. That’s why, they call it,
Homage to SAARC 39
there is a place in Bamiyan called Shaharau Gul Ghulam,
the city of cries. They roamed the entire place and burned
these 1.5 million lyrics.
So such things happened to our country. Before this also,
the centre of civilization was again this area. Ashoka the Great,
who had converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, lived in
Takshila during winter and Kapisa during summer. Kapisa
is a province of Afghanistan, located near Kabul. Now it’s a
military base of Americans. And from there, Ashoka used to
go to Bamiyan where the Buddha statues were located.
Bamiyan was built 1700 years ago, and it was ruined by these
criminals, called Taliban. And for the first time in the history
of the region, when Islam travelled from Afghanistan to all
the way East, Buddhism travelled from Afghanistan to
China. Ashoka’s preachers went from Afghanistan to China
to introduce Buddhism. Jalaluddin Akbar united the entire
Hindustan. He brought 160 poets from Afghanistan. I was
trying to mention, this cultural territory of which the centre
was Ariana in Balkh, the northern border went Samarkand
and Bukhara, the western border was Baghdad, the eastern
border was all the way to Myanmar, and the southern border
was Indian Ocean. The entire region belonged to one
cultural territory.
I come from a valley called Panjshir, located in Hindukush.
I would say that our writers, our poets, they have a very, very
important job, to enlighten the masses about their cultural
values, about their cultural existence, about their cultural
importance. Actually, our region is the cradle of human
civilization. I do sincerely believe that this kind of gathering
in the area of culture can give us the opportunity to enlighten
our young people, our new generation to be equipped with
their past and to understand their past and to respect the
40 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
scholars, writers, artists, the creative people and their society.
I wish the Governments of the region, particularly the
Governments of SAARC member countries, paid attention
to this. In the SAARC Secretariat, I can assure you we are
ready to co-operate with such personalities in the area of
culture and with writers, journalists, poets and others. I will
conclude wishing lots of success for this gathering. We hope
this kind of gathering will continue in future. We hope that
we will continue to have the honour and opportunity to meet
such prominent personalities, learn from them and also share
ideas with them. I thank you once again, Madam Ajeet Cour,
for inviting me here. Distinguished participants, I wish you
lots of success.
I respect and value the activities of the Government of India.
India is helping SAARC and helping Afghanistan truly. India
comes third or fourth in helping Afghanistan, providing an
aid of 1.25 billion dollars. Besides the new university that
they have offered recently, a few months ago, India is willing
to help in establishing the Agricultural University, with three
faculties. So this sincere help, without any mal-intention, is
very much appreciated by the people of Afghanistan. I thank
the Government of India for that.

Chinmaya R. Gharekhan
Folklore : A Shared Heritage
of Humanity
The SAARC was established to promote peace, stability, amity
and progress in the South Asian region by fostering mutual
understanding, good neighbourly relations and meaningful
cooperation among the Member States, which are bound
by ties of history and culture. It is indeed imperative that
culture should lie at the very core of developing such an
understanding. Among the many diverse and complex
components of culture, folklore constitutes the very basis on
which and through which communities create and manifest
expressions of the self and the other. If on the one hand it is
the most potent vehicle of self identity, then on the other
hand it is a means through which communities break
hierarchies, cross borders, establish intercultural contacts,
and lend and borrow ideas, aspirations, ethical codes,
historical memories, cultural heroes and role models.
The travel of folklore, myths, legends, ballads, and songs is
a well known fact. Merchants and traders, pilgrims and
explorers, singers of tales have from time immemorial carried
to distant lands myths and legends, ballads and epics, where
they were adapted and made own. It is here on this plane
42 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
that people became aware of their common roots and
heritage, turning these simple tales into complex sagas of
human predicaments, posing questions and providing
solutions. What the science easily ignored as superstitions
were indeed generations of experience and interaction with
nature that taught human beings to respect nature, to
maintain ecological balance, to live in peace and harmony
with oneself and world at large. These were the first lessons
in understanding the complex relationship among human
beings; between humans and nature; and humans and
divine, stressing upon the interconnectivity and
interdependences of all phenomena. Humans, nature and
divine appear on a single plane as a continuum, as an
interconnected whole. This worldview was later eloquently
phrased in world religions, sung in the hymns of the Vedas,
and made the very core of Buddhist thought, which science
later adapted into the ‘Gaya’ concept and which the quantum
physics validates.
The well-known American folklorist Roger Abrahms
distinguished between ‘the folklore of the hearth’ and ‘the
folklore of the market place’. A.K. Ramanujan, a great poet,
philosopher and folklorist of world repute, introduced the
two faces of folklore ‘akham’ (domestic) and ‘puram’ (public).
If folklore of the hearth or ‘akham’ made communities look
inwards and pass it on to successive generations as core values
of the families and symbol of group solidarity, the market
place or ‘puram’ folklore made the same values disperse over
great geographical space and provided a creative space for
civilizational encounters and intercultural dialogue.
Today, the many instruments, perfected over time, tunes and
melodies existing in different sonic and linguistic versions,
epics and ballads sung and performed as tales of origin and
Folklore : A Shared Heritage of Humanity 43
historical past, in different regions, by different communities;
with distinct socio-cultural nuances, are indeed the shared
common heritage of entire humanity, of its creative needs
and aesthetic and spiritual aspirations.
For historical reasons the Map of the SAARC countries has
been drawn in a particular manner. But within the geography
of this region, countries have shared, for centuries, common
cultural heritage. To take a few examples, the traditions of
block printed fabric, embroideries, and woodcarvings, as they
exist in the Thar Desert, are commonly shared between India
and Pakistan. Similarly, the traditions of Jamdani weavings
and Kantha embroideries exist both in Bangladesh and West
Bengal. Traditions of building monasteries, weaving textiles
and certain cultic aspects of Buddhism are common between
Bhutan and the Indian Himalayan region. India and
Afghanistan have commonly shared the wealth of Central
Asian Cultural traditions. Tamilian Cultural traditions as well
as the Budhist culture of India in Sri Lanka have grown side
by side.
Countries of the SAARC region are organically linked as a
civilizational and cultural whole owing to this free travel,
mutual reception, and innovative and creative adaptation of
ideas and motifs, skill and knowledge systems. All that is sung
in tales and ballads, performed in ritual and dances carry
the distinct imprints of individual communities and yet easily
discernible as something commonly shared and unique to
the South Asian region as a whole. We share a common
ecological and socio-cultural habitat; our history is the history
of confluences and creative assimilations manifested in shared
rituals, fairs and festivals, epics and other narrative traditions,
in our crafts and skills, in our relationship to nature and
resource management, in our spiritual quest and traditional
44 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
methods of conflict resolutions. The traditions of Ramayana
and Mahabharata, the Buddhist jatakas and animal fables,
the music and poetry of Sufi saints, masked dances and sagas
of bravery and romance, our weaves and embroideries, our
costumes and cuisine, our ritual drawings and designs
whether on floor or on the walls, our symbols and motifs
have all evolved over centuries of this give and take
relationship, of mutual exchange and adaptability. These few
examples would suffice to show that SAARC countries are
culturally and historically deeply interconnected and these
bonds are indissoluble. Building upon these bonds of folk
traditions as well as art and culture, SAARC countries can
chalk out a path for meaningful and constructive
development together.
Sadly, this common heritage of our humanity finds itself today
at the margins of mainstream culture. There has been a
tremendous paradigm shift in our thinking, aspirations and
the way we look at ourselves and the world. Apart from
complex historical past, the tremendous forces that are at
work now-the economic, political, social or technological-
have impacted our lives in a way that has led to violence,
fragmentation and breakdown of social structures. We live
and work in an environment of violence that has corroded
the very core of humanity, human and spiritual values.
Singular and monolithic models of development,
industrialization, modernity, urbanization, globalization and
technification have led to the disintegration of core human
values; our rivers and waters have been polluted, our hills
and mountains have been denuded, our life worlds have been
intruded upon by political and structural violence. Our songs
and dances, music and theatre have been reduced to mere
spectacles to serve the interest of singular and motivated
Folklore : A Shared Heritage of Humanity 45
identities, leaving little scope for deep contemplation, and
spiritual quest. The emphasis today is on consumption rather
than preservation. Splendor and grandiosity of event have
pushed back the real issues of revitalization of these processes
and contexts in which folk cultures survive and thrive.
Commodification and over-emphasis on eco-cultural tourism
have replaced the need for uniting art with lifeways that
sustain the inner core of cultural experiencing.
Decontextualized and devoid of its socio-cultural contexts,
folklore has been reduced to a mere ‘showcasing’, where over-
aestheticization and exotification have replaced the complex
web of interconnectedness of ecology, ritual, performance,
and quest for balance and harmony between all phenomena
of nature. Unable to bear the pressures of rapid
modernization and urbanization, communities and their
mental scapes have disintegrated due to migration,
displacement, and social, cultural, political and economic
marginalization.
It would be appropriate to remember here what the early
twentieth century Indian artist Nandalal Bose had
prognosticated by the following words;
“The kind of sadness and destructiveness we are experiencing
all over the world are due to the increasing power of man’s
distorted intellect and selfish attitude. Economic or political
steps may seem to bring change, but they are temporary.
Change will be permanent only if steps other than those
leading to physical indulgence and self interests can be taken
and practiced. Music, literature and art provide those kinds
of possibilities; Healthy human attitudes are built by them.
Rhythm and harmony between specific and the whole - one
and many is their gift to human kind”
46 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The need is to recover the ‘polyphony of voices’ that alone
creates ‘symphony’ of communication which is dialogical not
hegemonic, flexible not determinant, flowing not stagnate,
serene not destabilizing. Negotiation through dialogue is the
only way forward if we need to come out of ‘Matchbox
identities’, to borrow Amartya Sen’s term. Folklore provides
that third space between the ‘self and the other’, where and
through which this dialogue may take place. Folklore is not
just a voice of the marginalized, but is ‘polyphonic symphony’
of all that is humane. It is the shared heritage of entire
humanity.
Ajeet Cour ji is to be congratulated for so forcefully bringing
this agenda to the fore in the SAARC Charter for peace and
development of South Asian region. Foswal, an apex body
and cultural wing of the SAARC, under the leadership of
Ajeet Cour, for several years through conferences, seminars,
exhibitions, festivals and constant interactions has been
building bridges between the countries in the subcontinent.
She has brought back the issues of preservation,
documentation, dissemination and revitalization of folklore
to the centre of the debate, and efforts of SAARC for a better
future and mutual understanding between different
countries, communities and groups in the region.
I am honoured to be a part of this endeavor to forge and
revitalize the inter- cultural dialogue so necessary for
eradicating violence, mistrust, apathy, sheer helplessness of
humanity in front of divisive forces at work in today’s socio-
cultural and political milieu.
 PART - II
FOLKLORE :
THE INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
IN THE SAARC REGION

Sitakant Mahapatra
Heritage and Identity in the
SAARC Region
SAARC is a regional grouping of independent sovereign states
like several others of such groupings such as Asean, OAS,
Nato, etc. Such grouping emerges from a realization that
while they are all members of a world body the UN, there
are certain commonality of interests which can be better
addressed and promoted to everyone member’s benefit if
they forge an alliance. The achievement of this group since
its formation bears ample testimony to this aspiration. Co-
operation has been possible in several fields of national life –
political, economic, social and cultural even while respecting
each other’s sovereignty. Purely as instances one may cite the
Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan and the LTTE
as a massive problem for Sri Lanka. They have been always
looked upon by members of the group either as internal or
bilateral problems in which member-countries have never
intervened.
It is necessary to remember that each member country of
the group has a sense of its own identity which is its cumulative
awareness of its political and economic profile, its social
structure and cultural heritage. Certain outstanding matters,
50 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
however, stand out. Four of the group, namely, India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were under foreign rule
for nearly 200 years in the recent past. That has naturally
left its imprint on various aspects of political, economic, social
and cultural landscapes. Secondly, three major world
religions, namely Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism have been
formative influences that have shaped life-styles, cultural
patterns, social mores and even approach to political-
economic issues over the centuries. Thirdly, such religious
faiths have also travelled across borders enriching cultural
wealth of the country where they have arrived and taken
roots. It is easy to remember the contribution of Islam to
India’s art and architecture, dance, songs and painting
traditions. Buddhism from India have given Sri Lanka
numerous world-class heritages like Anuradhapur of which
the nation is proud. Fourthly and most importantly, is the
commonality in vibrant and rich mosaic of folk culture in its
various manifestations.
( ii )
Folk culture is a cumulative title given to the cultural matrix
in which folk societies give expression to their identity. They
are naturally spread over the vast arena of folk living – their
legends, myths, folktales, songs, dances, paintings, poetry and
all other modes of cultural expression. Historically folk
cultures are richer in societies which have low levels of literacy
and consequently much greater bonding in group life. It is a
known feature of social transformation that education tends
to give individuals an increasing sense of their “own identity”,
their way of apprehending the world and finding a place in
society. A measure of distancing from the folk is always a
feature of education and modernization. Sociologists have
contrasted folk and elite culture, or what is alternately termed
Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 51
as desi and margi culture. We can briefly look at the major
distinguishing features of these two formations. In elite
culture, the producers and consumers are broadly
distinguished as two separate groups. This is not so in folk
culture where the producers are themselves consumers. In
fact they produce it exclusively for their own enjoyment and
at its root is a participative mechanism that is natural and
not borne out of any persuasion by any agency. In a folk
dancing and singing, for example, virtually everybody
participates and enjoys. Elite culture tends to make culture
a product which is marketable. Once the concept of market
emerges it brings in its wake several other sub-concepts
namely sellers and buyers, categorization of cultural
manifestations as commodities and mechanisms of pricing
the emergence of middlemen for whom the culture becomes
a market and its marketing a business. Commodification of
culture leads to marketing mechanism, advertisements,
packaging of culture as entertainment and the governing
concern of profit. The hiatus between elitist culture and folk
culture is a well-known phenomenon and sociologists have
generally agreed that with economic growth and higher
patterns of personal income and expenditure, folk culture
takes a beating in several ways. On one hand, the forms tend
to modify themselves to make them acceptable to the new
demands of the market. Studies have revealed how it leads,
by stages, to the dilution of their natural charm, authenticity
and energy and their gradual degradation and degeneration
by hybridization. Even well-formed, stable and venerated
classical cultural forms suffer the onslaught of the rapidly
growing new market and slowly, if imperceptibly, hybridize
themselves to gain acceptability of the new clientele, the new
nouveau riche customers.
52 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Luckily in the SAARC countries, most folk cultural patterns
are still prevailing with their original authenticity, strength
and naturalness. It will, however, be untrue to deny that
they have already faced the onslaught of the “new” market
and are slowly seeking to adjust; some to be more easily
marketable, earn higher value and some others to survive
and not face extinction.
( iii )
It is possible to view the heritage of the SAARC countries as
two parallel and interacting spectrums. Firstly, the classical,
more recognized forms in architecture, sculpture, classical
music, dance and traditional, time-venerated painting and
secondly the myriad rich patterns of folk culture which have
been broadly outlined above.
The political entity called the sovereign State, born out of
the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, as parallel to
and sometimes identical with the nation was, at least in its
origin, a European concept. Quite often political scientists
have even designated it as nation-state. The colonial powers
who created their empires in Asia and Africa in 19th century
grafted them on ancient societies which were sometimes rich
ancient civilizations. The results, for understandable reasons,
have been different for different countries and there is no
discernible uniform pattern that emerged. Democracy as a
form of Government and way of life as accompaniment to
the nation-state has met with varying measures of success.
Next to political patterns are the patterns and processes
adopted for economic growth and economic development.
While as political forms, there were republican, self-governing
institutional frames in various regions in earlier times,
economic growth was a generally neglected issue. The
Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 53
common man was a much ignored entity among the ruling
oligarchies, the upper classes dependent on them and the
beneficiaries of the political systems. It is only since the mid-
20th century with the coming of independence positive
economic development goals were set-up and administrative-
bureaucratic patterns fashioned to achieve them.
From the above brief analysis, it would be apparent that for
the SAARC countries taken as a group, the ongoing political-
economic patterns (which no doubt are also being constantly
adopted to the emerging world scenarios, the UN, the World
Bank and IMF, etc.) are less uniform and more marked by
specific birth-pangs and differential origins. The socio-
cultural patterns, however, have retained and even now reveal
a much greater commonality which is in the common interest
of all the countries to nurture and make possible their growth
in authentic manner and without hybridization and
vulgarization
It is felt that the quest for identity of each member of this
group demands a thorough understanding of its heritage,
scientific documentation of its various forms, and their
collection, collation and analysis. This applies more
particularly to the neglected forms of folk culture which
deserve to be systematically identified. The preservation of
this heritage, in addition to the more well-known classical
forms, is a national task and identity as a nation should be
structured on it. Institutional frames for the purpose are, I
believe, available in most member-states in shape of
Akademies, Departments of Culture and other Institutions.
A networking of them for documentation purposes should
be a national priority. Simultaneously, meaningful
collaboration with other member-states, exchange of scholars
interested in study and research of these forms, joint
54 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
collaborative publications, analysis of how different states
dovetail these cultural forms based on folk ways of living
with their economic planning – all these will be extremely
useful.
( iv )
A few years back, UNESCO was worried about the
deleterious ways of economic growth and patterns of
development on forms of local culture. It posed a central
question: Is it not possible to think of a pattern of economic
development which keeps local culture at its core? For
studying this matter, UNESCO created a World Decade
for Cultural Development entrusted with the task of
mainstreaming culture in the Development Process. I was
privileged to have worked as the President of this body for
two years. Later, the World Commission on Culture and
Development headed by ex-Secretary General U.N., Perez
de Cuellar, was constituted in which I was a permanent
invitee. Its task was to study this issue in greater depth. Its
report titled Our Creative Diversity has since been published
and discussions have gone on in different fora, namely the
member-states of the UNESCO, the different UN
organizations and more particularly, the aid-giving
institutions like the World Bank and IMF.
The report emphasized two central points. Firstly, the
distortion and death of folk forms of culture anywhere will
be a loss to the world community as a whole. It noted
unmistakable evidence of such distortion and death in various
regions, more particularly in Asia and Africa. It, therefore,
urged systematic documentation of these forms. Secondly, it
urged a greater symbiotic relationship between economic
growth and cultural forms. When this happens, growth
impulses are stimulated among the beneficiary common man,
Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 55

acceptability of development efforts of the State are increased Abhi N. Subedi

and resistance to them diminished.
Taking all these factors into account, it is felt that each
member-state of the SAARC region should take legitimate
pride both in its tangible and intangible heritage, document
them fully and seek to assert its identity, not merely in terms
of size or demography, economic growth, GDP or per capita From Canon to Folk:
income but also the strength of its cultural heritage. On the
basis of discovering the roots of cultural identity, there can A Dialogic Study of Nepali
be more meaningful development at two levels: dovetailing
them into the development process and making possible their
Ramayanic Traditions
systematic and complete documentation and analysis and
exchange programmes with the member-states.
Folkloristic epic variants can show movements from canons
to folk versions of the fixed narratives. I want to show that
the available folk variants of the Ramayana especially the
Lok Ramayana breaks what Bakhtin calls the monologic
form of the epic and transforms it into a dialogic form. The
long debate about the evolution of the scripted versions of
the epic forms has shown that the oral folk forms of the epic
stories in different major areas of the world become versatile,
performative and dialogic in nature where they are enlivened
by the performers. The folk forms have the dynamics of
breaking canons and adapting to local and indigenous forms.
But a study of the folk Nepali Ramayana sung by the
troubadours of Nepal known as Ganines has shown that the
folk forms have evolved out of an interpretive adaptation of
the Nepali transcreation of the Sanskrit fixed form of the
Adhyatma Ramayana into Nepali by Bhanubhakta Acharya
(1814-1866). This epic has remained very popular in Nepal
and among the Indian populace of Nepali origin for a long
time. This phenomenon shows the following:
From Canon to Folk 57
a. The process of transferring or breaking the fixed canon
can start with a vernacular transcreation or translation of
the fixed form. Bhanubhakta Acharya’s transcreation of
the Ramayana, which is long held by critics as the popular
version has the folk dynamics.
b. We can see the folk dynamics of the translated or
transcreated text in the indigenous adaptation of it by
the performers and singers. The Lok Ramayana gives some
very interesting examples of how Bhanubhakta’s
Ramayana is interpreted by the Gaines. We are not
talking here about the stories of the Ramayana as adapted
by the folk performers; it is also a stylistic interpretation
of how that process of transferring canon into folk is
achieved by the folk creators and performers.
c. In such hermeneutics the folk text should be relied on.
d. Such process of transfer shows that the poetry, epic poetry
for that matter, is not a monolithic form but a very
exuberant, dialogic and carnivalesque construct. If we miss
that point about the folk epic forms we miss a very
important point of cultural and poetic discourse.
New movements have appeared in the study of this subject
of canon and folk interaction. The underlying dynamics of
the movement can be seen in the mapping of the story in
the indigenous ways. Chudamani Bandhu says there are five
types of oral narratives of Ramayana performed in different
parts of Nepal. Bandhu stresses on the performative dynamics
of these folk variants of the epic form that include forms like
Dhamari and Nachari, Leela and Charitra also familiar by
the name of Sorathi. These forms are adaptations of the
Ramayana according to the folk traditions of the people of
that area. 1 The variant forms are not often juxtaposed for
58 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
academic purposes because the locations, stylistic variations
of the folk narrative are tacitly hegemonised according to
the social values based on caste, ethnic structures and
functional assignments made by the society according to
which different groups add variations to the fixed text. But
newer forms of juxtapositions have begun to trigger the
interest of the folk scholars especially in the context of the
burgeoning sphere of the Ramayana in the Asia pacific
region, which has been used for folkloristic, spiritual and
above all, political purposes.
I would like to discuss the subject of intertexual or metatextual
forms before citing examples from the folk and the
Bhanubhakta texts and how they interact. The dialogic
dynamics of the folk Ramayanic epic form deserves some
discussions. The so-called monologic epic form gets
transmitted by developing various textual forms, which
prepare it for dialogue. The transformed or adapted text
assumes the role of a dialogic form more than anything else.
The troubadour’s Ramayana is one such transformed text
that by virtue of being so becomes a dialogic or interactive
text. Folk literature has that power to absorb the genres as
they reach them and transform the fixed borders of the text
in this process. When that happens we should know that
they have already taken a leap and the canon is always already
deconstructed. That process happens through intertexual
relationships. The variant forms can become hypertext.
Philippe Benoit, considers “Krittibasa Rayamana” in Bengali
as a hypertext. He says he was inspired to study Krittibasa
Ramayana as hypertext after reading Gerard Genette’s
sentence at the beginning of his book Palimpsestes. Genette
in his book distinguishes differences between Valmiki and
Krittibasa’ Ramayana. In this process he says that a poetic
From Canon to Folk 59
text should not be judged in its ‘singularity’. It should be
seen in its ‘transtextuality’: “everything which connects a
particular text openly or secretly with other texts”. He shows
five kinds of transtextual relations, which can have
intersections. These relations are subsumed under the
categories of intertextuality i.e. “the presence of a text into
another one’; paratextuality i.e. the great mass of
commentaries in ancient Indian literature; metatextuality,
i.e. ‘critical relationship of a text with another one’;
architextuality, i.e; ‘general categories and hypertextuality.
He says though the hypertextuality or ‘distortion, parody,
burlesque imitations or pastiche’ are not too common in
ancient Indian literature, Bengali literature is rich in the
same.2 The following parallel texts however do not push the
original text to a form that would make it a hypertext. But
Krittibasa’s Ramayana shows a poet’s carefully chosen
aberration. The troubadour’s folk forms are interestingly
parallel texts. The volume is small and the strong impact of
orality can be seen in the adaptation made for the folk and
illiterate listeners whom the Gaines would meet as they travel
singing.
I want to cite some parallel texts between the Lok Ramayana
and Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana.3
lqu guqeku fp=kdqV~ek jke vkuUn fFk,
n;k Hk;ks lhrkthdks gkrek rfd;k fn, (folk 4)
Oh, Hanumana listen! Ram was relaxing in Chitrakut
Sitaji kindly gave her arm for pillow
,d fnu gs guqeku e fp=kdqVek jkedk uftdek fFk;k¡
esjk dk[kegk¡ lqR;k j j?kqukFk gkrdks rfd;k fn;k¡
(Bhanubhakta 103)
60 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Oh, Hanuman one day I was near Rama in Chitrakut
He slept near me and I gave my arm for pillow
pkj dksl~dk guqeku gq¡nk chl dksl eq[kdh lqjlk
pkyhl~ dksl~dk guqeku gq¡nk vlh dksl ykbu~ Hkjkslk
N chl dksldk guqeku gq¡nk ;kQuk eu~dk f<dys
nwbZ l, dksl~dks eq[k ckm¡nk ilsj isV~ckV fuDys (folk 47)
Hanuman became 4 kos and Surasa became twenty
Hanuman became 40 kos and Bharosa (sic) became eighty
Hanuman became 120 kos and with determination
Surasa became 200 kos and Hanuman entered her mouth
and emerged.
pkj dksl~dk guqeku nsf[k lqjlk fcl~ dksldks eq[k~ xfju~
pkfyl~ dksl~ guqeku~ Hk;k j vfl dksl~ eq[k~ Qsfj tYnh /kfju~
tYnh Qsj~ guqekuys Nfcl dksl~dks :iS xjkbZ cL;k
Qsj nwbZ l; dksl~ eq[kS tc xfju~ v¡xq"B HkSa HkS iL;k
fuLD;k tYnh--- --- (Bhanubhakta 92)
Surasa saw Hanuman 4 kos wide and opened her mouth
4 kos wide
Hanuman became 40 kos wide Surasa made her mouth
80 kos wide
Losing no time Hanuman became 120 kos wide and sat
with pride
She opened her mouth 200 kos wide and Hanuman
entered it like a finger
and emerged …
xM~xkikfj e`x ekjh rslzk ckl~ek [kk,
pkSFkk ckl~ek HkjOnkt fj[kh vkJe~ vk,
ikapkS fnuek fj[khdqekj ;equkdks jLrh
From Canon to Folk 61
fp=kdqV~ek iqxh Qsyk ikjs ckfYedh fjlhdks cLrh (folk 32)
Across Ganga hunted a deer and ate for the third night
Reached Bharadwaj Rishi’s Ashram for the fourth night
For the fifth day following the Yamuna trail the
Rishikumars
Reached Chitrakut and found Rishi Balmiki’s settlement
xM~-xk ikj~ rfj fexZ ekfj idqok rkjsj [kk;k rgk¡
rsl~jks okl~ j?kqukFkdks rfg¡ Hk;ks ,d~ o`{kdk ry~ egk¡
pkSFkks okl~ j?kqukFkdks gqu x;ks vkJe~ HkjOnktdks
jke~T;wdks Çf"kys xj~;k Lrqfr rgk¡ lqj~ tkfu dke~dktdks
(Bhanubhakta 35)
Across Ganga hunted a deer and ate the deer fried
Third night Raghunath spent there under a tree
Reached Bharadwaj Rishi’s Ashram for the fourth night
The Rishi prayed to Ram knowing this is the main work
In this parallel texts both stylistically i.e., in the choice of the
same words and in capturing similar narrative threads we
see the desire to accentuate the theme. Some expressions that
Bhanubhakta uses in this transcreation of the fixed Sanskrit
text come very close to the folk text, which can not be a
coincidence. This phenomenon makes me think about one
possibility. Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana went down to the
public through the singing of a small group of the literate
people because the poet had already brought it closer to the
popular level by interpreting the complex Sanskrit text in
vernacular of simple order. That was a great dialogic process,
and the first one, the second being the Gaines’ adaptation of
it.
62 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The Gaines appear to adapt their Ramayana for singing
through a double process of cognition and transmission. We
can see parallel experiences in the folk epics from Homer to
other similar oral epic traditions of Asia, Africa and other
countries. In this process of adaptation, first the textual
manipulator would have used the text for cognition before
taking it from door to door for transmission and convincing
the audience that the epic was worth listening to. How the
different communities use the Ramayanic text reflect their
own cognitive interpretations of the world and their special
modes of simplifying the metaphysics and the spiritual
complex content into recognisable metaphors. According
to Foley, “if we are to read the ancient … epics fluently we
must be willing to read them on their own terms—by
resetting our default cognitive unit from word to “word.”4
The indigenous people make the cognitive interpretation of
the Ramayanic ancient text.
Benjamin in his essay ‘Storyteller’ sees epic form differently
from Bakhtin who considers this form as outmoded.
Benjamin thinks that epic reflects “popular spirit” and “it is
the product of the community” and by the same token, it is
always changing because it is always narrated by a storyteller
whose performativity makes this oral form always alive.5 The
discussion puts the subject of performativity of the text very
eloquently. They cite the linguistic philosopher J. L. Austin
whose theory of speech act is very well grounded in the area
of linguistic pragmatics. Austin however does not accept
poetry for that. He says poetry is only for writing not for
speech; it does not perform any act. On the contrary Richard
P. Martin in his well-known book The Language of Heroes
(1989) shows Homeric songs as speech acts made so through
a process of dramatisation and development of the
From Canon to Folk 63
performative aspect of the songs that it utilises or cites.6
There are reasons to believe that Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana
that was sung by a small literate population mobile in different
locations was transformed into oral form as a process of
transforming the fixed text. The troubadours known as Gaine
famously sing a Lok Ramayana or folk Ramayana that appears
to emulate Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana. Certain textual stylistic
evidence show how that process must have happened. Such
an approximated text will in the words of Romila Thapar
“also signal a need for sensitivity to the creations of those
who seek in the story an articulation of their own anguish
and aspirations”.7 I have used for comparative analyses the
Lok Ramayana oral texts that have been brought into printed
forms by folklorists in Nepal. This study is based upon the
belief that even fixed texts are the constructs of the dual
process of the oral and literate forms making inroads into
each other at some modes of time. According to Kapila
Vatsyayan even a treatise like Natyasastra, “flowed with the
constant interplay of the oral and the written... we realised
that within the tradition the course of the river, the process,
was more important than the frozen, fixed, sealed entity of a
text at a particular point”.8
Folk texts open up tremendous resources in the study of how
the “sealed entity of a text” is broken by orality. Kusumakar
Neupane, a Nepali folklorist believes “though the tradition
of singing Lok Ramayana is old, its proper study has started
only recently.9” He believes that the study of the Lok
Ramayana should be made separately because it follows or
emulates the structure of the epic tradition and should be
treated separately. I believe that a textual study of the Lok
Ramayana will reveal a dialogic content, which in Baktinian
sense will open up productive modes of interpretations.
64 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The Ramayanic folk is unique in a number of ways. Unlike
the Hudke folk singers’ narratives of the royal genealogies of
the central Himalayan region, Lok Ramayana transcends the
geo-political narrative space in terms of theme because it
emulates the mytho-poetic range of the epic story. The heroic
stories sung by professional singers of that region cover the
realistic historical battles of the rulers and the oracular gods
and spirits. Marie Lecomte-Tilouine and other researchers
have systematically put the geographical, real and folk
practices of the region in a new historicist order of study in a
book titled Bards and Mediums.10 Like the Gaines, folk
singers of that region have a social class and they too lead
hard lives in a discriminatory caste-ridden society.
But the Gaines enliven the Ramayana with their own ethos,
ethics and sentiments. Their theme being the Ramayana,
they transform the fixed form into a Ramayanic variant that
creates a force of poetic nature through singing and
transmission of the oral form from one generation to another.
Bhanubhakta Acharya’s Ramayana continues to enjoy great
popularity even in the difficult times. That ambivalent
approach of the Nepali readers to the Ramayana represents
a folk psyche that is at the centre of the dynamics of the Lok
Ramayana . If we look carefully at the dialogic relationship
between Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana and Lok Ramayana we
can see how the dialectics between literate and oral cultures
in Nepal has shaped the movement of the canon to the folk
and vice-versa.
A few more words about Bhanubhakta’s Ramayana are in
order. It has also been interpreted as the creation of a certain
dominant class in the society. But this text continues to be
the politico-cultural symbol among a large number of people
both inside and outside Nepal. My hypothesis is that poet
From Canon to Folk 65
Bhanubhakta was transforming the fixed Sanskrit text of the
Adhyatma Ramayana into a vernacular Nepali form that
would move the canon closer to a form that would be easily
accepted by the common people following a trajectory of
literacy to orality. A great debate is going on in Nepal about
the location of the readership of this Ramayana. Those who
propagate a monolithic nationalism based on the domination
of a single language and single culture use Bhanubhakta’s
Ramayana as the text that sutures diversities together. But
that is a false assumption. Folkloristic analyses of oral variant
texts show that his effort to create a Ramayana that would
be accessible to the common people has achieved a significant
degree of success which is judged by the dialogic nature of
the transformed folk text that interestingly appears to follow
his Ramayana. “Fusing of horizon” takes place in the realms
of epic stories all the time. The nature may be different but
the process of cognition and transmission is the same for all
ages and times. Guida M. Jackson in an introduction to a
volume that gives title and summary of 1,400 epic titles of
the world says of the fusion, “If the fusing of horizons, due
to long accretion, can be considered an apt metaphor for
the epic’s “moment,” a suitable simile for the constitution of
our human experience may be Jacques Derrida’s paradigm
of a collage or montage.11" But the layers of experience
formed in a culture like that of Nepal where orality
dominated and still dominates the folk epic imaginaire, the
dynamics of transmitting the epic genre from the fixed
Sanskrit form via vernacular transcreation to folk forms and
still finding the threads running all the way down the line of
different versions may be said to be truly representing
montage. But there is a difference. In this dialogic process
the folk oral form shows that textual boundaries of the epic
66 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
forms do not create cul-de-sacs. Conversely, they liberate the
genre by opening up different vistas of dialogue not only
between texts but between different layers of human
experience. The Nepali experience may carry some universal
attributes of folk epics and only folk texts can carry us to that
position.
References :
1. Chudamani Bandhu, “Nepali oral Epic: Ramayana “ in Molley Kaushaled,
ed, Chanted Narrative (Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,
2001). Pp 261-266.
2. Philippe Benoit, “Krittibasa Rayamana as a Hypertext” in Vasudha Dalmia,
Theo Damsteegt eds. Narrative Strategies (Delhi: OUP, 1998). pp 5-7.
3. Two texts Kusumakar Neupane, Lok Ramayana ( ibid) and Bhanubhakta’s
Ramayana (Kathmandu: Sajha, 2001 edition) have been used here for
citation of texts.
4. John Miles Foley, “Reading” Homer through oral tradition,” College Literature.
34.2 (Spring 2007): 1(28). Gale. Accessed 10 June 2009.
5. “Introduction” in Margaret Beissinger et al ed. Epic Traditions in the
Contemporary World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999). p 5.
6. Beissinger et al, p. 22.
7. Foreword to Paula Richman ed. Questioning Ramayanas (Delhi: OUP,
2000: xii).
8. Kapila Vatsyayan, Bharata, the Natyasastra (Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1996,
2001). P, 164.
9. Kusumakar Neupane, Lok Ramayana (Kathmandu: Kusumakar, 2008). P,
14.
10. Marie Lecomte-Tilouine ed, Bards and Mediums (Almora: Almora Book
Depot, 2009).
11. Guida M. Jackson, Traditional Epics (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1994). P. xviii.

Suryakanthi Tripathi
Creation Myths : The Infinity of
Starting Points
In the beginning.
What was there in the beginning and even before it? How
did the beginning begin? And why? Each culture and age
has asked these questions. The great mystery of it has been
alive from the time the cavemen first gazed up at the stars
and wondered. It has been the impulse for the greatest of
philosophy, literature, art and scientific endeavour.
The Nasadiya Suktam of the Rig Veda says there was neither
existence then, nor non-existence; neither death nor
immortality. In the vaulted splendor of Michelangelo’s Sistine
Chapel, God seems to reach out to Adam in awesome majesty
to grant him a glimpse of our origins. But Adam perhaps
was not yet ready for this awakening. The Hubble Telescope
doggedly outlasts its expected life, entranced by the displays
of gigantic stellar fireworks in one minute edge of our
universe. We are all still thirsting for an inkling of an answer.
In the beginning.
Every culture has a story about the origin of the universe,
the creation of the world and of all living things. Many share
the themes of creation by a supreme being, through an
68 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
inexplicable self-generated impulse, through some manner
of divine coupling, from a cosmic egg, or through the gradual
securing of earth from undifferentiated waters. But the
regional and tribal variants of these themes and the details
with which they are embellished are a multitude.
Each story embodies the fertile conjecture in a pre-scientific
age of this mystery by a particular community. The creation
myth is symbolic. It is a narrative of a community’s belief of
the beginnings of the world, and of its own beginnings. These
creation myths, hence, are at the root of what a people
basically believe in, their sense of relationship, priority and
belonging.
There has been considerable discussion among scholars about
myths and folktales. Some view myths as a type of folktale,
while others see folktales as a genre of myths. While an
absolute distinction is not possible or perhaps even required,
the tendency is to view a myth as attempting to serve an
underlying purpose or expound a deeper theme, by dealing
with dilemmas beyond those generated by simple social
situations.
It has been said that the understanding of a culture is never
complete without a careful study of its creation accounts.
The cosmogonic myth enjoys special prestige because it shapes
the religious beliefs of a community and thus also impacts
on its social and economic interactions.
In a sense, the creation myth tends to be the mother myth.
It gives a definition and a form to the reality as it is currently
observed starting from a point when such reality was not. It
is of the origin and processes of the universe, and of man’s
centering and space within it. This, therefore, shapes how
an individual must act and interact with others in his group,
with other human communities, with non-human life, with
Creation Myths : The Infinity of Starting Points 69
nature and with earth.
Moreover, since no strictly logical explanation is available
for the multiplicity of life and circumstance, the structure of
the myth is not a limiting or a limited one. Not circumscribed
by rational parameters and undeterred by the irrational, the
creation myth begins to abound with profound import as
well as symbols, and its theme eventually becomes the
progenitor of subsequent myths. It stimulates philosophical
and religious enquiry into cause and being. It is ultimately at
the root of what separates for us our notions of the sacred
and the profane, the mysterious and the mundane.
As de Fontenelle, a French scholar, said in the eighteenth
century, there is a universal human predisposition toward
mythology. It is obviously true since, from across the globe,
we have myriads of creation myths, staggeringly distributed
both in space and in time.
These stories evolved too as human emphasis changed from
the magical to the religious and then to the empirical and
scientific. Distinct myths also emerged as a result of
interaction with other communities, as they did in the light
of greater understanding and growth in knowledge.
Thus, myths of creation by seeking to go back to the absolute
origin of existence and of the universe, legitimize the freeing
of imagination. By their very nature, they give birth to
allegories for one has to speak of the infinite in finite,
comprehensible terms. That is how they stir the creative
imagination in the telling of other myths, and so have a
significant influence on the customs and even the non-mythic
expressions of a community, thereby becoming an
inseparable part of its culture.
Ritual is generally seen as a sanctified means to summon and
70 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
to placate the unfathomable and fundamental power–the
one which is in a sense responsible for this creation and, hence,
of our present existence. The creation myth, therefore, while
not necessarily acting as a stimulus to ritual, has a
fundamental impact on the character of ritual expressions
and, often thereby, in our cultural values and representations.
Many of the eastern cultures hold that creation takes place
through its constituent elements–from which the material
world is composed and into which it eventually disintegrates.
At a very fundamental level they refer to the five bhutas:
earth, water, fire, air and sky.
With the elements as their basis, for example, the tribes of
Arunachal have developed a vivid and highly sophisticated
cosmogony. The elements themselves are not exactly identical
to the five bhutas, nor do they constitute just a single creation
layer. According to their oral myths, the primal elements–
ater, egg, cloud, rock, wood and the Supreme Being are
responsible for the creation of the secondary elements which,
in turn, generate the third level of elements. Acting together
thereafter, they help create knowledge.
Each of the primal elements is itself associated with a
fascinating creation myth. For example, according to
Professor Baidyanath Saraswati, who has studied the cultures
of the Northeast extensively, in the tribal vision there is no
single creator of the universe, but creators for each element.
He has recounted the Arunachal wood element myth as
follows: Everything was water–water as far as the eye could
see. But above the water rose the tree. As time passed, a worm
was born in the tree and it began to eat the wood. The dust
kept falling into the water, until gradually the world was
formed. Then, when at last the tree fell to the ground, the
bark on the lower side of the trunk became the skin of the
Creation Myths : The Infinity of Starting Points 71
world, and the upper bark became the skin of the sky. The
trunk itself turned into rock, and the branches into hills.
Professor Baidyanath also states that some oral myths do have
parallels in Hindu textual myths, such as the tribal notion of
creation from water, or the cosmic egg, or through the
transformation of a superior being. Tribal cosmogony also
shares motifs such as the lotus, snake, boar, fish, tortoise,
mountain, etc with classical versions, although the tribal
hierarchy of the generation of elements is unique to them.
Wood, for instance, is also not an element in the local classical
texts, but interestingly is said to figure in East Asian traditions.
Clay is also central to many creation myths across the globe,
reinforcing the imagery of man emanating from clay. In many
parts of India and Nepal, the potter, in fact, is called Prajapati,
or the creator, because he is the shaper of the clay. Clay is
the earth itself, one which everyday reveals to us the eternal
cycle of birth, death and regeneration, a cycle that creation
is also subject to according to several eastern beliefs.
In one creation myth of Manipur, for example, the earthen
pot is the metaphor for the womb. As a result of prayer, a
golden child emerges from a clay pitcher and is responsible
for populating the water, air and earth with living creatures,
before he finally creates the human being. Even today,
pottery plays an important role in rituals. For example, the
placenta of the new born child is kept in an earthen pot, to
affirm the sanctity of childbirth in creation. Such instances
abound which link creation myths with present-day beliefs
and practices.
The Santhals of Bengal, prolific in their poetry and music,
use the occasion of marriage to sing their songs of cosmology.
Marriage, a union of opposites without which no creation
happens, is seen in the larger context of the creation of the
72 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
world. Long ago, the Santhals sing, the sun was above the
sea in the sky and the sun became angry living in the dark
and his anger produced light.
Another marriage song is about how the Supreme Being,
who failing to create man, instead creates two celestial birds,
Has and Hasin, who boldly decide to perch on their very
creator’s head.
Water is above, it is below the sky.
The two, the Has and the Hasin weep
Where will they sit, where will they sleep?
The Has and Hasin are not tired of flying
They will sit on the head of god, they will sleep there!
The two, the Has and the Hasin are alive!
So rich and vivacious and free is the poetry of creation!
The tribal faiths of the region, for example, attain a generally
frictionless merging of very ancient indigenous beliefs with
the rituals and lore of Hinduism and other religions. Some
say that the universe was hatched out of an enormous egg,
while many refer to an unending expanse of water on whose
surface earth was formed by divine agents using diverse
means.
Verrier Elwin, in his book, Bondo Highlander, on the small
Bondo hill-tribe in Orissa, gives an interesting account of
their relationship with the ‘immortals’ based on their
unusually large range of creation myths. In fact, not only
was the world created, the stories tell of how it was recreated
several times over. One of them, common with those of several
Indian tribes, recounts of how the original world was
submerged in a great flood and then had to be reconstructed.
These different strata of myth eventually constitute a basis
for personal conduct and social interaction in their daily lives,
Creation Myths : The Infinity of Starting Points 73
their ethics, and which is the cornerstone of their unique
culture.
The Bondos shared some of their creation myths with other
tribal communities, while at the same time incorporating
into their traditions a motif drawn from the Rig Vedic hymn
about the cosmic man, the ‘Purusha Sukta’ in which the
human form itself transforms into the material universe.
While it is said that there are as many cosmogonic myths as
there are human cultures, it is fascinating to observe some
common traits in those spanning several communities. This
is particularly noticeable of the tribal cultures of India,
although there does not seem to have been much interaction
amongst them given their geographical isolation. It is also
worth noting, that our tribes did not restrict themselves to
just one creation myth each, but in full and unrestricted
fecundity ascribed many stories and feats to their respective
Mahaprabhus and Bada Devs.
The indigenous mythology and folklore of central India, for
example, is most fascinating, laced as it is with humour and
generosity. The story of how Bada Dev, sitting on a lotus
leaf, decided one day to create the world is told with much
vigor and rich gesture. The crow, the crab, the earthworm
and the spider are critical to Bada Dev’s enterprise. How
the crow gets the earthworm to spit out the soil, which is the
latter’s food, is told with several variations by several tribes.
When there was just water and water everywhere, without
this soil how could the earth be shaped, even by the great
Bada Dev himself?
The mythologies and cosmogonic narratives of the peoples
of this subcontinent are so vibrant and diverse that they
reflect and explain, even to this day, their distinct socio-
cultural values and preferences. According to the Todas, a
74 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
tribe in the Nilgiris, the divine being first created their special
breed of buffaloes and only then made the first human, a
Toda. Other breeds of buffaloes and men do not seem to
inspire great telling.
In the many forests and hills of India, myths abounded about
the beginning of things when the world was not and later
when the world was still young. Of how in the beginning,
people remained young forever and did not know what it
meant to weep. At that time, death had no place. But then
people began to grow old and their sorrows increased. It
was death that then relieved them of the burden of having
to live too long. But again death was not the end of things.
Villages exist beyond, much like our own villages, and we
are all headed there. In the wisdom of creation, both
habitations were planned because the beginning, in its
exuberance, could not countenance an absolute end.
The creation myths therefore also tell us a lot about how a
people think, how they feel and how they react during the
great crises of their lives. In a very broad sense, it tells of an
individual and his setting, and how no person can be entirely
extracted from his background.
The South Asian tradition has generally been very
accommodating to myths, with its philosophical adherence
to the contrast between the One and its manifestation as the
Many, and the search for unity in a pluralistic reality. Thus
we are the inheritors of an exuberant mythology that has
been an inexhaustible source for many story-tellers across
the world. Further, if this region is rich in dance, drama
and music, it is because our myths have provided their basic
sustenance.
In this subcontinent, with each community so prolific in art
Creation Myths : The Infinity of Starting Points 75
and expression, the documentation and study of the myths
of creation of our region demands attention. Our myths can
help explain how our people revel in their uniqueness and
how they engage with the other, all contributing to the whole.
We need to gather our myths and we need to read them.
Within the SAARC region itself, there are government and
non-government bodies that have attempted to compile the
creation myths of the different peoples of this region. These
efforts are, however, fragmented and of inadequate scope.
There is no authoritative compendium of these myths or
any concerted effort to study them and compare their
evolution. It would be an interesting project reflecting the
diverse cultural streams of South Asia, narrations of what
our ancestors and the ancestors of our ancestors imagined of
our beginnings. And it needs to be done before these myths
get completely eradicated from our memories.
Scholars have acknowledged the dynamic link between
cosmogonic myths, the body of other myths and a
community’s cultural expression. Preserving these myths is
not about creating regional and ethnic compartments. It is
instead a call to recognize their value in understanding how
ethnic divergence is valid and can come together in the
human articulation and interpretation of the yet unknown.
The Nasadiya Suktam reaches its poetic climax in magnificent
doubt — Whence this creation? He who surveys it all from
the highest heaven, perhaps He knows. Or perhaps He does
not.
Therefore, till He knows, or at least till we do, we have to
keep each of humanity’s creation myths alive. Till then, let us
not judge any of them to be naïve, simplistic or irrelevant.
One creation myth is not more authentic than another
because it is better told or told by a larger number. Each,
76 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
after all, resonates with human experience and imagination,
and is necessarily complex and multi-layered. And since we
are united in our longing even if differing in our verbalization,
it is enriching for all to be knit together in this ceaseless
imagining of our common beginning.
Our myths are real, because they still have ethical and cultural
value, and are a great testimony to our plurality. But we face
the danger of losing them because of the reasons that most
of us are well aware of. Poverty, loss of livelihood, relocation,
ignorance and indifference of the state and the media, the
ubiquitous vehemence of corporate-sponsored
entertainment, along with lack of encouragement and
support for local initiatives are destroying this vast mosaic of
myths across our countries.
The great cultural diversity of the region and our millennial
traditions are fading because the power to make decisions
vests with the city dwellers, those who have forgotten the
magic of myth and the allegorical power of ancient
knowledge.
We come from an infinity of starting points, of origins and
of beliefs. It is important to nurture this prolific creativity
lest all of us grow tediously alike. It is important, therefore,
to grow to like the other and to respect the other, so as to
keep the infinity intact, to keep alive the validity of wonder.
To say, I am creative because you have been. I am because
you are.
Our beginnings may well be hidden in our myths. Our future
is certainly going to be colourless if we decimate their
abundance with our insensitivity, greed and the lazy need
for uniformity.
Let us please not forsake the myth-maker and the myth-teller.

Selina Hossain
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State :
Towards a SAARC Identity
Introduction
Folklore is a creative and thought-provoking expression of
experiences of a people. The cultural identities of peoples
are defined by folklores. By these are established the
distinctions of one nation with another, and these distinctions
flourish the levels of cultures. For this reason, a prevalent
conception has been built in a way that within one regional
boundary, cultivation of unity in plurality will link the South
Asian life within one thread. This is also true that if the
folklore of a people perishes, people will lose their knowledge
and will miss the already built social structure.
I am a writer. I have South Asia in mind; I visualize South
Asia in the blue sky, hills, sea, the snow white Himalayas,
green forests touching the horizon, vast stretches of crop
fields, and in the optimistic dreams of innumerable common
people. The theme of my literature is the humans who are
of the grassroots level. The history of the ordinary people is
my field of literature. In the combined, peaceful life of men
and women, sudden venomous snaps come from
78 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
imperialism, nuclear power, despotic democracy,
discrimination, religious extremism, and class struggle.
I protest against these, hate these. Unity is a virtue, and to
have a noble sense of unity in diversity for the betterment of
the common mass is more rewarding for peace, security and
stability in the region like our South Asia. It will help to
uphold our cultural roots of honesty, love, fairness,
compassion and respect to assess our challenges more
pragmatically for mutual benefit from the available
opportunities for overall progress and development. I want
to see full blossoming of life ¾ in women’s rights, equal
growth of children, respect for the old, and in the total
fulfilment of life.
In this regard, I would like to say that the epic of Finland
‘Kalevala’ did explore the national unity and cultural
continuity of Finland and created a current of research based
on scientific cultivation of folklore. It was stated by Professor
Laurie Honko who was the director of the Nordic Institute
of folklore, Finland. He gave a thought provoking lecture
on 13 th February 1987, in the seminar hall of Bangla
Academy. He read out from ‘Kalevala’ to explain that Finland
had lost its own identity under Russian-Swedish influence;
but by collecting the folk poems and songs and giving it
thorough editing, it gave the shape of an epic which for the
first time opened and highlighted the national identity of
Finland. This is how folklore can revive and reestablish the
specialties so fascinating in relation to the language, life
and culture of a nation. I have given an example from a
distant country whose scholar came to Dhaka to speak to us
and reassured and confirmed the importance and
significance of folklore in flourishing the dreams of
individualistic nationality. In South Asia, you are aware, that
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State: Towards a SAARC Identity
there are tremendous variety and originality in folk language
and culture which should be preserved and not allowed to
perish so that the folk and poetic urge common to all nations
enrich all our minds.
Interpretation of Good Governance in the
Proverbs of Khana
Women had a pioneering role in social life much before the
onset of agricultural civilization owing to their acute
indigenous sense within. Among some tribal people, because
of the existence of matriarchal social system till now, in
agricultural economy women’s importance can be seen even
in the last phase of the twentieth century. A woman utilized
her intelligence related to the methods of agricultural
cultivation and constructed an environment. Her name is
Khana who deeply observed the sunshine, rain, temperature,
weather etc. Till today, the proverbs of Khana are heard in
the words of illiterate farmers of Bengal. They have learnt
from their ancestors. It is amazing to think how deep could
be the connected ideas of the applied aspects of cultivation
so that they could survive in the lips of people for thousands
of years. One of the Khana’s proverbs is :
“If it rains at the end of the month of Magh,
Blessed is the king of the sacred land.”
It may be noted take how beautifully she has mentioned the
connectivity of the growth of crops at the end of the month
of Magh with good governance and prosperous condition
of the country. If the production of corns is good enough,
good days will come and common people will enjoy happy
times and sing the glory of the king. That king is blessed
who is the ruler of a sacred land. By quoting only one out of
79 80 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
a few hundreds of Khana’s proverbs, I have shown that she
not only composed words based on agricultural farming;
rather by mentioning with them good governance and
situation of the country, she gave proofs of deep political
wisdom.
This very idea of good governance is applicable at the present
time to each country of South Asia whereas there was no
vision of South Asia when she pronounced such words.
Therefore, the mindset of people’s survival which is
connected with the state control transcends the border of
the country in the twenty first century and spreads the cultural
roots of folklore in the entire South Asia. This is how,
undoubtedly, culture of folklore will enrich the lives of the
peoples.
Food Security and Indigenous Knowledge
In the recent times, due to climate change, natural disaster,
and increase in ethnic violence, food shortage is being
noticed in different parts of South Asia. Thousands of years
ago, people used to meet the food requirements by collecting
eatables from the forests. For reasons of drought or flood if
the foods were destroyed, people used to go to jungles and
gather food items. This is how developed the materialistic
knowledge of the human beings. In many proverbs, myths,
fables and religious rituals this kind of information is
preserved. Folklore is the holder of the power of such
knowledge. Ephrosine Daniggelis in his article has said, “Wild
foods are shown to be major by Lintu (1995) in India, where
Mahua flowers are a seasonal grain substitute. Fleuret(1979)
argues that the label ‘supplementary’ is also inappropriate,
because it implies that the wild leafy plant relishes used by
the Shambaa people throughout the year are peripheral to
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State: Towards a SAARC Identity 81
the diet.” This writer has mentioned about Nepal, “The wild
environment is of great importance for impoverished rural
populations, especially for women who live in remote areas
of the world and have few assets in terms of land, livestock or
cash, as is the case in Nepal.1
In the Hill Tracts of Chittagong in Bangladesh and Mizoram
state in Eastern India, there are sufficient resources of
bamboo. In these bamboo trees, after every fifty years, there
happen blossoming of flowers and growth of fruits. When
there are flowers and fruits, the bamboo trees dry up and
die. The Mro tribal people call this natural calamity ‘Kauing
Kang’ or ‘Kaopao Kong’. It means message of danger. It is
said that due to the smell of bamboo flowers and fruits the
fertility rate of rats increases many more times. Rats in their
full time of life cycles increase their race which in terms of
number is dangerously much. This is known as ‘rat invasion’.
Owing to such epidemic of bamboos and sudden increase
in the number of rats, the natural food for rats quickly
depletes. At that time, the rats save their lives by eating the
crops planted on the hills. As a result, thousands of rats eat
up and finish the crops on hill after hill in a few days. So
famine breaks out in the hilly regions. The agricultural science
of the state consider killing of rats as the main means of saving
the crops. But the tribal people do not think so. They consider
such occurrence in nature will take place, and the
government responsibility is to take prior preparedness. In
the months of July and August 2007, there was an epidemic
of bamboos. The same took place in the Mizoram state of
India. The government of Mizoram with the past experience
had prepared for food provision. The government of
Bangladesh had troubles to face the situation. If the
knowledge of tribal people in the matter of environment is
82 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
adequately evaluated, environmental disaster does not occur.
It is not required to take brutal action like killing of rats. It is
strongly traditional in folklore that after 25, 30, 40, 50 or
60 years rat invasion will inevitably take place. This is where
folk knowledge is linked with public administration.
There is a photograph on page 62 of the book titled ‘The
Chittagong Hill Tracts: Living in a Borderland’ edited by
William Van Schandel and others. 2 It is seen in the
photograph that in Dimagiri in the north-east of India men
and women are sitting with empty baskets in front of the
office of the British Govt. This photograph was taken in
1882. In that year, a bamboo epidemic broke out which
was recorded as ‘Bamboo Famine’. The inhabitants of the
British colony regions in that famine became refugees.
Cultural traditions thus remain flowing. To preserve the good
of the culture is the responsibility of the state. Safeguarding
the nature is the aim of the traditional knowledge of the
tribal people, not to destroy the bio-diversity.
October 17, 2009, all over the world was observed the
Poverty Reduction Day. In an article titled ‘A New Approach
to Food Security’ on that day, Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Secretary of State, USA, remarked, “Food security is not only
about food. It represents the convergence of complex issues...
droughts and floods caused by climate change, swings in the
global economy that affect food prices and threaten the fate
of vital infrastructure projects and spikes in the price of oil
that increase transportation costs.
But food security is all about security. Chronic hunger poses
a threat to the stability of governments, societies and borders.
People, who are starving or undernourished, have no incomes
and can’t care for their families, are left with feelings of
hopelessness and despair. That desperation can lead to
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State: Towards a SAARC Identity 83
tension, conflict and even violence. Since 2007, there have
been riots over food in more than 60 countries.3 Thousands
of years ago, a woman composed orally her proverbs related
to the subject of agriculture. In the same manner, in the 21st
century, the Secretary of State of the USA, stated the same
matter and said, “Chronic hunger poses a threat to the
stability of governments, societies and borders.” Only the
language is different. Khana pronounced orally in Bengali,
Hillary in English.
In this regard, another remarkable ritual of folk culture can
be remembered. In many areas of the subcontinent in the
seventh month of a pregnant woman a ‘Shadh Utsav’ is
observed. The aim of this ritual is to feed the woman foods
of her choice. This family function is observed from a desire
to have a healthy child. In the Sylhet region of Bangladesh,
Shadh feeding is observed for the crop fields also. This
celebration is held before the corn sheaves are ripe. Women
cook rice and curry at home and leave some portion of them
in their respective fields. If the crop fields are far away, the
men folk of the house go and keep the Shadh food there.
The object of holding this ritual is that the paddy fields should
be full of abundant crops so that, with the paddy thus
produced, the whole year’s livelihood can be maintained. In
here also, there can be noticed a connectivity between
indigenous knowledge and statecraft. The state which cannot
procure sufficient food grains for the citizens cannot be
recognized as a state with enough democratic values. The
roots of culture in this way keep alive the currents of human
life.
What the Secretary of State of a powerful country speaks
regarding food security, may have differences in language
and conduct; but there will be no difference in traditional
84 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
sense of values. In here lies the justification of folklore in the
contemporary perspective. Rather it should be appreciated
that the woman showed much more expertise thousands of
years earlier and calculated a close connection between food
security and the state. This image of a country of South Asia
strengthens the cultural roots of folklore.
Renewal of Traditions
Four hundred years ago from now, a Bengali poet of this
subcontinent wrote ‘Ramayana’4. Her name is Chandraboti.
At present, this is famous as ‘Ramayana of Chandraboti’.
Researcher, the late Rai Bahadur Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sen,
discovered this Ramayana from the district of Mymensingh
of Bangladesh during the second decade of last century.
Currently, this is a significant study of the culture of history
and tradition in the universities. Dr. Sen has written, ‘ This
Ramayana of eminent poetess, Chandraboti, has been
memorized by many women in Mymensingh region. The
verses of this Ramayana are always sung on bridal nights and
other meetings of ladies. Women are the singers; its composer
is a woman, and its listeners and presenters are mostly women.’
The Hindus consider Rama as god. Outside the
subcontinent also there is evidence of composing Ramayana.
Rama is the main character in this Ramayana. But in the
Ramayana of Chandraboti, Sita is the principal character.
In the chapter ‘ Twelve Months of Sita’ the narration of Sita’s
sorrow is as if the sorrow of the rural women of South Asia.
For this reason, while reading the Ramayana, the grassroots
level women find their own lives depicted. An example is as
follows:
‘Amar dukher kotha go kohite kahinee
Kohite kohite uthe go jolonto agunee
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State: Towards a SAARC Identity 85
Jonom dukhinee Sita go dukhe gelo kal
Ramer moton poti paiya go dukheri kopal.’
The lines above mean:
‘My words of sorrow is a story to tell
Telling it gives rise to flames of fire
Sita, who is sad whole life, passes time in sorrow
Even getting a husband like Rama the fate is of pain.’
The Ramayana of Chandraboti ends with contempt for
Rama. She mentions:
‘Porer kotha kane loile go nijer sorbonash
Chandraboti kohe Ramer go buddhi hoilo nash’
The lines above mean:
‘If you take the words of others, it is to harm own self
Chandraboti says Rama has lost his head’
Chandraboti did not see Rama as god only. For Sita living in
Ravana’s house for ten months when Rama doubted her
chastity, Chandraboti remarked that Rama had lost his senses.
This sentence is a cruel injury in the patriarchal society based
on religion. Today, all over the world departments of gender
studies have been introduced and researches are being
conducted on women issues. On top of all, in every country
at government and non-government levels various activities
are being carried out. The cultural continuity of folk
traditions has not been far from them. Whatever significant
of folklores in the state policies were marked in their life
consciousness hided behind the arrogance of greed and power
of selfish men. Now the state arrangements being enterprising
86 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
are creating those scopes. The United Nations Women In
Development (WID), Gender and Development (GAD)
programs, and CEDAW Charters have been introduced
because without the concerted efforts of women and men
human resource development is not possible. The present
context of South Asia does prove this statement.
New Form of Folklore
A remarkable character of Bengali folk literature is Chand
Sowdagor. He used to go for trade by floating seven boats
called ‘Shoptodingha Modhukor’. At that time, goddess
Monosha took initiative for her own worship. Chand
Sowdagor refused to offer devotion. The angry goddess
drowned the ships of the trader. She harmed and made him
to lose everything. Then Chand Sowdagor worshipped the
goddess with his little finger.
I wrote a novel titled ‘Chand Bene’. In this novel, the hero
Chand is a farmer. He fights against the money-lender for
demanding his right to crops. I consider this novel as different
form of art on cultural root which was orally prevalent.
Goddess Monosha, has been taken by me as the state and
Chand Sowdagor as the protesting public. Sometimes such
public will have to bow down to the state if the democratic
values are ignored in that state. I have constructed three to
four novels collecting elements from old traditions. These
are not historical novels; in my language, they are renewals
of traditions. The varieties of rich folk literatures all over South
Asia are the cultural resources of each country. We should
discover South Asia through many ways with folk songs,
dances, theatre, rituals, food habits etc. That will not be
confined to only the SAARC summits by the heads of states.
Such festivals organized by the FOSWAL will bring closer
Folklore, Cultural Roots and State: Towards a SAARC Identity
the people of South Asia. The problems of the public in all
these states are almost similar. We want that there should be
an end to them.
Someday, South Asian Union will become a reality. ¾ of this
union will be realised through love, tears, and beaming bright
smiles. The red eyes of the border guards will no more stare
at strangers, there will be no need for visas. There will be no
trafficking of women or girl children. Their addresses will
no longer be the sordid brothels. No terrorist will get shelter
in any country. No smuggler will have hideaway in any
border area. One country will not endanger the sovereignty
of the state and rights of the people by unfair control of
another’s natural resources. Finally, the explosion of nuclear
power will not evaporate the endless beauties of nature and
unlimited visions of South Asian people. The voyage towards
a Union of South Asia has got a proper new dimension.
Conclusion
Lastly, I would like to speak about an experience of mine. In
2007, I got an opportunity to go to a conference in Nairobi
organized by the World Social Forum. The slogan of this
conference was ‘Another World is Possible’. It is an
organization of the common mass. A few thousands of people
assembled there. Seminars were arranged on different topics.
Cultural functions of various countries were held. On the
stage, along with other presenters there was an Indian girl.
At the close of the function, slogans were raised from the
stage calling Viva World Social Forum, Viva South Africa,
Viva Nairobi etc. When the girl on the stage loudly voiced
Viva India, meaning Long Live India, we who came from
other South Asian countries were all much hurt. We desired
that the slogan of the Indian girl should have been Viva South
87 88 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Asia.
When the girl alighted from the stage, we told her, “We
really wanted to hear from you Viva South Asia”. The girl
felt embarrassed and kept quiet with shyness. I said, “South
Asia is now a vibrant slogan. South Asia has revived with its
own identity. Its natural beauty, cultural variety, and
innumerable ethnic humanity have added enormous power
to it.” Standing on the podium of today’s ceremony, I would
like to confess that I have now overcome the pain I had in
my heart at the Nairobi World Social Forum as I find right
here the roots of South Asian culture.
References
1. Women and Plants: Gender Relations in Biodiversity Management and
Conservation - Edited by Patricia L Howard; Published by Zed Books,
London and New York, 2003.
2. Gender and Development Dictionary - Edited by Selina Hossain;
Published by Somoy Prakashan, Dhaka, 2009.
3. The Daily Star, Dhaka, Friday, October 16, 2009.
4. Purba Banga Gitika - Edited by Rai Bahadur Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sen;
Fourth Volume, Second issue; Kolkata University, 1932.

K. Satchidanandan
Breaking the Boundaries :
The Folk, the Classical and the Modern
One day when Rama was sitting on his throne, his ring fell
off. When it touched the earth, it made a hole in the ground
and disappeared into it. His trusty henchman, Hanuman,
was at his feet. Rama said to Hanuman, ‘Look, my ring is
lost. Find it for me’.
Remember Hanuman can enter any hole, no matter how
tiny and had the power to become the smallest of the small
and larger than the largest thing. So he took a tiny form and
went down the hole.
He went and went and went and suddenly fell into the
netherworld. The women who saw him fall caught him and
and placed him on a platter as the King of Spirits living in
the netherworld loves to eat animals.So Hanuman was sent
to him as part of his dinner, along with his vegetables. Exactly
at that time Rama entered river Sarayu as his mission on
earth was declared over by the god Brahma and the sage
Vasishta. The King of Spirits heard Hanuman repeating the
name of Rama sitting on the platter and asked him who he
was. Hanuman revealed his identity and said that he had
come to fetch Rama’s ring that had fallen into a hole.
90 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The King looked around and showed him a platter. On it
were thousands of rings. They were all Rama’s rings. The
King asked Hanuman to pick out his Rama’s ring. Hanuman
was at a loss as all the rings looked the same. The King of
Spirits then told him that there had been as many Ramas as
there were rings on that platter. He said Hanuman would
not find Rama when he returned to earth as Rama’s ring
falls down only when an incarnation of Rama is about to be
over. He had collected and kept all those rings. At this
Hanuman left.
This story is usually told to suggest that for every such Rama
there is a Ramayana. We know that there are several versions
of the Rama story in each of almost all the Indian languages
including tribal languages like Bhili, Santhali, Agaria etc
besides Annamese, Balinese, Cambodian, Malayasian, Thai,
Khotanese, Laotian, Sinhalese , Tibetan and Chinese. It also
cuts across religions as there are several Muslim versions like
the Mappila Ramayanam of North Kerala and the Malyasian
versions, as also Buddhist and Jain versons. In short
Ramayana is not really a text, but a whole tradition; it does
not belong to a single country or religion but is spread all
over the South and Southeast Asia and has existed and evolved
over the last twenty-five hundred years or so. But the moment
we accept one Ramayana, let it be Valmiki’s or Tulasi’s or any
other, as the ‘authentic’ Ramayana and elevate it to the status
of a classic, we are silencing and marginalising a whole
tradition of oral and folk versions of Ramayana and turning
it into a monolith. This exclusivist approach can also spell
the doom of the democratic textual culture in India.
What happens in the transition from the ‘folk’ to the
‘classical’ is not dissimilar. The ‘folk’ is ever vibrant, evolving,
flexible while the ‘classical’ is conceptualised as ordered, rigid
Breaking the Boundaries 91
and inflexible. That is why every attempted reform or change
in a classical form of music or dance, for example, gives rise
to heated debates around the legitimacy of the change
sought. This process is akin to what the sociologist M. N.
Srinivas called Sanskritisation though different in its method
and emphasis. Sanskritisation means the process by which
castes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward
mobility by emulating the rituals, customs, habits and
practices of the upper dominant castes, not very different
from what anthropologists call ‘passing’. It also includes the
exposure to new ideas and values appearing in Sanskrit
literature, especially theological ideas like dharma, karma,
papa, maya, samsara and moksha. This adaptation of the
cultural values of the so-called upper castes happened not
entirely due to Brahmins; the castes who wanted to move up
also at times consciously adopted them. The British rule in
India and English education helped popularise the upper
caste cultural values. Offering such virtual mobility and
positional change was also a sure way of preventing structural
change. In fact Sanskritisation, instead of subverting the
varna-jati system only helped reinforce and consolidate it.
Srinivas gives the examples of Khas, Newars and Magars of
Nepal and the Indian tribes like Bhils, Oraons and Gondis
who tried to upclass themselves in this fashion either by
adopting the upper caste manners or, as in the case of the
tribal people, simply by claiming to be castes thus joining
the caste hierarchy of which they had been kept out as the
panchams or the ‘fifth varna’- that is , outside the four
recognised varnas- so far.
Historians and ethnologists are not unaware of this
phenomenon. Bernard Cohn, for example, traces this
process to the colonial period. In 1772, Warren Hastings,
92 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
the Governor of Bengal decided that the East India
Company’s courts would administer Hindu law for the
Hindus and Muslim law for the Muslims. One of the
ramifying consequences of this decision was the
popularisation of the notion that Indian civilisation was
founded on particular Sanskrit texts. “ The idea of the
primacy of the Sanskrit component became the determinant
of action, policy and structure, not only for the rulers but
for many of the ruled. What had been fluid, complex and
even unstructured, became fixed, objective and tangible”
(Bernard S. Cohn, An Anthropologist among Historians and
Other Essays, New Delhi, 1994, p.46) While this was certainly
an importatnt moment in the history of Sanskritising Indian
civilisation, the process in fact had started much earlier with
the spread of what Edward Said later came to call the
Orientalist ideology where written Sanskrit texts were
considered the basis of Indian religion, philosophy, ethics
and aesthetics. Even the epics like Ramayana and
Mahabharata had actually been codifications, retellings and
elaborations of folklore and legends, say, around the Soorya,
Kuru, Puru and Naga clans; but the texts by Valmiki and
Vyasa came to be looked upon as the ‘authentic’ versions
and every other oral, performed and even written, texts were
considered ‘deviations’ from the set norm. The fact of the
existence of several oral epics-other than the written
Ramayana and Mahabharata-, like Male Madeswara of
Kannada, (See English translation by C N Ramachandran
and L N Bhatt, New Delhi, 2000), for example, was
completely neglected and kept out of the epic canon. Ancient
texts like Panchatatntra and Kathasaritsagar both attributed
to Somadeva, Brihadkatha attributed to Gunadhya,
Brihadkathamanjari attributed to Kshemendra, and
Breaking the Boundaries 93
Vasudeva Hindi which were nothing but anthologies of
folktales collected by the so-called ‘authors’ were also
considered Sanskrit texts. This is also the case of the Puranas.
Romila Thapar too has noticed this elite nature of India’s
cultural identity : “The cultural identity which we have forged
in recent times has been that of a Sanskritic upper caste or
else its equivalent in a Persian upper caste. Yet, these identities
are as elitist as the English-speaking identity of contemporary
Indians. For, a very small percentage of the population spoke
Sanskrit or Persian itself. Even the royal ladies in the court
were not permitted to speak Sanskrit in the classical plays
and conversed entirely in Prakrit.” ( Romila Thapar, The Past
and Prejudice, New Delhi, 1994, p. 60)Thapar has also traced
the recognition of Kalidasa’s Sakuntala as an Oriental
masterpiece to the Orientalist perception of India and Indian
woman as weak, innocent and vulnerable. ( Romila Thapar,
Sakuntala: Texts, Readings, Histories, New Delhi, 1999)
Ranajit Guha too points to the new identity imposed on the
peasant by the colonial rulers and the feudal lords: this
identity amounted to the sum of his subalternity. “ He learnt
to recognise himself not by the properties and attributes of
his own social being but by diminution, if not negation, of
those of his superiors” ( as quoted by Yogendra Singh, Indian
Sociology: Emerging Patterns and Social Condoitioning, New
Delhi, 1973) The historians who rejected verbal evidence
from oral texts as ‘imprecise’ and ‘unreliable’ and the literary
critics who placed oral literature below written literature
creating a hierarchy of values and early Indian literary
historians like Albrecht Weber and Maurice Winternitz
(whose histories of Indian literature appeared in 1852 and
1907 respectively) kept oral literature completely out of the
canon and even of their survey. Orientalists like William
94 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Jones, George Griers and Max Mueller helped consolidate
the notion that Sanskrit literature was the true Indian
literature.
The case of the ‘folk’ becoming ‘classical’ is a clear case of
appropriation through a process similar to ‘Sanskritisation’.
All the so-called classical forms were once confluential,
hybrid, mixed, demotic, folk; only they got taken up by the
elite. Once absorbed into the upper caste/class discourse,
their disruptive energy and subversive world view came to
be smoothed out, their contours stylised and fixed for all
time and subjected to a canon. The forms thus appropriated
by the elite from the subaltern classes and castes came to be
re-circulated at another social stratum consisting chiefly of
middle and upper classes and castes. With the original
authors, creators and practitioners, left out in the cold. The
nationalist ideology which had many elements of the colonial
Orientalist ideology in its constitution, helped legitimise,
rationalise, project and popularise this appropriation. Both
folklorism- by which I mean a kind of folk fundamentalism
that denies further changes in folklore-and classicism that
upholds the so-called ‘purity’ of the ‘classical’ arts helped
naturalise and sustain this clean categorisation. Folklore,
which was part of the daily life of our people and also
changing with its changing patterns, now became a mere
ethnic curiosity to be preserved in museums and archives
and taken out and exhibited on special occasions like the
Republic Day in Delhi or the Festivals of India abroad. The
obscenity of this practice, for example of the Theyyam
dancers of temperate Kerala who perform the ritual only in
their own villages after proper observances in order to
revitalise the inspiring memory of the great heroes of the
people, dancing on the Delhi streets in the chilling cold of
Breaking the Boundaries 95
January or the air-conditioned halls to an alien audience in
Frankfurt or Paris, has seldom been exposed by culture-
critics. It becomes all the more gruesome when rulers that
do little to maintain these deeply rooted art forms in their
living forms in their own localities and situations
appropriates them for political use turning autonomous
culture with its inherent value into a mere arm of diplomacy.
This appropriation happens when , for example, the dance
of the Devadasis is taken by the Brahmin women and turned
into the ‘eternal’ art of Bharatanatyam, sanitising it of all
that is natural and erotic and leaving the Devadasis, the real
creators of this dance form, to their predicament of
patriarchal and theocratic exploitation, poverty and disease.
This happens when the Dasiyattom of Kerala, with its
beautiful and charming movements is transformed into
Mohiniyattom, with its reformist exponents declaring that it
is a pure and divine dance form that has nothing to do with
the Dasis and deriding the original practitioners of the dance
calling them thevidichis , - a distortion of devadasis- which
today has come to mean just prostitutes that entirely leaves
out the devotional aspect of their practice. This happens too
when Kathak is taken out of the kotis leaving those women
dancers to fend for their own in the red streets of Mumbai
or Delhi. Ottan Thullal was created by Kunchan Nambiar
in Kerala based on elements from the Parayan Thullal,
Pulayanattoms and Padayani, all subaltern forms of ritual
dances, as a challenge to the elitist Koothu where a Chakyar
interprets Sanskrit slokas (verses) to an upper caste audience
within the temple. He had done it outside the temple, for
the common people of all castes, but it was immediately
stamped a ‘classical’ art and taken back into the temples.
Classicalised arts like Kathakali also have a lot of folk elements
96 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
which are seldom acknowledged. This is equally true of
classical music. The ragas, both Carnatic and Hindustani
are but systematised tunes available in the folksongs, a
connection that has been dwelt with examples by some
musicologists, like the gurjari thodi coming from a peasant
girl’s song. Both are in fact based on natural sounds. Singers
like Kumar Gandharv and more recently Sultan Khan,
vocalist and sarangi player from Rajasthan, have through
their practice revived and reinforced this organic connection
between the folk and classical music traditions. The strangest
of all is the category called ‘semi-classical’ to which a lot of
dances and music belong: it is as if these forms had left the
‘folk’ tradition and not reached the ‘classical’, thus kept in a
limbo or a purgatory waiting for their final elevation to the
classical heaven!
The impact of the folk is also evident in modern art, literature
and theatre so much so that some of these expressions fall
squarely in the folk tradition. A lot of the works of
contemporary playwrights have been impacted profoundly
by folk theatre forms and folktales. Girish Karnad’s
Hayavadana uses yakshagana while his Nagamandala is based
on a folktale. B. V. Karanth also uses yakshagana form in his
Branam Van, a Hindi version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Habib Tanvir learnt as much from the Chhatisgarhi naach
as from Brecht’s epic theatre as demonstrated by his
masterpiece, Charandas Chor or the comic play, Gaon ka
Naam Sasuraal, Mor Naaaam Damaad. He even used the
Pandvani form for some of his narrative presentations.
Waman Kendre deals with Yellamma community in his Zalva
using folk forms and Ratan Thiyam uses the martial art form
thang-ta in his presentations of Bhasa’s Urubhangam and his
Chakravyuh. Chandrasekhara Kambar’s plays, Jo
Breaking the Boundaries 97
Kumaraswamy and Sirisampige are excellent examples of
modern folk theatre and Badal Sarkar’s concept of the ‘third
theatre’ as demonstrated by his plays like Evam Indrajit has
much to do with folk traditions, of Jatra in particular. B. V.
Karanth’s use of Malavi dialect in his productions of Soodraka’s
Mrichhakatikam and Kaldasa’s Malavikagnimitram and of
Bundelkhandi in Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, the
employment of tamasha the Marathi form with its lovesongs
or lavanis in Marathi theatre (eg, Pu. La. Deshpande) and
film ( eg, Ravi Jadhav’s Natrang ; Kumar Sahni using Bhavai
is another example), the use of the music and dance forms of
dasavatar in Vijay Tendulkar’s Ghasiram Kotwal,, Kanhaialal’s
use of folktale in Pabet, Satish Anand’s employment of a
dialect of Bhojpuri as also the bidesia and bidapat nach in
plays like Maila Anchal based on Phaniswarnath Renu’s
famous novel, Bhanu Bharati’s interpretation of a Bheel
legend in Amar Beej, Ramaswamy’s use of tevavattam dancers
in his production of Sophocles’s Antigone, Na. Muttuswamy’s
use of terukkoothu as also S. Ramanujam’s use of folk forms
in Tamil theatre, K. N. Paniker’s use of various Kerala folk
forms in plays like Avanavankadampa -all these are examples
of the folk fertilizing modern theatre and rendering
communication more natural, artistic and easier and also of
reversing the ‘classical’ infusing it with ‘folk’.
Anyone who has visited Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal will have
been struck by the conceptual similarities between the folk
and tribal art and modern art. In the two adjacent galleries
especially the use of distortions, the employment of two-
dimensional forms, a certain degree of abstraction and the
use of expressionist techniques. The influence is evident in
the art of Jamini Roy, K. G. Subramanian, Gulam
Muhammad Shekh, Bhupen Khakar, Srinivasulu, S. G.
98 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Vasudev, A. Ramachandran, Manjit Bawa, Arpana Caur,
Vaikuntam, Reddappa Naidu and others. One feels that
realism that came from the West was a kind of aberration in
both the Indian fictional and dramatic narratives and in
Indian art as our native ways of imagination always went
beyond the real as even a Santhal horse sculpture, a Bhil
chitrapata, a Kalighat painting, a Jhoomar terracotta, a Tamil
terukkoothu or a Vikramaditya tale will demonstrate. Anyone
who knows the history of modern art in Europe knows how
artists like Picasso were inspired by ‘primitive’ art. Narrative
forms like modern fiction have also fruitfully responded to
the forms and narrative strategies of folktales the best example
being Vijay Dan Detha’s Rajasthani stories on which films
like Mani Kaul’s Duvidha have been based. I am not dealing
here with what has been called the ‘urban folk’ as I consider
that to be a dubious category at least in India that has little
to do with the people below and is mostly a middle-class
phenomenon.
A. K. Ramanujan was one of the first folklorists to be aware
of the dangers of this categorization. One of his far-reaching
contributions to the study of Indian folklore was to
reconceptualise the debate about the ‘Great’ and ‘Little’
traditions. This concept, as originally developed by Robert
Redfield and applied to India by Milton Singer in the 1950s
and 60s, suggested that a great civilization such as India
evolved from local folkroots in the process of urbanisation.
Over time however, largely because of the ill-chosen labels,
‘great’ and ‘little’, the concept became synonymous with
division, hierarchy, and a bias in favour of the written,
brahmanical, Sanskrit traditions; in response many
anthropologists in India began to explore the ‘little’ traditions.
Ramanujan moved beyond the dichotomy altogether to
Breaking the Boundaries 99
develop a theory of Indian civilization as ‘context-sensitive’,
pluralistic and reflexive. In his vision, folklore is one of the
several systems, languages or registers that people use
depending on the particulars of context and audience.
Sanskrit, classical literature, bhakti, folklore, are all systems
that comment on each other and cannot be understood
independenly of each other. According to him these
expressive codes are carried not so much by the civilization
as by the individuals. In short folklore to him was not a
precious preserve safe from pernicious modern influences
nor a culture of the little people, but a full-fledged
collaborator in the production of cultural meaning. Folktales
for example present a counter-system to the hegemonic
karma-dharma system.
Ramanujan found continuities, as well as alternatives,
between folklore and classical traditions. Instead of
mechanically applying Western norms and concepts, he
divided Indian folk into akam and puram , the domestic and
the public, in the Tamil tradition. Even when he made use
of Proppian morphology and Freudian and Jungian
psychology, his emphasis was not whether the Indian tale
fits into European categories but whether certain specific
oicotypical features of the Indian tale –in this case Kannada
tale- bring into prominence typical characteristics of Indian
(in this case Kannada) culture. Instead of attempting to
conform to ethnocentric, etic, classificatory systems proposed
outside of India, Ramanujan undertook the tough task of
showing how these systems failed to apply adequately to
Indian data. As in his seminal study of the Indian Oedipus
where he rethinks the tale-type as told from the mother’s,
instead of the son’s, point of view. Ramanujan’s approach
was eclectic which helped him employ both structuralist and
100 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
psychological insights to illuminate folktales and to appreciate
works like the late Bengt Holbek’s Interpretation of Fairy
Tales that combines several approaches in his analyses of
Danish folktales. Also under the partial spell of
metalinguistics he taught the folklorists to let the stories speak
for themselves as he believed they had their own tales to tell.
Here the genre was commenting on the genre itself. The
stories he told were repositories of cultural content as also
aesthetic forms enacting their meaning in speech.
What we need to do today is to go further ahead , expose the
class/ caste nexus that is still at work to sustain the hierarchical
division, both sociological and aesthetic, between the ‘folk’,
the ‘classical’ and ‘the modern’, point out the inadequacy of
these and other hegemonic Western categories to
comprehend and interpret the art and literary scenario in
South Asia, bring out the inter-textual and overlapping
nature of our art and literary forms where one form informs
the other and evolve our own methodologies derived from
our practices to analyse our traditions. We also need to save
folklore from the puritanical attitudes that tie them down
to fixed forms preventing them from responding to the
actual discourse of life and history thus updating themselves
and attaining vibrancy instead of museumizing them, and
persuade the academies and departments of culture in our
countries to help our arts flower without degrading them
into export-worthy ethnic curios and without harming their
autonomy and uprooting them from their own soil and
milieu.
 PART - III

SPECIFIC TRADITIONS

Shamsuzzaman Khan
Bangla Folklore :
Socio-cultural Background and the
Formation-process of Oral Tradition
The ingredients of socio-economic sermation and the
ecological setting of Bangladesh, like those of many other
countries of South East Asia, necessitated the blossoming of
a culture which was, and still is, predominantly oral. The
inner dynamics of our social matrix have set off the
interweaving of social fabrics in a wider and greater milieu
and produced a lively oral tradition, which operates flawlessly
in the traditional community through oral performance by
the active tradition bearers and is shared by the members of
the community. This face-to-face communication between
the performers and the audience within a group or
community in their natural social context or homogeneous
cultural psyche is not only the essence of its vitality but also
very effectively serves the purpose of social cohesion and
cultural continuity. In fact, this oral cultural communication
process is still the main source of entertainment and
instruction of our idyllic society which is basically non-literate
in nature.
From the earliest time the civilization and culture of Bengal
has been pre-eminently rural and the life of the people
centres round this typical village-oriented society. Besides,
almost every village was self-sufficient in respect of
agricultural products, utilitarian objects of village artisans,
104 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
daily necessities and social entertainments, And every village
had its own deity for worship who was believed to be their
saviour.
The village folk had, in those days, evolved a system of verbal
art which satisfied their cultural needs in the main. But the
dominant religious belief of the folk gave it the form of a
religious rite and they presumed that the deity would take it
as a manifestation of the obeisance of the loyal devotees and
save the village and its people from evil and destructive
forces. Yearly festivals or occasional ones were observed with
total submission to the deity but this was accomplished in an
atmosphere of gaiety which included dance, song, and
acting.
Outside the orbit of this religio-cultural formation-process
of oral tradition) and folklore some purely magico-religious
festivals too had emerged in Bengal. They are still being
celebrated in some places, though very rarely. These are Vadu
and Tusu - two crop festivals of West Bengal, India, which
were celebrated in the harvesting months of Bengal namely
Bhadra and Poush. Vadu and Tusu had taken a slightly
different form in the whole of West Bengal and Bangladesh
under the name Tosla or Posla which are very popular among
the children. Dr. Sukumar Sen the illustrious historian of
Bengali literature, has said in his celebrated history of Bangla
Sahityer Ithihas (History of Bengali Literature) that, the Tosta
or Posla is a very old festival of Bengal and its mention was
found in the famous Kalinga edicts of Asoka, the great
Buddhist Emperor of India (circa 250 B.C.).
The next phase of our folklore development process to be
identified in the feminine ritual mangala (wishing well)
performed in marriage ceremonies with fun and euphoria.
A main component of this old ritual is singing by young girls
or women. They were known as mangala singers. This
Bangla Folklore 105
practice still exists in our society but in the absence of female
professional mangala singers it was taken over by naiories,
meaning close female relatives or near and dear ones.
Folk-song traditions, specially the Pancali song narratives
sung in praise of the village god or goddess, added a new
element, pancalika (puppet) which made whole perfonnance
colourful and enjoyable with song, dance and puppet-show.
Transformation and Growth
Another prominent genre of folklore traditions of Bengal is
Yatra (pronounced as Jatra) or folk drama. In fact, both
pancalika and yatra are very old elements of our old cultural
heritage. And it is evident from historical sources that both
the rubrics had a 1A. common origin in religion or religious
fete to be exact. Pancalika was a religious festival held in front
of a temple; on the other hand, the word ‘yatra’, whose
verbatim rendering in English is ‘going’ or ‘journey’, was a
mobile perfonnance of singing and dancing by the devotees
while on a journey to sacred-place of worship, namely
Rathayatra (The festival of the chariot), Snanyatra (holy
bath) etc. This religious-processional (Shovayatra) festivity
of the pilgrims has, over the years developed as a popular
open-air dramatic perfonnance. Though, at the early stage,
yatra was a perfonning art strictly to portray sacred themes),
nevertheless, its long existence and mass association has been
creating a metamorphosis which is basically profane. This is
how a primitive and archaic verbal art has been revived at a
later period.
Riddles and proverbs had, in all probability, emerged in
Bengal during the early period of its oral literary creation
process. Social and literary history indicates that riddles were
in use for other purposes as well, namely, they were an almost
indispensable part of a marriage ceremony. A bridal party
could not enter the bride’s house without answering the
106 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
subtle and tricky riddles put to them with sharp intellectual
acumen. In essence, it was all in fun and a test of wit. But if
a bridal party tailed in this tussle of intelligence and presence
of mind, it was considered ignominious. So its social
significance cannot be ignored.
In Sanskrit literature, riddles were a part of poetic jugglery
or rhetoric rather than literary form. Some of the Bangla
riddles and proverbs came from the old Sanskrit sources but
the rich repertoire of Bangla riddles and proverbs are the
creation of our tradition-communities. If we carefully study
the content of these two popular fonns of the Bangla oral-
tradition repository, it will be seen that the metaphors, diction
and language patterns are characteristically indigenous, with
the local flavour and accumulated wisdom of our people.
A huge number of Bangla proverbs, like many other genres
of verbal art or expressive literature of our country, are bawdy
in nature. It can safely be said that the elitist Sanskrit
language hardly approved of such slang expressions; but the
genius of our folk innovated and used them in their
community communication with ease and spontaneity.
Emergence of Written Literature and Oral Tradition
Bengal’s known history dates back to the fourth century
B.C., and our earliest literary work, Caryagiti or Buddhist
mystic songs, “written in old Bengali when the language was
just evolving out of Loukika” were found in the Royal Library
of Nepal. This oldest poetic genre of Bangla language is
supposed to have been composed by the Sidhachariyas or
Buddhist mystic poets, during the reign of the Buddhist Pala
dynasty (circa 750-1160). Sidhachariya poets aptly used
some proverbs in their verses. A case in point: Apna mangshe
harina bairi, meaning, a deer’s enemy is its own fiesh.
Historical sources and other documentary evidence amply
Bangla Folklore 107
prove that riddles and proverbs were in vogue in oral
tradition from the earliest times.
There is other strong evidence of the early growth and
popularity of oral tradition in Bangladesh. The famous
Paharpur Buddha Vihara, situated in the northern part of
present Bangladesh has some terracotta plaques which
depict the images of Panchatantra stories. Krishna Lila or
amorous love episodes of Krishna and Radha. They were
created by the common artisans.
There are other instances of Ramayana stories, Manasa (the
queen of serpents), mangala tale narratives, and Behula and
Lakhintlar song narratives in oral tradition.
It is, indeed, interesting to note that Ramayana stories or
Krishna Lila episodes did not appear in Bangla literature
before the 15th or 16th centuries, but they are found in the
above-mentioned vihara temple motifs of the 9th century
and in oral sources.
The amorous love episode of Radha and Krishna became
very popular in Bengal and influenced our oral traditions
enormously. Any keen observer can easily identify the
elements of Krishna Lila in different items of our folksongs
and Palagan (folksong narratives). The Bhawaiya folksongs
of Rangpur (Northern Bangladesh) and Kuch Bihar (India)
are a case in point. Jaggan (another type of folksong
narrative) of Rangpur has also been tremendously influenced
by Lila (erotic and artful play of Lord Krishna at Brojadham
or Brindavan). Rati Ram Das, a very prominent folk poet of
Rangpur, used Lila elements profusely in his Jag verses (circa
1775).
The Muslim Conquest and New Dimension
After the Muslim conquest of East Bengal (Now Bangladesh)
in the thirteenth century the basic nature of our oral
108 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
tradition did not change, but some new elements were
added, namely, the Sufism that influenced the Baul songs of
Lalon Fakir (1774-1890) and others, Jari gan (Religious
songs depicting the tragic killing of Hazrat lIliam Hussain)}
Murshidi gan (Muslim mystic song) and Puthi (Medieval
Bangla literature-hand-written in mixed languages. i.e, using
Arabic and Persian words abundantly) literature show the
direct influence of the Muslims. The Muslim romance tales,
namely, Laila Majnu. Yussuf Zulekha. Sohrab Rustam, etc.
had been translated into this mixed Bangla language under
the patronage of the Muslim Sultans which enriched the
oral traditions of Bengal by infusing human elements more
dominantly. This new dimension of humanism, plus the free
mixing of boys and girls in the matriarchal tribal societies of
Bangladesh, produced a wonderful variety of secular folk
ballads in Mymensingh and other areas of Bangladesh. The
fact that East Bengal, mainly dominated by the converted
Muslims who seldom discarded their age-old customs and
cultural patterns has produced a rich store-house of oral
traditions, is a manifestation of the cultural synthesis of
different communities and religions.
A prominent English civil servant and renowned Indologist
Sir George Abraham Grierson (1851-1941) was, and still is
known for his magnum opus Linguistic survey of India. He
spent twenty-six years in this part of the world, among other
places, serving as Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur,
northern District of today’s Bangladesh. He collected a good
number of oral literary materials from the District and
included them in his Linguistic Survey (Vol. V). He was
perhaps, the first methodical collector and serious scholar of
folksongs. His The song of Manikchandra (1873), a folk
ballad of Northern Bangladesh, is a case in point. Like an
ace folklorist he collected different versions of the ballad
Bangla Folklore 109
songs from the ‘mouth of oral performers’ from different
areas, for example, a variant in Bhojpur dialect of Bihar and
another in Magahi dialect from Gaya, India.
As in early 19th century Europe, romanticism and
nationalism have also played an important role in folklore
collections in Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore was a pioneer in
this field. His Loksahitya (Folk literature, 1907) is an
important volume on Bangla oral literature. He also
engaged field workers in different parts of the country to
collect authentic specimens of folk material culture. Dr.
Dinesh Chandra Sen, inspired by nationalism and Tagore’s
example and active financial support from the Calcutta
University, collected great quantities of oral narrative
treasures from East Bengal (Now Bangladesh), with the help
of Chandrakumar De, Kedarnath Majumdar and poet Jasim
Ud-din. Finally he compiled, edited and published
Mymensingh Gitika (Folk ballads from Mymensingh) and
Purba Banga Gitika (Eastern Bengal ballads) between 1923
and 1932), and rendered some of them into English. His
Folk Literature of Bengal (1920) earned him a reputation
both at home and abroad.
Due to Dr. Sen’s ceaseless and painstaking endeavour, folk
ballads from East Bengal (Bangladesh) had been recognized
throughout the world. Rolland, translated some of our
ballads into French, Heinze Mode and Dusan Zbavitel
translated them into German and Czech respectively. Dusan,
an Indologist and folklore scholar who was well-versed in
Bangla, wrote a book under the title Folk Ballads from
Mymensingh and the Problem of their Authenticity. It was
published by Calcutta University (1963). Muhammad
Monsurddin’s famous folksong collection, Haramoni (Lost
Gems) was first published in 1930. Rabindranath wrote an
Introduction to it. The eleventh and final volume of
110 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Haramoni (Kavigan - extempore verse duel between two
major folk poets) was published just after Monsurddin’s
death in 1987.
Dr. D. C. Sen’s Mymensing Gitika and Purba Banga Gitika
have still been regarded as a very valuable contribution to
our folk narrative research scholarship. But from a modern
folklorist’s point of view his massive endeavour has limitations
as well. He did not preserve the original collections of
Chandra Kumar De and others in an archives for future
use. This has created many problems, including the problem
of authenticity of the Gitikas, Zbavitel and lasimuddin had
been to the field (Mymensingti 1960) but could not locate
any Gitika or Gitika singer. However, Zbavitel wrote his
famous book proving the authenticity of the Gitikas. It is
interesting to mention here that Muhammad Syedur had
been collecting living Gitikas in Mymensingh at the same
time. And Dr. Zbavitel was also working at the Bangla
Academy in 1960 under a UNESCO scholarship
Programme. Unfortunately Zbavitel did not meet Syedur.
And the Bangladesh’s folklore scholars were unaware about
the strange happenings in their folklore arena. Finally in
1988 Prof. Lauri Honko of Finland discovered Syedur’s
collections in Bangla Academy Folklore Archives. He must
have been very much amused to see the state of folklore
scholarship in Bangladesh. He confidently said to the present
writer: “I can say from my folk narrative research experience
that, Mymensing Gitika still exists, may be in a little changed
form. Go and look for it. “Prof. Henry Glassie (the then
President of the American Folklore Society) and another
faculty member of our workshop also showed keen interest
to go to the field. So we did go to the field (Kishoreganj) and
discovered Bhelua Sundarir Pala (a folk song narrative of
Purba- Banga gitika). It all happened during our third
International folklore workshop in 1988.
Bangla Folklore 111
Folklore research has developed as a highly sophisticated
discipline in the present-day world. We are lagging much
behind in this respect. Even our collecting and archiving
systems are still archaic in nature. We have collected huge
texts, ignoring the detailed contextual background and
performance situation. These have reduced our ‘live’ oral
literary traditions to dead archival material. Modern
scholars give less emphasis on the archive materials because
of scanty informations on meaning, function and use of the
items and related contextual background. Instead, they
prefer field work.
In fact, ‘Fieldwork’ and ‘Performance’ are the two key words
in latest folklore scholarship. Roger D. Abrahams said:
‘folklore is folklore only when it is performed. Keeping this
in mind we have reshaped our field work strategy. Instead of
collecting information from an informant in isolation, we
now record an item of folklore when it is performed. This is
‘how we document folklore when it interacts in its natural
setting as a living social or cultural event or as a process of
“artistic communication in a small group” (Dan Ben-Amos
(1972-3-15) or a larger community.
Our present emphasis is on two items: 1. folksongs and
folktales that have been studied abundantly. and; 2. the fact
that these two genres have a commonality, i.e., they are lively
and real only when they are performed. Words of a folksong
or a written version of a folktale are but a pale reproduction
of the original.
Now the problem is, how to reproduce intangible text in
print as they exist in oral tradition: It is, perhaps, impossible.
The skillful movements, gestures, repetitiveness, and
continuous changing patterns in rendering a song, or
different ways of telling a story by the oral performers cannot
be reproduced in black and white. Which is why the
112 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
multidimensional approaches namely, written interviewing,
audio and video recording of the performance in its natural
context and participation- observation method etc. are being
followed to document the folklore process. This is, perhaps
the only way to study our folk materials in its totality and in
depth.
Recent Practice of Collection and Preservation
It is now the practice to send our trained fieldworkers to
villages and remote areas and encourage them to stay there
for a considerable period of time and to live with the people,
trying to do away with or at least reduce the social and
cognitive distance between themselves and the village folk.
They arc briefed, before being sent out about things they
are expected to look for. They are supposed to watch the
folk narrative performances with meticulous care and
attention, take photographs of different movements and
gestures of the performers, note their detailed biographies
and observe changes taking place in their performances.
Newly-trained field researchers are using the theoretical
knowledge which they have gained during the three
International Workshops of 1980’s while recording the
folktales or narratives in the field.
After observing all the technical formalities a trained field
researcher transcribes his findings and compiles a
manuscript with necessary explanatory notes, annotations,
bibliographies, contextual information and meaning of the
materials as explained to him by the informants.
Methodological approach may change if an item demands
it. After compiling a manuscript a researcher hands it over
to the folklore department of our Academy.

Anungla Aier
Perspective of Folklore and Identity
from Northeast India :
In The Context of Naga Ethnicity
India’s Northeastern region is multiethnic and multicultural.
This cultural and ethnic diversity of the region is what makes
the region and its inhabitants a subject of interest to a wide
genre of students. Since the independence of this great
country from alien rule, the northeastern region has always
figured as a troubled region. Among the many tribal groups
of the region, the Naga group is the single largest group
spread across the states of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam and the adjoining border areas with
Myanmar. For this reason, this discussion on perspectives of
folklore and identity from the northeast will be drawn
primarily from the Naga context. The intent and structure
of this presentation is to share the sentiments of the people
and to draw our attention to the importance of folklore in
understanding those sentiments. Here what Mazharul Islam1
observed with regard to the nature of folklore is worth
mentioning, ‘……folkore is the result of experience of not a
person, but of the community or the society at large. We may
114 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
call it the wisdom of the people or the learning of the community.
The individual earns knowledge through experience and when
experience and knowledge are combined together, they voice
the same feeling which becomes the feeling of the society. This
feeling gets its expressions in the elements of folklore’. With such
a statement with regard to the understanding of folklore
before us, it is also important to remind that the field of
folkloristic studies among the many indigenous communities
of the region still remains unexplored.
Folklore and oral narratives as a great repository of
information with regard to lifestyle, people, geographical
landmarks, place names, customs, beliefs and important
events in the history of a people is widely recognized. Various
scholars of history, ethno-archaeology and anthropology have
drawn upon such oral and folkloristic sources for
interpretation of cultural and historical materials. Apart from
the academic importance of such narrative materials, what
is also of great importance is its significance to the people
who owns the stories as a cultural legacy. In the case of the
Naga, the stuffs of folklore such as the legends, myths, and
tales are part of their history; it is their past, their present
and also what makes up the essence of their identity.
The social base of folklore as shared within group boundaries
and made distinctive by this esoteric sharing among members
of the concerned group, thereby expressing their shared
identity has long been recognized by folklorists. With regard
to this discourse on the social base of folklore and shared
identity, Richard Baumen2 noted that ‘A true understanding
of the social base of folklore must be based upon investigations
which focus upon those social identities which are relevant to
the performances of folklore within the context of particular
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from Northeast India 115
situations and events for it is only here that we will find the
true locus of the inter-relationship between the folklore and its
bearers’.
Following such conceptualizations, an inference is drawn
here with regard to the sense of Naga identity and folklore.
Nobody can tell for sure how and when the Nagas came to
their current location which is spread across the Indo-
Myanmar border of the eastern Himalayan region. Many
scholars have speculated with no general consensus on the
origin of the term Naga as well as their original homeland
prior to settlement in their current location. In the early
Ethnographic writings on the Naga3 we find a strong
inclination on the part of the authors to establish cultural
parallels by referring to various customary practices among
the Nagas and other similar tribal groups in other parts of
the south and south-east Asia. These earlier works are
conspicuous by the absence of any attempt to draw parallel
on the basis of their folklore and oral tradition. With different
tribes speaking different dialects of the Tibeto-Burman
language, Nagas distinguish among themselves on the basis
of their distinctive dialect and folklore. Each tribe tells of
their own folk heroes and heroines, myths of origin and
legends of migration, tales of war, peace and everyday life.
Yet all of these tribes share a common identity as Nagas. This
appears to directly counter the existing formulation of
folklore as shared identity. Therefore, to better understand
the function of folklore as an expression of shared identity
among Nagas, it is important to clarify two things:
1) Firstly, it is important to point out that ownership of
folklore such as songs, tales, myths, legends and such orally
transmitted tradition are found at the level of a particular
116 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
village, clan or at the level of the larger tribal group. At the
level of particular village or clan, the narratives are confined
to the beliefs, customs and tales that preserve the events and
historical experiences of the particular village and therefore
such stories are owned and usually narrated only in that
village. Each Naga village has its own folklore of the village
history with details of the first settlers such as clan name,
name of the persons and their genealogies, name of the village
of origin and or landmarks that they have crossed in their
journeys are all recorded either in songs, or narrative forms.
Such village specific folklore has a strong bearing and
significance in the social organization of the village. For
instance, the clan members of the first settlers have a ‘senior’
status in the village set up as the village founders. Such clans
also have a larger share of the best forest, cultivation plots
and their residential plots are also in the village center. In
settling boundary disputes within the village or with
neighboring villages, their opinions are respected and hold
more weight. The recounting of the events in the form of
songs or narrative is essential to prove the claims. Such
conventions which are practiced even in the contemporary
situation acts as reason for maintaining the stories as living
traditions in all its details. Such village specific folklore are
retained in every village and maybe considered even as an
autobiographical narrative of the village, which normally
emerges in short entities, connected to stimulations that arise
out of specific situations or issues or in formal discussions
relating to the village or its relation to its neighbors as well as
its position within the larger tribal group4.
At the level of the larger tribal group, the stories are usually
pertaining to legendary ancestors and their mythological
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from Northeast India 117
origins in some legendary place from whom the tribe is
believed to have descended. These types of stories are always
narrated in association with tales of migration from known
as well as unknown far places. In all the villages of a particular
tribe such narratives are used to function as evidence of their
common origin and shared identity.
2) Secondly, after having said how folklore materials are
owned and narrated at the level of the village and tribe, the
more difficult task to explain, especially to people who are
not Nagas is the folkloristic perspective of the esoteric quality
of their shared identity. Perhaps, it maybe made easier if I
say that at a broader level of abstraction when we consider
the particular manner, events and social situations in the
context of which the various elements of folklore are enacted
or narrated, we find not much difference among the tribes.
The village level narratives and folklore can not exactly be
the same as each village was settled at different times by
different sets of people who have had historical experiences
that differed from the other villages. What is more important
is to look for the spirit or soul of the folklore and not just the
sameness of a story. Here we find that among the Nagas,
each Naga community attaches similar values to its
importance and enactments. The cultural practices involved
in narrating or enacting the folklore, the purpose it serves
and its relationship with its bearers are identical in all Naga
communities. The Naga myths of origin and other stories of
creation are not always identical among the tribes. Further,
even within the same tribe, it is not uncommon to come
across different origin myths and stories of migration. At the
same time, it is also seen that there are certain stories of origin
myth shared by several tribes or sections of different tribes.
118 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The more important issue and what strikes the listener is the
familiarity in all the stories which points to one direction
only – the east, as the place of their origin and from where
they had migrated to their present habitation.
Another important pointer of shared identity among the
various Naga tribes maybe derived from the folk ideas or
values ingrained in the folktales, sayings and beliefs. The
characters in the stories may vary with slight twists in the
plots from tribe to tribe; similar beliefs are preserved in the
form of songs in one tribe while in the other it maybe in the
form of an adage or proverb. Nonetheless, the function it
serves is the same.
In the light of the above, what is important is the task of
identifying the underlying assumptions held by members of
a given culture. In this context, an inference drawn from
the Naga folklore show that embedded within the vast
diversity of their oral tradition, songs and stories lies the basic
idea of their common cultural ethos that cuts through
assumptions of tribal identity upon which their social
relationships and the structure of their society and the world
around them is constructed. For example, a popular theme
in the creation story of the Nagas is the story of Humans,
Tiger and the Spirit, the narratives of which is found in the
form of a story or a song. In these tales, humans, tiger and
the spirit are depicted as brothers born of the same mother
(in the Angami Naga version the mother is described as the
ancestral grandmother of all creations). In almost all the
versions of this story, after the mother passed away due to
old age/sickness the brothers were unable to live together
and decided to live separately. Before their separation, a
contest was held between man and tiger to decide who should
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from Northeast India 119
live in the house. The spirit helped man to cheat the tiger
and won the contest and continued to live in the village
whereas tiger had to go live in the jungle. One common
theme that emerges in this story is that the Nagas clearly
demarcates the universe into three parts: one part is controlled
by men, the other by the wild animals usually symbolized by
the strength of the tiger and the third part by the spirits5).
Another example is seen in the story about the discovery of
paddy plant. This story has two versions; in one version it
was the rat that brought the seed to men and in the other
version the frog brought it to men. Incidentally the version
with the frog is found only among the tribes that practices
terrace cultivation. Some other tale types told among the
Nagas are variations of stories with reference to stones
attributed with various powers of good and evil; stories of
flood and drought; the great darkness; how the dog ate up
the script; marriage of man with the woman from the sky;
the snake husband; domestication of animals etc, to mention
a few.
I was once asked by a fellow folklorist from another
community whether the Nagas share a common folk hero/
heroine or anti-hero and whether we share a common myth
of origin. My response to his query was that we don’t have
such common folk denominator. To this he asked on what
basis Nagas claim a common shared identity, if it is not politics.
My response to him was that it is not always necessary for a
people to identify with a common folk character to think
alike and to feel the sense of belongingness with one another.
Folklore is like a wide canvas that contains many colors and
patterns, a vessel as deep and complex as the human mind
forming a web of different experiences. And in order to
120 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
understand and grasp the essence of the way people connect
these web of experiences preserved within their folklore, it is
important to consider what Alan Dundes6, one of the most
noted folklorist of modern times stated that there can be no
question that genre theory has been instrumental in shaping
the discipline of folkloristic, but it has also limited the
folklorist from recognizing many other unstated premises
which underlie the thoughts and actions of a given group of
people, such as traditional notions and concepts which are
not likely to appear consistently in any fixed phrase or form.
Such proposition when juxtaposed in the context of Naga
folklore, it becomes evident that the notion of common
identity and bonding that exists among the people is rooted
on the tacit understanding of common cultural values and
premises that transpire from their folklore, while
simultaneously maintaining the distinctive inter-tribal
boundaries.
Tessie Naranjo pointed out with regard to Native Americans,
that oral traditions are often axiomatic rather than
hypothetical. Whereas scientists search for exclusive and
universal truth, Native Americans use their oral tradition to
attain an understanding of the past that simultaneously
operates on many different levels of meaning. Such a
conception can also be applied to the Naga understanding
of their past, that a real history is embedded in their oral
tradition and folklore basing upon which they assert their
identity.
A final note to consider is: ‘Is folklore only about the past
reflected in the present?’ The notion that folklore is with
regard only to the past is no more tenable as many new
researches have shown. However, what Boas observed about
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from Northeast India 121
a century ago that folklore is a mirror of the culture and
represents that people’s ethnography is still relevant
particularly with reference to traditional societies like the
Naga and other hill tribes of northeast India. This meant
that although folklore might be a key to the past, it likewise
reflect the present and thus also a key to the present8. Linda
Degh9 in her exposition of the “acculturative perspective’’ of
ethnic folklore emphasizes that a given group’s cultural trait
composition is the result of inter-ethnic group contact that
takes place over a period of time and asserted, following
Fredrik Barth’s study on ethnic boundaries that ‘the ethnic’
group is an open system of social interactions and strings of
cultural traditions manifested in dynamic processes of growth
and decay, always on the move. If Degh’s ‘acculturative
perspective’ is to be considered in the case of the Naga ethnic
folklore among the various tribes, it may explain similarities
in their cultural traits to some extent. Nonetheless,
considering the fact that all those communities that assume
a Naga identity were living with no or negligible contact
with each other till the British administration expanded over
their lands, rather than as a result of acculturation, the
similarity in their ethnic folklore is seen more as a reflection
of their shared past and common identity. The observation
of Stephen Stern10, that “cultural features associated with a
particular ethnic group do not have the same significance to
all ethnics, and such features can be used at times to express
common membership and at other times to express different
affiliations” is clearly exemplified by the contemporary
expression of identity among Nagas. In this is seen the
irrefutable function of folklore as shared identity while at
the same time the groups maintain their distinct social entity.
122 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The concepts of folklore and oral tradition have always
implied an idea of change and continuity. As observed by
Handoo11, the modernization of the contemporary society
led many scholars to believe that folklore and myths are dying
traditions or would die out very soon and would be replaced
completely by the print and the electronic version of
literature. And in fact many genres did disappear from oral
traditions of various societies but it is seen that folklores
continues to live on in other forms even in the modern
societies of the world. As observed by Linda Degh, narratives
embodying the personal experiences of ethnics have emerged
as the most pronounced forms of ‘new’ ethnic folklore.
According to her, the most popular topics for the narrative
expression of personal sentiments are (1) the tragic, thrilling
or humorous narration of extraordinary experiences in
everyday life; (2) narration of experiences during a temporary
absence from the community and (3) narration of life
experiences in newly formed communities12. Such personal
experience does not remain in the minds of the narrators
but are continually repeated to other members of the
community as precautionary measures and in the process
creates a corpus of what new ethnic folklore. This lends
credence to the assumptions that the elemental essence of
folklore and oral traditions are its acquiescent qualities to
the changing social and cultural landscape. In this regard, it
is stated that it is hardly two generations since the Nagas and
the other indigenous hill tribes of the region have come into
larger contact with mainstream Indian society and culture.
In the course of this short span of time, the people of the
region have been going through diverse historical
experiences. In this process, with more and more people living
outside of their own cultural group within the region or in
Perspective of Folklore and Identity from Northeast India 123 124 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

urban areas in various parts of the country, ethnic folklore as Western States Folklore Society. Source Stable Url: http.www.jstor.org
Accessed: 07/05/2008 See also, F.Barth(ed) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries:
a response to the new social experiences is emerging as an
The Social Organization of Cultural Differences. Boston,1969.
important aspect of their cultural repertoire and need to be
10. Ibid, 21.
examined taking the social matrix into consideration.
11. Handoo, J, 2002, The Status of Folklore in Modern Indian Society, Paper
presented in the 25th Conference of The Indian Folklore Congress, Shillong,
References Nov. 4-6.
1. Mazharul Islam, 1985, Folklore: The pulse of the People in the Context of Indec 12. Cf. Stephen Stern. pp. 26-27. Prepared comments by Linda Degh on
Folklore, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi Dorsons’s ‘Is there a folk in the city? In Journal of American Folklore, 87
(1975).
2. Richard Baumen, 1971 Differential Identity and the Social Base of Folklore,
in The American Journal of Folklore, Vol 81. No 331
3. J.H. Hutton,1926, Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute of great Britain
and Ireland Vol.(56)observed the similarity of belief associated with the
magical qualities of stones prevalent among the Naga tribes are similar to
beliefs existing among the Khasis, Kacha Nagas (presently Kacharis) in
India as well as allied tribes found in Burma, Formosa, Melanesia, Philippines
etc . See also by the same author “The mixed Culture of the Naga tribes” (Vol.
95) 1965; “Meaning and Method of the Erection of Monoliths by the Naga”
1922 (Vol.52); Barron “Notes on Stone Implements from Naga Hills”
1872,(Vol.1) Source.http/www.Jstor.org accessed. 3rd May 2000. Also
W.C.Smith,1857, The Ao NagaTribes of Assam.
4. Anungla Aier, 2008, A Study on Naga Folk Narratives, Origin Myths and
Early settlements, Unpublished Project report under department of art &
culture Govt of Nagaland.
5. Ibid., 2009, Folklore, Folk Ideas and Gender Relations in Naga Society, in
The Eastern Quarterly (Forthcoming).
6. Alan Dundes, 1971. Folk Ideas as Units of World View in American
Journal of Folklore Vol. 81 No 331. Stable Url: http.www.jstor.org Accessed:
07/05/2008.
7. Tesse Naranjo, Thoughts on Migration by Santa Clara Pueblo, in Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology, Vol 14 pp 247-25.
8. Alan Dundes, 1966, The American Concept of Folklore in Journal of the
Folklore Institute, Vol.3 No.3 Indiana Univ.Press. Stable Url:
http.www.jstor.org Accessed: 07/05/2008.
9. Cf. Stephen Stern, Ethnic Folklore and the Folklore of Ethnicity in Western
Folklore Vol. 36, No. 1. Studies in Folklore and Ethnicity (1977) Pub:

Abul Ahsan Choudhury
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain :
An Icon of Folklore in the Social
Context of Bangladesh
This paper seeks to study the mystic Baul poet Lalon Shain
(1774-1890) as an icon of folklore in the social context of
Bangladesh. Lalon appears to be the best transport to carry
folklore as the voice of folks in general and represents the
genres such as traditional art, literature, culture, and practice
disseminated largely through oral communication and
behavioral example. His view on religion, society, human-
beings, race and culture are found in his songs and show, at
the same time, how Lalon acts as an icon of folklore in the
social context of Bangladesh. To understand Lalon’s position,
this study focuses on how the nineteenth century Bengali
mystic saint and song-maker Lalon goes beyond the so-called
social, political, religious, caste, creed, race and class
distinction in the SAARC region and in the Globe as well.
Despite the division of three independent countries India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh of the then undivided Indian
Subcontinent, significant cultural unity has not stopped
existing among them. Such cultural unity among these
126 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
countries invites special attention to the practice of folklore,
mysticism, Sufism and spiritualism. In all ages, a few
individuals came out of tradition and created new philosophy
to serve the humanity, to look for the Creator and His
creation. Of such individuals, Lalon Shain who propagated
peace, equity and harmony for all the people from diverse
religions seems to be the greatest. Lalon shattered religious
barriers, so-called customs and social restraints to achieve
love for mankind. He is a true inheritor of the great mystics
such as Kabir, Dadu, Ramananda, Tulshidas, Paltu, Rajjav,
Shah Abdul Latif Bhit and Buleh Shah. Actually Baul Fakir
Lalon Shain’s philosophy seems very much relevant not only
for the unity in the SAARC countries but also in all the
countries of the Globe. As a Baul, Lalon wrote numerous
songs that testify folkloric elements in relation to humanity
and brotherhood, spirituality and religion, peace and
tranquility and such aspects of folklore, which virtually focus
on all the folk-elements ancient and modern in SAARC
region. Thus Lalon Shain has tremendously contributed to
the understanding of folklore, especially because of his social
awareness that is evident in his exploration of all aspects of
human life not only in the social context of Bangladesh but
also in the world context. Regarded as the best voice of
Baulism that has clearly been exposed in his songs, Lalon
dedicated himself to the cause of universal brotherhood of
mankind. However, his body-based philosophy, practice of
a sect among Bengali Sufis and Vaishnavs known as Bauls,
his personal practice of such philosophy but speaking of it
publicly through his songs, his music performance and
practice embodying a highly syncretic philosophy drawn
from diverse religious sources, his confrontation of orthodox
fundamentalisms and preaching of radically different search
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 127
for divinity may be relevant sources to analyze the mystic
poet Lalon Shain as an icon of folklore in the social context
of Bangladesh.
2. The countries in the Indian Subcontinent foster
historical commonality and significant cultural unity. In this
subcontinent there has always been a group of people who
have ventured beyond established scriptural tradition to find
a way to the freedom of man and to perceive God. These
people, rising above caste, creed and communal division,
attempted to define religion in the light of the simple truth
emanated from the human heart. Discouraging conflict and
division while encouraging hybridity and syncreticity, these
people scrutinized the insipid, rigid and lifeless scriptural
tradition with humane logic, common sense and social reality.
In this process emerged the Vakti cult of the North and the
South India, the Mahapurushia sect of Assam, the Sufism of
Punjab and Sindh, the Vaishnavi Baulism of Bengal and many
other major and minor mystic folk-cults. These mystic cults
paved the way for the practice of humanism and communal
harmony in the Indian Subcontinent mostly dominated by
scriptural prejudices. Taking queue from the idea of love
and devotion, the mystics embarked on an all-out struggle
against discriminations based on caste, class or creed. Having
their loyalty solely to the idea of human emancipation, they
denounced hollow religious orthodoxy in favor of popular
and liberal religious practices. The practices and philosophy
of the Bauls and of Fakir Lalon Shain, in their origin and
nature, relate to these mystic communities. In his perception,
ideals and beliefs, Lalon, as we find, is an apt descendant of
the great mystic poets of India such as Kabir, Dadu,
Ramananda, Tulsidas, Nanak, Paltu, Rajjav, Shah Abdul Latif
Bhit, Buleh Shah and so on.
128 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
3. The Baul practice has its root in Charyagitika, the
practice songs of the Buddhist Sahajiya sect flourishing almost
a thousand of years ago. Baulism flourished in the 17th century
by adopting the popular cult centering on music, Guru-cult
and body-based devotion (Bhattacharya: 1378, 289 and
Sharif: 1968, 404). Baul religion was basically a hybrid of
Buddhist Sahajiya cult, Islamic Sufism, Vaisnavit-Sahajiya cult
and local Tantric Yoga-cult. However, the unique
characteristic of Baulism lies in the fact that it was
simultaneously a spiritual and a social quest—the search for
the spiritual or transcendental knowledge, as well as the bitter
experience of exploitation, injustice and discriminations,
accounted for the origin of Baulism. Not surprisingly, the
lower-caste people devoid of their social and religious right
would search for a religious practice unorthodox and liberal
in its beliefs and operation.
4. Lalon Fakir sang the victory of humanity. In the Baul
practice, there is a special significance for the doctrine of
‘Man’. The same being, who is the ‘neighbour of Arshinagar’
is Lalon’s ‘man of adoration’. That very being is ‘Alekh Shain’
or ‘the Shain immaculate’. The Baul’s strive is directed
towards searching for this ‘Man’ and this search constitutes
the core of his devotion. Like Rabindranath Tagore (1861-
1941), who says, “It is a sin to lose faith on man”, Lalon says,
“Manush obisshashe hoi nare manush nidhinone (disbelief in
man does not help to reach the heart of man).” An unusual
revelation of the greatness of man and the devotion to man
can be detected in Lalon’s songs. The following song is a
reflection of the supremacy of this living world and of human
life:
Shall I ever be born, I know not, in human again
Do in quickness O my mind! Whatever is worth doing.
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 129
Infinite forms—created the Lord Divine
Nothing is superior to man among them
Thus goes the saying, I hear.
The deities even pray and worship
to be born in human.
How kindly being favoured by the fate
I know not O mind!
have you got this human body—
a boat to pass over the worldliness.
Steer fast to get across in the right stream
that the boat does not get sunk in the mid-way.
(Debdas Trans., 135)
Even for the sake of devotion, the primary focus is on human
body instead of supernatural being or scriptures. The human
Guru of this everyday world, instead of any godly voice, has
been invoked for the direction of the path of devotion. Thus
Lalon’s songs celebrate the victory of man-centered
perception and values. Lalon manifested the same awareness
regarding religion as was found in the mystics of the Middle
Age. The mystic poet Kabir speaks against the sectarian
division in the following words:
Ek Niranjan Alho mera, Hindu Turuk dohu nohi mera.
(Choudhury: 2008, 52)
Lalon, belonging to a different period and language, delivers
the same message in the following lines:
A man can assume the same form he wants to be
The same soul, Ram-Rahim-Karim-Kala pervades the
universe.
Lalon rejects all institutionalized religions, searching for the
path of freedom outside orthodoxy. Although he often adopts
the theoretical or philosophical aspects of religion, he shows
130 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
no interest in its practical aspect. He did not abide by any
religious book such as the Quran, the Puran, the Vedas or
the Bible. He fought against orthodox religious practices of
his time. By breaking the narrow wall of communal and
religious segregation, he found a liberal space for unity. The
struggle of Lalon, and of the Bauls in general, is against
communal segregation. They never fostered the narrowness
of communalism. They used to introduce themselves as
‘vagrant’ and ‘without formula or mantra’. Lalon’s experience
revealed to him the fact that, besides the social conflict
between the Hindus and the Muslims, disagreement and
conflict existed in their religious practices too. The systems
of their devotional practices were different and the results
conflicting. Therefore annoyed Lalon rejected the both
creeds and said directly:
Oh my crazy mind how and in what way
Will you achieve saintliness
You have two common ways
One is in Muslim way and another is in Hindu way
All Muslims and Hindus wish to get ecstasy of Heaven
But all those are fake and false condolence
Who stupid will be soothed with such a fallacy?
In the above speech, Lalon hints at the possibility of human
unity sans discrimination and segregation. A comparative
analysis of this song and Kabir’s Doha, reveals the literal and
inner similarities between the songs of the two mystics. Kabir
said :
Hindu mukhe Ram kohi Musalman Khudai,
Kohoi Kabir so jibta soi kode na jai.
The gist is that ‘the Hindus die uttering the name of Ram
while the Muslims the name of Khuda but he who does not
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 131
fall into this division gets redemption. In one of his songs,
Lalon said :
Bed-Purane koreche jari
Jaboner Shain Hindur Hari
Ami ta bujhte nari
Dui rup shristi korlen ki tar proman.
In Vade and Puran, Hari is for the Hindus and Shain for
the Muslims but this is very strange to think of such division.
This song hints at the oneness and indivisibility of the human
race.
5. Lalon did not merely engage himself in the spiritual
quest but focused his attention to the social condition of his
time. Therefore he was a socially conscious mystic poet. And
of course the society was riddled with prejudices and hollow
customs, which placed rigid scriptures above human welfare
and which were based on the discriminations of caste, class
and untouchability. Lalon did not avert his gaze from the
social injustice and inequity, religious fundamentalism, class
exploitation, economic disparity, gender discrimination and
so on. Rather he reacted and protested vehemently against
social discriminations, the oppression of the rich and the
upper caste people and the rigid imposition of the scriptures.
He dreamed of a society free of caste, colour and class
discriminations. His social sensitivity made him a
representative of the poor and the oppressed. Although
Lalon’s songs were the vehicle for the hidden practices of the
Baul community, they simultaneously reveal his social
awareness. Thus, even in the interval of his soul searching,
he passes his scattered but frank and serious comments on
socio-economic issues.
It is to be mentioned that innumerable social and religious
132 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
prejudice had been a bitter reality for the Indian
Subcontinent since the time immemorial. The mystics and
religious reformers of the Middle Age used to rally against
these malpractices. Tulshidas said about caste-discrimination:
People take pride of caste by differentiating between the
higher and the lower caste. But without worshipping the
Supreme Being, all four castes turn into the degraded
things.” (Choudhury: 2008, 53)
The same message was voiced by the mystic Paltu:
Paltu, uchi jatoka, mat koi karo ohomkar
Shaheb ka dorbar me, kebol bhakti pear.
(Choudhury: 2008, 53)
Thus Paltu discouraged the vanity of the upper class people.
In his perception and belief, Lalon was a torchbearer of his
predecessors. Lalon unconditionally declares:
God is tamed to the devotee
Irrespectably not seeking his identity
In respect of caste, clan and descend identity.
(Hossain: 2009, 59)
Lalon was vehemently critical about acute social and
humanitarian problems created by untouchability and caste
discrimination in a society dominated by religion, class and
color considerations. Therefore, his voice gives vent to
displeasure in the following lines:
If you once visit Jagannath
You will see
How the vulnerable caste is dissolved!
There the Brahmin gaily takes food
From the Chandal ignoring his caste.
While speaking about the caste discrimination, Lalon refers
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 133
to the teachings of Sree Chaytanya who attempted to establish
social equity by eradicating the darkness of the caste-ridden
society. Alluding to the law of Chaytanya, Lalon says:
Dhormadhormo bolite
Kichu matro nai tate
Premer gun gai.
Jeter bol rakhle na se to
Korle ekakarmoi.
In his songs, Lalon repeatedly speaks of the meaninglessness
of untouchability and caste discrimination. Revealing
his rebellious attitude towards it, Lalon categorically
declares:
If one does not put off his caste identity
He cannot meet with God
But what a vague boast of caste!
Lalon says, If I could catch the caste within my hand
I unhesitatedly gave it in the fire to be burnt out.
Lalon’s personal experience and perception provided him
with ample knowledge about the hollowness of caste and
religion (Capwell: 1986, 10). Thus, being questioned about
his own caste and religion, Lalon gave the answer in one of
his songs, in which he declared the meaninglessness of
sectarian religion :
“What is the caste of Lalon?” ask all
“I haven’t seen its shape and form in my eyes”, Says Lalon.
(Haroonuzzaman, Trans.: 2009, 83)
Therefore, Lalon’s decision is as follows:
They speak of religion the world over
And bask in its false glory.
134 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Says Lalon:
I’ve sold off the decree of religion
In mankind’s baazar.
(Dasgupta, Trans.: 2000, 71)
It is only by transcending caste and religion that Lalon
enlisted himself as a devotee. Lalon, unwilling to let people
trace his birth or his origin, remained absolutely silent about
his past, fearing that he would be cast into class, caste or
communal identities by a fragmented and hierarchical
society. In spite of his silence about his origins, communal
appropriation of this great philosophical figure has created
a controversy regarding whether he is a Muslim or a Hindu
or Sufi etc. He is none, as he always strove to go beyond all
politics of identities. Lalon sang, People ask if Lalon is a Hindu
or a Muslim. Lalon says he himself doesn’t know who he is.
Thus Lalon places humanity above all that chaos and conflict
in the world and invites all of us create a peaceful world.
Lalon dreamed of an enlightened society without class and
exploitation in which, he hoped, the injustice and
humiliation meted out to man by his fellow man would
permanently cease to exist. He earnestly desired to see a
society without religion, caste, class and sect. He was
distressed to see the suffering and down-trodden human
beings. At the same time, Lalon talked about the gender
discrimination in the so-called male-dominated Bengali
society. He could not accept the difference of dignity between
men and women. As a result of it, he positioned women in
such a dignified place that finds an expression in the lines
below:
Maera vojile hoi se baper thikana
Nigom bichare satya gelo tai jana.
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 135
Thus in this age of post-modernity, Lalon appears as one of
the best feminists not only in Asia but also in the world.
All these have made Lalon an extraordinary mystic
personality. That an illiterate village devotee could strike so
strongly against the prejudice and oppression is undoubtedly
an exceptional and amazing fact in the history of Bengal.
Lalon’s liberal views and humanitarian awareness have been
transmitted to his followers too; especially they are evident
in the songs of one of his disciples, Duddu Shain. Because of
his liberal and progressive mentality Lalon was denounced,
criticized and oppressed by the contemporary society.
Fundamentalists from both the Hindu and Muslim sects
opposed Lalon. To the Muslims Lalon was a blasphemous
‘Narar Fakir’ and, again, to the Hindus he was an outcaste.
Both the religious gurus (masters) and the rulers rejected
Lalon’s message and teaching. However, Lalon, determined
and unshaken by hundreds of problems, continued to work
towards his goal by using his philosophy as a means of social
and moral teaching.
6. Lalon was born in a critical time seventeen years after
the battle of Plassey (1757). The long life of Lalon saw the
significant moments of the British rule in India. The Bengali
life was moved by various activities of the nineteenth century.
The pioneer of this Bengali Renaissance was Raja Rammohan
Roy (1772-1833). Of course, this Bengali rebirth was
Calcutta-centered and its effect was basically confined within
the city. It took long time for the impact of this rebirth to
spread across the rest of the Bengal. Lalon, an illiterate man
of a rural area, did not have the education or opportunity to
be moved by the activities of the literate Bengali people.
Nevertheless, the social movement that Lalon created in the
rural area by dint of his devotion and perception was quite
136 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
astonishing and unprecedented. Many have tended to
compare his contribution to that of Raja Rammohan Roy
(Roy: 1385, 24-25 & Dey: 1974, 4-5).
Although there have been few studies on the spiritual or
philosophical values of Lalon’s songs, Lalon’s artistic awareness
and the comparative discussions of Lalon’s songs with those
by other mystic poets, there has been little study on the social
or historical values of Lalon’s songs or Lalon’s secular outlook,
humanism and opposition to fundamentalism. Rabindranath
was attracted by the positive significance of Lalon’s songs.
Almost eight decades ago Tagore, in one of his writings,
hinted at the role and significance of the Baul songs in
establishing communal harmony :
In our country, those who claim themselves educated, are
searching out of necessity various strategies for forging
Hindu-Muslim unity. They are educated in the historical
school of the alien country. However, the history of our
country have been shouldering till date devotion towards
unity, not out of necessity but out of the deep truth
posited in the human heart. We see that devotion of the
Bauls in the Baul literature–that thing belongs to both
the Hindu and Muslim; they have been made to get
together and they have not hit each other. This unity has
not bred meetings and associations but it has bred songs
…... The voices of the Hindus and the Muslims have
merged in the tongue and tune of these songs, no quarrel
was generated between the Quran and the Puran. This
very unity reveals the true nature of the Indian civilization
while quarrel and conflict reveals savagery. This Baul song
reveals how the desire for a high civilization, having a
common space for the Hindu and the Muslim, has been
operative in itself in the deep recess of the rural life behind
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 137
the purview of schools and colleges. (Mansooruddin:
1337, Ashirvad)
This explanation and evaluation is particularly applicable to
the songs of Lalon and perhaps to the character of Lalon
himself.
7. Lalon has portrayed a genuine picture of the folk-society
in the canvas of folklore. His deep involvement in the life of
the folks made him experienced and aware of the social
problems. In turn, he made people conscious of the social
ills, injustices and inconsistencies. Even he stood bravely
against the exploitation of the Zemindar (Biswas : 1385, 67-
68). Folklore has been termed as the “pulse of the people”
(Islam : 1985, 383). Thus modern folklorists tend to judge
folklore in the light of the continuous social transformation
(Khan: 2006, Introduction). Considered in line of the above
statement, the role and contribution of the socially committed
folk-personalities get a new resonance. In Lalon’s songs, the
desire for social analysis and social change is expressed often
overtly and at other times covertly. Naturally there is a
similarity between Lalon and other mystic devotees and
singers with regards to their perception and preoccupation.
However, there are dissimilarities too due to the social reality
of the time and region and the way they saw life and society.
Lalon always related his devotion and thoughts to his time
and society, always kindling the light of protest and rebellion
in his heart. And here lies his uniqueness and originality
which have made him an icon of folklore from generation to
generation.
8. Lalon is the greatest spokesman of Baulism, and he spoke
about it in his songs. Through his practice and song, he
managed to develop Baulism to its apex. Lalon’s contribution
has been vital in installing Baul songs into the heart of the
138 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Bengali people and spreading them in the Bengali-speaking
areas as well as attracting the attention of the people abroad.
On 25th November 2005 UNESCO recognized the Baul
songs of Bangladesh as “a masterpiece of the oral and
intangible heritage of humanity” (Choudhury : 2008, 108).
Lalon’s songs lie at the heart of this global recognition of
Baul songs. For about two centuries Lalon’s songs have been
catering to the spiritual hungers of the mystic-minded
Bengalis, satisfying at the same time their thirst for pleasure.
Lalon has added a new dimension to the Baul songs by dint
of his unprecedented musical gift, his knowledge about Baul
doctrine and his social awareness. Lalon’s songs are the clear
and vehement manifestation of his social awareness. His songs
reflect his urge for the assimilation of religions, his protests
against the hollow religious customs, and his perception
about the supremacy of human beings, his hatred towards
caste discrimination and untouchability and his rejection of
the orthodoxy. Actually, his rebellion was directed against
religion-based exploitation and prejudices and social
discrimination and injustices.
Lalon Shain’s liberal and secular outlook, his attempt to foster
brotherhood among the people and to rise above the
narrowness of religion, caste and sect and finally his humanism
have made him an icon of human love that is quite analogous
to folklore. For the same reason, his philosophy and teaching
have transcended from local to the global. There is an
astonishing similarity between what Lalon means to achieve
and the objectives of SAARC – that unity, brotherhood and
mutual understanding are the key to welfare, happiness and
wealth and peace. Remembering Lalon, we sing the victory
of human unity – Lalon’s teaching encourages us today and
tomorrow.
Mystic Baul Poet Lalon Shain 139

References : Mamang Dai

(in English)

Capwell, Charles. The Music of the Bauls of Bengal. Kent, Ohio: The Kent
University Press, 1986.
Dasgupta, Samir, Trans. Songs of Lalon. Dhaka: Sahitya Prakash, 2000.
Debdas, Nanigopal, ed. & Trans. Songs of Lalon Fakir. Calcutta: 1997.
Dimock, Edward C., Jr. The Place of the Hidden Moon : Erotic Mysticism in the
Vaisnava-Sahajiya Cult of Bengal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1989.
Haroonuzzaman, trans. Lalon: Selected Lalon Songs. Dhaka: Adorn Publication,
2009.
Hossain, Abu Ishaq. Lalon Shah: The Great Poet. Dhaka: Palal Prokashoni, 2009.
Islam Mazharul. Folklore : The Pulse of the People. New Delhi: Concept Publishing
Company, 1985.
McDaniel, June. The Madness of the Saints: Ecstatic Religion in Bengal. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1989.
(in Bengali)
Bhattacharya, Upendranath. Banglar Baul O Baul Gan. 2nd ed. Calcutta: Oriental
Book Company, 1378.
Biswas, Hemango. Loksongil Samiksha: Bangla O Assam. Calcutta, 1385.
Choudhury, Abul Ahsan. Lalon Shain. Dhaka: Suchipatra, 2008.
Dey, Amalendu. Bangali Buddhijibi O Bichsinnotabad. Calcutta, 1974.
Khan, Shamsuzzaman. Folklore Charcha. Dhaka: Bijoy Prokash, 2006.
Mansooruddin, Muhammad, ed. Haramoni. Calcutta, 1337.
Roy, Annadasankar. Lalon O Tar Gan. Calcutta: Saibya, 1385.
Sharif, Ahmed. Bichito Chinta. Dacca : Kothakali, 1968.
Folklore :
Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region
Introduction:
Part of the Eastern Himalayan range Arunachal Pradesh is
the largest state of India’s North East Region (NER), the
broad term given to a group of 7 states,* dubbed as the seven
sisters, spread over 255,00 sq kms stretching from Bhutan
along the eastern Himalaya to the Patkoi Hills in the eastern
border and southwards towards the Bay of Bengal,
surrounded by an external frontier of 4,500 kms with
Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
It is an area of great scenic beauty with snow peaks falling
gradually southwards into pristine forest and valleys criss-
crossed by turbulent rivers and streams. These water routes
feed and become the mighty Brahmaputra river in the plains
of Assam, providing a unique environmental world which
gives the region the honour of being the greenest part of the
country. The region, due to geographical and historical
reasons has also succeeded in keeping itself as one of the last
bastions of the tribal world that thrives here in a colourful
and distinct way of life.
Folklore : Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 141
This, in summary, is the briefest of introduction to India’s
north east. A closer examination will reveal that the area has
a cultural diversity that is more pronounced that in any other
part of the country. And the same is true if we begin to look
at each state, in this case specifically Arunachal Pradesh,
home to 25 tribal groups further sub-divided into clans and
sub-groups each with its distinctive traditions and customs.
Apart from the Buddhist tribes of the northern boundaries
of the state the tribes of what is termed the central belt of
Arunachal Pradesh, viz: the Adi, Galo, Nyishi, Apa-Tani, Tagin
and Mishmi comprise the Tani group of tribes that claim
ancestry from a common legendary forefather called Abo
Tani, the first man on earth. This in turn forms the tenets
of indigenous faith called the way of Donyi-Polo, literally
translated as Donyi-sun, Polo-moon, that recognises the sun
and moon as the cosmic symbolic power through which the
supreme spiritual being, the world-spirit, is made manifest.
Apart from the earliest script literatures offered by Assam
and Manipur, a large chunk of the traditional beliefs and
customs of the tribes comes to us via the oral tradition that is
a common feature of the majority of ethnic and linguistic
groups of the region. This is an entirely non-script collection,
sung or chanted as narrative ballads and epics. Thus, in effect,
there are two literatures of the north east, the script literature
and the oral tradition.
In present times there is also a palpable mingling of the
written history and the literature of folklore, myths and
legend that is being documented using the Roman script,
especially in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,
Mizoram, and Meghalaya. And this, in a way, has become
the backdrop from which a reappraisal of the unwritten past
is emerging as the basis for writing the modern history of the
states.
142 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
During one festival in my hometown I was struck by a story
an old man told me. He was sitting in the sun shaving
bamboo and I asked him why he was not eating with the
others.
‘I would,’ he said, laughing, ‘but I am recovering from a
dog bite and it is taboo for me to eat pork now. Ahem. ’
“But didn’t you take injections?”
He said that he had, but there were other things to consider.
He said he knew people who had taken injections but still
died from rabies because they did not observe the taboos.
This interested me. What taboos?
The old man’s reply came in the form of a story about a dog
and a pig.
‘Our taboos, ahem! You don’t know the stories,’ he said.
‘You see, the dog and the pig are bitter enemies. Once upon
a time the pig was a hard working fellow who would furrow
the earth, dig and crumble the soil and prepare it for sowing.
The dog would lay- about all day doing nothing. Who knows,
he might even have taunted the poor pig as he struggled
with his labours. Then, at the right moment the dog leapt
up and ran round the field yapping like a lunatic, leaving
his footprints on the soft, moist earth. When man returned
from his hunting he saw that the dog had been very active
and hardworking and decided to reward him by inviting
him into the house to share his fire. The poor pig, slandered
as a good-for-nothing was left outdoors to root around in
aggrieved frustration. Such is the story, ahem! Our beliefs
may seem simple but they are actually based on experience,
and there are stories to prove it. It is important to keep the
taboos. The two animals are bitter enemies and it’s not good
to mix up these things.’
I remembered the story. I had heard it as a child but till now
Folklore : Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 143
had never linked the origin of certain rites and taboos with
these simple stories. Perhaps the old enmity, like poison,
fought again in the body of man, and if a person succumbed
it was his punishment for that error of judgment he had
once made, a long time ago, that is recorded only in these
stories.
This is the thing about folklore. Everyone knows the stories,
in one form or another, and it is this knowledge that links
the individual to a group, a certain region and community,
but most often the stories are inseparable from the routine
of daily life that they are not even perceived as stories
anymore. This is why if you asked someone to tell you a story
they would say there was nothing to tell. There are no
reference books, few recorded volumes in print, and to find
out anything you need patience and persistence. For instance,
if I approach a village elder pointed out as a great story teller
he will inevitably shrug, and say ‘What! What kind of story?
How can anyone pull a story out of air, eh?’ And if I turn to
the young girls weaving cloth, and ask them who taught us
to weave, I know they will burst into laughter and say, ‘Who
knows about these things. It was here before we were born!’
But if I persist, asking–what is this colour, what did we use
before this, what is that implement called, I might unearth
interesting information about the implements of weaving
being the weapons of a woman, that the first cotton grew
out of the white feather of a kite, and that yes, women do
not hunt, but when a man kills a tiger he is first received at
the village gate by women who hold a woven red cloth
around him to shield the hunter from the avenging eyes of
the killed animal.
Who said this should be done? Who gave us these instructions
and told men and women to erect a guardian gate at the
144 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
entrance to every village? Who told us that the leaves and
branches of certain trees are auspicious? One gateway leads
to another and a story begins to unfold a storehouse of
meanings.
These days we talk about ‘identity, culture, heritage, and
what it means. There are many movements to forge regional
identities and in the Northeast to forge a “north-eastern”
identity, as a common forum to deal with problems of the
northeast and function as a pressure group for the region.
Simultaneously student organisations and NGOs try to
spearhead movements based on ethnic identities. All this is
very well, but there’s danger when a few hotheads who are
actually not qualified in any sense to represent the people in
the name of indigenous culture preach this culture. Such
movements actually take culture away from the people
especially when they start functioning as vigilantes resorting
to systematic intimidation and use of force. ‘Culture’ is a
powerful tool when a state, government, ethnic group or
some union needs a weapon to wield, for whatever reasons.
What then, is ‘tribal’, what is identity, what is culture? And
what is tradition, myth, memory, ‘meaning’?
It is in the course of pursuing this subject that I have been
drawn to oral traditions and myths that might throw new
light on the subject.
Scholars tell us that in the history of literature the verse form
is older than prose. The early history of many countries proves
this as recounted in epics, ballads and heroic poems. Our
own traditional literature offers similar proof. People here
still believe that different clans possess different “roots” that
return to haunt every generation. These roots reveal
themselves as the powers of healing, prediction, war and
chase, or the root of words, meaning oratory. It is what holds
Folklore : Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 145
our ceremonies, rites and rituals together. In this context the
role of memory becomes crucial and remembrance of the
word became the art of the storyteller, the orator, the
medicine man, the priest.
This seems to tally with what I now read that: ‘we are the
versicles or words or letters of a magic book, and that incessant
book is the only thing in the world: more exactly, it is the world.’
(JL Borges)
In many instances folklore is perceived as tales for the young
readers; but I have tried of this with children, showing them
some of the first illustrated folktale books, only to find that
after listening to the story they look at me with hurt
disappointment, as if I was bluffing them. They prefer Bat
man or Bhoot kahani and one is left thinking the world has
certainly changed.
This is the other thing about oral tradition. It seems that
their significance returns to us when we are older. Perhaps
this is because it is then that we look for ‘roots,’ to identify
ourselves as members of a community belonging to particular
place, and some of the signs for this lies with our stories. We
are here today as members of a community with a particular
set of beliefs, by an act of faith, because we believed in the
‘word’ as composed in our myths and legends. It is here that
we may find that peculiar, indefinable something by which
we recognise each other, and makes others see us as a group,
a society, a people of a particular community. This is the
other aspect of oral literature. Today I might say that these
stories of gods and demons have no basis in logic, but the
storyteller will tell me that they were born out of reason, out
of the minds of men. The stories did not come out of
nowhere like a bolt of lightning. Life generated it in us, and
they must have been articulated over years through a process
146 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
of trial and error, thought and observation. In a society where
there were no written codes and edicts the stories provided
illumination and perspective that became the basis of a code
of values that translated into customary practice. This is the
substance of faith, and the stories are linked to ritual and
vice versa, and so this body of oral literature also constitutes
the tenets of our religious beliefs. The stories explain observed
behaviour and natural phenomena and imbue them with
sense and order, and remind the community that it is
important to keep our obligations, the reasons for which are
contained in the stories.
Viewed in this way myths may be interpreted as an ancient
religion of the world which, over a period of time developed
into parables and a set of beliefs through which certain
concepts were sanctioned and practiced to become the basis
for the rituals, taboos, and obligations of a community. Of
course in the oral tradition the meaning of stories remains
open to many interpretations. The names of places, gods,
goddesses and legendary characters vary even from village
to village. Nevertheless, since the history of mankind began
a family, a group, a community have, from the beginning
arranged for themselves a world in which certain things were
explained and recognised. So it is with the Homeric legends,
the gods of Northern Europe, Hindu mythology, and myths
of ancient Egypt and Rome. Without these articles of faith
life would otherwise have been meaningless chaos.
One of the first stories I heard was about the land of fish and
stars.
“It is there, somewhere,” we were told as children.
In retrospect I can now delve deeper into these simple stories.
*The Land of Fish and Stars (engo takar) in our mythology is
akin to the Dreamtime that is so crucial in Australian
Folklore : Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 147
aboriginal literature. All the things that we perceive, the sun,
moon, hills and rivers were all born out of that mythical place
that exists as the dreamtime, the place of ancient things from
which the stories of the world, the stories of gods and
goddesses and the birth of man and life on earth unfolded
since thought and speech began.
This constitutes the classical literature of the Adi tribe which
may be divided into two main categories called *Abang and
Penge. Abangs are about birth and creation/ evolutionary
history, narrated on specific occasions, and Penges are dirges
or songs of lamentation. There is a third classification known
as Abey, which are the songs of war. There are similarities
across the world in the first stories of wandering tribes and
vanished empires. The ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations
worshipped the sky god and sacrificed to the mighty sun,
and stretching from China throughout the Far East and across
to the frozen frontiers of Alaska and to the Americas myths
and legends are the basis of traditions and beliefs of
communities across the world.
Today the states of the north east region have changed so
much, the transition period has been so sharp and rapid,
and even now, one can feel the clock ticking but we are still
asking - where are we going? On one hand, in keeping with
the national agenda there are the goals of peace and
development. On the other - the history of our people, our
origins and routes of migration remains a matter of
speculation, based on the few recorded documents left by
early explorers. This is the current backdrop that is emerging
as the basis for writing the modern history of the state. And
the question is ‘where do we begin? What is the most
important thing to start with?’ In a fast-paced global world
of science and technology what could be the worth of these
old stories and legends?
148 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
This is an area that provokes thought and debate, and many
discussions have been held on the subject and its significance
in contemporary times and contemporary thought. There is
a revival of interest in shamanistic rituals, in food taboos,
medicinal practice, and scholars of science and western
medicine have also acknowledged the psychological impact
of the traditional healing systems that are practiced in our
communities. However, it must be stressed that this is not to
say that the oral tradition is promoted in the guise of
colourful, exotic material. It is something we have, and we
should be so fortunate to still have with us something that is
irreplaceable.
In the present time when the region is confronted with
overwhelming changes these ancient tales need not be
perceived solely as something of the past, as ‘dead’ literature,
that in the process of documentation all the old words are
frozen in print and will have reached a dead end, but instead
be the catalysts for the creative instincts of a people that
identify their culture. In this way this literature of oral
narratives also gives us our sense of identity. In a complex
and hard edged time fraught with conflict of identities born
of value systems being transformed dramatically, conflicts of
political history and changing societies - between the personal
and the political, the state and the centre, and between the
individual and organized religion, there is a chance to regain
an aesthetics unique to the region through a re-look at a
‘mythological’ world once in harmony with nature that can
still exist alongside new writings of satire, impassioned lyrics
and literature of political significance depicting violence,
blood and guns.
No doubt there will be many more questions and answers -
all of them equally important and urgent because ultimately
Folklore : Heritage and Identity in the SAARC Region 149

everything is a priority. Perhaps in this myth and memory Raza Rumi

have their role too. So many questions remain unanswered,
the evidence available is never conclusive, yet the quest for a
starting place to define our journey continues. And in this
search perhaps the literature of oral narratives, folklore and
myth is as good a place as any to start looking.

Devotion, Syncretism and Politics :

Myths and Legends of the Indus

Indus – A Lifeline
Along its 1,800-mile course, the Indus joins cultures from
the steppes of Central Asia to the arid plains of the South
Asian subcontinent. It affects patterns of thought and
behavior, shapes expressions of culture and provides
inspiration for art. The hopes and aspirations of its people
are reflected in stories and elaborate myths, transmitted
through the consciousness of successive generations by bards
and story-tellers. While the focus of this paper is not the
ancient culture of the Indus valley, it is important to mention
that the Indus Valley Civilization originated in the fertile
plains of the Indus River, in the third and fourth millennium
BC. This civilization, or the Harappan Culture, was coeval
with the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia,
and is recognized as the third major civilization in the history
of humankind. Archaeological excavations in present-day
Pakistan show that the people of this culture lived a life of
refinement and opulence, with a well-developed civic system
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 151
and prosperous trade links.1
The Indian subcontinent derives its very name from the river
Indus. In the ancient Sanskrit language, the river was known
as “Sindhu”. The Persians gave it the form “Hindu” and
through successive generations it finally came to be known
as India, with various forms being derived from this root.
The Indus region excited the imagination of Europeans from
early antiquity. The lure of the Indian subcontinent had
reached the West even in the time of Alexander the Great,
and ever since then, exotic tales of this vast and seemingly
enchanting land have spurred on the ambitions of many a
great conqueror.2
The multitudes of peoples who live along the banks of the
Indus know it by a number of names. To the Sindhis, it is
known as “Purali”: the capricious river whose floods can make
and destroy civilizations. The Sindhis also refer to it as
“Samundar” (sea), as a tribute to the sheer size of the river as
it flows gently down to the Arabian Sea. Further up the course
of the river, the Pashtuns refer to it as the ‘Nilab’ (blue water),
‘Sher Darya’ (Lion River) and ‘Abbasin’ (father of Rivers).
The mountain people of Baltistan know it as ‘Gemtsuh’ (the
Great Flood), or ‘Tsuh-Fo’ (the Male River). Today, conflict
and political tensions may have rent apart the unity of those
who live along the Indus, but their lives are still as linked to
it as they were millennia ago.
Mohanas, the boat-people of the Indus valley, still live along
its banks, near the shrine of Khwaja Khizr and elsewhere.
They traverse the mighty river on boats which have remained
essentially similar in design to those depicted in the art of
the Indus Valley Civilization thousands of years ago.3
The tragic events of 1947 have severed the Indus physically
152 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
from the Indian landscape but it remains, even today, a
powerful unifier of India and Pakistan, for Pakistan would
not survive without the might of the Indus and India would
not be the progeny of the Sindhu Sagar if the Indus were
not there.
Globalization and integration into the world economic system
have transformed the Indus and the lives of those who live
along its banks. The process of harnessing the waters of the
mighty Indus to the yoke of profit, initiated by the British
colonial rulers, was continued by a military-dominated
Pakistani state. Today, an extensive network of dams, barrages
and canals has been built along the course of the river, from
Mangla in the north to Sukkur in the south. In the south,
especially, the river has become dry. Its fresh waters have
become saline in some places. Where barrages have been
built, many have adopted fishing as an occupation:
agriculture in those areas being no longer an option.
Indus as a Source of Belief Systems
Though the last three Vedas proclaim the River Ganges to
be one of the most important ‘holy rivers in India,’ the first
sacred text ascribed this position to the Indus River.4 Hymn
XXV from ‘Hymns of the Rig-Veda,’ describes the reverence
and significance given to the Sindhu:
“12. May we, unharmed, serve bountiful Visnu, the God who
slayeth none: Self-moving Sindhu hear and be the first to
mark.” 5
Here the Sindhu is a witness to the acts performed by the
people in the name of Visnu. It is also seen as a protector for
the people:
“1. This stream Sarasvati with fostering current comes forth,
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 153
our sure defence, our fort of iron. As on a car, the flood flows on,
surpassing in majesty and might all other rivers.” 6
Moreover, the Indus also represented a space which was
geographically pure and unpolluted. In Hinduism, different
physical spaces are categorized as pure and impure territories.
Thus, crossing the river, especially into the far north-west of
the country meant entering impure territory. This impure
region was part of ‘northern Punjab and the city of Taxila,’
which was looked down upon as a marginal area where odd
occurrences took place.7 For this reason, the Indus was often
referred to as kalapani (black water – traditionally used for
the ocean), and those who crossed it suffered a loss with
reference to their caste position.
As a result of the role attributed to the river, the Indus was
also a main component of the everyday-beliefs of the people.
It was used as a reference to carry out various actions such as
bringing health to those who were sick:
“2: Here these two winds are blowing far as Sindhu from a
distant land. May one breathe energy to thee, the other blow
thy fault away.” 8
The river was also given due importance when using charms
against jealousy:
“1. Brought hitherward from Sindhu, from a folk of every
mingled race, fetched from afar, thou are I deem, a balm that
cureth jealousy.
2. As one with water quencheth fire, so calm this lover’s jealousy,
like heat of fire that burneth here, or flame that rageth through
the wood.” 9
According to Griffith, as seen from a hymn in Hymns of the
Rig-Veda, the river may also have been referred to as a
mechanism to gain strength before a battle was to be fought
154 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
on the shore of the Indus. In this particular hymn, Sindhu’s
strength, beauty, and influence have been focused upon,
and it represents an undefeatable symbol:
“1. The singer, O ye Waters, in Vivasvan’s place, shall tell your
grandeur forth that is beyond compare. The Rivers have come
forward triply, seven and seven. Sindhu in might surpasses all
the streams that flow. 2. Varuna cut the channels for they forward
course, O Sindhu, when thou rannest on to win the race. Thou
speedest o’er precipitous ridges of the earth, when thou art Lord
and Leader of these moving floods. 3. His roar is lifted up to
heaven above the earth: he puts forth endless vigour with a flash
of light. Like floods of rain that fall in thunder from the cloud,
so Sindhu rushes on bellowing like a bull. 4. Like mothers to
their calves, like milch-kine with their milk, so, Sindhu, unto
thee the roaring rivers run. Thou leadest as a warrior king thine
army’s wings what time thou comest in the van of these swift
streams. 5. Favour ye this my laud, O Ganga, Yamuna, O
Saturdi, Parusni and Sarasvati: with Asikni, Vitasta, O
Marudvrdha, O Arjikiya with Susoma hear my call. 7. Flashing
and whitely-gleaming in her mightiness, she moves along her
ample volumes through the realms, Most active of the active,
Sindhu unrestrained, like a dappled mare, beautiful, fair to
see. 8. Rich in good steeds is Sindhu, rich in cars and robes, rich
in gold, nobly-fashioned, rich in ample wealth. Blest Silamavati
and young Urnavati invest themselves with raiment rich in
store of sweets. 9. Sindhu hath yoked her car, light-rolling, drawn
by steeds, and with that car shall she win booty in this fight. So
have I praised its power, might and unrestrained, of independent
glory, roaring as it runs.” 10
In the modern day Pakistan, the Indus continues to hold
certain significance in the lives of many people. The only
difference is that this significance is now interlinked with
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 155
Islamic religious beliefs. Albinia narrates an event near Sufi
saint Khawaja Khizr’s shrine where she sees a woman drop
the Qur’an in the middle of the river where the water is
thought to be in its purest form. She carries out this action
as she believes that she will receive a blessing and her sick
child will become healthy again. To Albinia’s skeptical
comments on her actions, she replies that she should know
better as she is educated.11
Despite a radical transformation in the social environment
of the sub-continent, one can see how the belief systems
associated with the river have persisted in various forms, and
remain a significant part of the current social reality in India
and Pakistan.
Indus Legends and Folklore
The story of Sohni-Mahinwal is a well-known legend in the
region associated with the Subcontinent. Sohni, a potter’s
daughter, is forced to marry her cousin. However, her heart
remains with Mehar, ‘a merchant who took up buffalo-
herding and pipe-playing to woo her.’12 Every day after
nightfall, Sohni crosses the Indus to see him. The love story
continues until her sister-in-law discovers the truth and
substitutes the baked clay pot Sohni uses to cross with river,
with an unbaked pot. Sohni meets her tragic end in the Indus
which up till recently had been a facilitator in the love-story,
but now becomes the ultimate obstacle in allowing it to
continue. Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Latif mentions this very
moment in his poem:
“Pot in hand, trust in God, she enters the waves;
Her leg in the dogfish’s mouth, her head in the shark’s,
Bangles twisted, hair drifting through the water,
Fishes, big and small, crowd around her
156 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Crocodiles waiting to devour her.” 13
Thus Sohni meets the destructive end associated with
carrying forth a lover’s ambitions. However, she is no longer
tied to the ‘material body,’ and ‘is united in death with the
beloved’.14
Sassui figures as another protagonist in Shah Latif ’s stories.
Here too, the Indus plays a pivotal role. Sassui, a Hindu
orphan, was found in the Indus by a Muslim washerman
who raised her as his own child. Sassui later falls in love with
Punhu, a Baloch noble, who acts as if he is from a modest
background in order to court her. Punhu’s privileged family
resents this transgression and takes him away against his will.
Sassui’s journey to search for Punhu into the vast expanse of
the Balochistan desert denotes her separation from the Indus
lands - her precious belonging - and thus becomes a
metaphor for the impact of two separations: from love and
belonging. This is what makes Sassui an ideal in the mystic
sense, for her path is what yogis and fakirs have ventured to
follow through centuries. She symbolizes the difficulties
associated with undertaking ‘the quest for God.’15
Thus, folk romances were used as a method of imparting
mystical education. They were also used by Qadi Qadan
(d.1551), Abdul Karim of Bulri (1635-1623) and Mian
Shah Inat (d.circa 1700) amongst other Sufis saints.16
Xuanzang, the Chinese Buddhist monk, who travelled
10,000 miles from China to India to see Buddhism in Swat,
also writes about the power of the Indus as part of his famous
pilgrim chronicles. On his return from China, after his boat
toppled over and he lost his botanical collections and sutras,
Xuanzang wrote:
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics
‘The River Sin-tu [Indus] is pure and clear as a mirror…
Poisonous dragons and dangerous spirits live beneath its waters.
If a man tries to cross the river carrying valuable gems, rare
flowers and fruits, or above all, relics of Buddha, the boat is
engulfed by waves.’ (Xuanzang, c. 645 CE)17
This belief had been propagated by the local king, who told
the monk that ‘whoever attempts to cross the river with seeds
of flower is subject to similar fortunes.’18 Thus one can begin
to have an idea of the grandeur and force associated with
the river.
The Indus is also a major component of the story of Allor. At
one point, Allor was the capital of a kingdom situated on the
riverside. This story revolves around Allor’s Hindu prince
Dillu Rao and a Muslim merchant Saiful Mulk. All river
merchants who came to Allor were charged with one half of
their cargo by Dillu Rao. However, once Dillu Rao ordered
Saiful Mulk to provide him with the toll and an attractive
handmaiden named Badiul Jamal. It is said that Mulk
requested that he be given eight days in order to fulfill the
demands. Simultaneously, however, he managed to ‘raise a
mighty dam on the river upstream from Allor.’ As a result
the river was steered away from the influence of the wicked
prince.19
Qureshi states it beautifully that in all these stories what is
important is ‘not the particular moral of the story, but the
common feature it has with all other stories of this region:
the river. The river dominates the folklore of this region,
whether as an artery for commerce, a grave for loves or a
balmy surface for boats to float on. Even in the tales of the
desert, of the rock hills of Baluchistan, water – or its antithesis,
sand – are protagonists in each plotline.’20
157 158 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
The Indus, Sufism and Syncretism in Sindh
‘Every wave is filled with rubies, water perfumed with musk,
From the river waft airs of ambergris.’ [Shah Abdul Latif
(1689-1752)]21
From the ancient Vedic times to stories told by Sufi saints,
the Indus continues to play a central role in the legends and
folklore associated with the region. Even today, the shrine of
Udero Lal, a composite Hindu-Muslim place of worship and
the cult of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar are rooted and nurtured
by the Indus and its magic. Until the 19th century, it was
thought by both Muslims and Hindus that the ebb and flow
of the Indus depended on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s liking.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is also referred to as Jhule Lal, one of
the Hindu names for the god of water. He was also referred
to as Raja Bharati by the Hindus.
Current beliefs and practices still reflect continuity with the
past. Sehwan Sharif, the site of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s tomb,
was also the location of a prominent Shiva centre. It is said
that the name Sehwanistan has been derived from Sivistan,
city of Shiva. Moreover, there is a striking similarity between
the dressing of contemporary faqirs and Shivite yogis as both
dress in ‘torn clothes with matted hair.’22
In Uderolal is the tomb of a saint referred to as Shaikh Tahir
by the Muslims and by Jhulelal or Uderolal by the Hindus.
Both refer to him as the Zindapir (Living Saint). Uderolal is
one of the places where the Indus is still worshipped by
Hindus and Muslims. It is also worshipped in another part
of Sindh, near the town of Sukkur.
Shrines of Sufi saints are situated along the riverside in Sindh.
It is believed that 125,000 holy men are buried ‘in the yellow
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 159
sandstone necropolis at Thaata’ alone.23 All year round, a
great number of people continue to visit the tombs as a way
to show their respect and receive blessings. Just like Lal
Shahbaz Qalandar, Khwaja Khizr is also referred to as
Zindapir and ‘pani ka badshah,’ (Water King). The devotees
still believe that he lives under the water and the river flows
the way that he commands. As recently as the late nineteenth
century, Hindus and Muslims also worshipped side-by-side
at the Zindapir’s shrine in Sukkur. Moreover, many of the
saints have said to have caused miracles in the region through
their powers over the Indus.
Such meta-religious beliefs and practices can also be
understood with reference to Shah Abdul Latif ’s Risalo. This
is a sacred Sindhi book put together by Latif. It is given equal
reverence by both Hindus and Muslims, and contains
excerpts from the Quran, ‘the traditions of Muhammad,
Persian mystical poetry and indigenous Sindhi folk
literature’.24 It does not focus on any one form of authority
and includes doctrines from various sects in Islam. On the
whole it represents the similarity in spiritual beliefs related
to Hinduism and Islam as practiced in the region. Moreover,
it is still a symbol of this peaceful co-existence between the
followers of the two religions. In the home of the Sajjada
Nasheen of Latif ’s shrine, in Sindh today, the Qur’an and
the Risalo are covered with cloth and ‘laid like babies – like
the Baby Krishna – in a cradle.’ Thus the syncretism present
in the region is evidently visible.25 Similarly, Latif ’s folklore
most often represents the heroine as ‘the soul on her spiritual
quest,’ where she is often from a lower caste than the hero.
According to Qureshi, this is done in order to show that ‘a
fuller spiritual experience can be enjoyed by taking on a
feminine consciousness…it is in keeping with the Indian
160 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
mystical concept of the virahini – the pining woman separated
from her husband.’26
Moreover, the majority of the Hindus in Sindh consist of
Nanakpathis, those who follow Guru Nanak. There is an
absence of a clear-cut distinction between Sikhism and
Hinduism in the province. According to Alibina, ‘during
the 1881 and 1891 censuses, Nanakpanthis could not decide
whether they were ‘Hindu’ or ‘Sikh’ and gave different
answers each time.’27 This syncretism can further be seen as
the Ismailis who settled in the region in the ninth century
CE (in particular the Satpanthi community and their text
Dasa Avatara) believe that the Prophet Muhammad, or his
son-in-law Ali, was the tenth avatar of the Hindu god
Vishnu.28
As noted above, Udero Lal is also the saint of the water
worshippers. Sindh continues the ancient water worship
practices, some evidence of which has been discovered in
the ruins of Moen-jo-Daro. Close to Sehwan, Laki Shah is a
small place where visitors gather to purify their souls and
bodies by bathing in the springs of Laki Shah. Similarly, in
the localities of Mol Sharif, near Thano Bula Khan and
Lahoot water provides an arena for worship. This is not
different from Ganges as a sacred river.
The composite culture that evolved over centuries of
amalgamation of various spiritual practices continues to date.
This consensus of sorts was truncated by the events of early
twentieth century when Muslim identity and corresponding
claims to nationhood resulted in the movement for Pakistan.
Sindh and its myriad subcultures became victim to the higher
games of politics, power-seeking and economic interests of
local leadership.
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 161
Indus Saga Since 194729
Partition of the subcontinent in 1947 brought with it a new
shape to the politics and cultures of Indus region. The
physical took over the mythological as the new state of
Pakistan was dependent on Indus as a major source of water
and livelihoods.
The post-Partition issues centered on how to divide the waters
of the Indus basin – a previously ‘cohesive and unitary
network of irrigation’. This was eventually decided through
the Indus Water Treaty which was signed in 1960. The fact
that it took thirteen years to reach an agreement reflects the
difficult nature of the task. Essentially this difficulty arose
because the source rivers were in India. As noted at Stimson:
“The waters of the Indus basin begin in the Himalayan
mountains of Indian held Kashmir. They flow from the hills
through the arid states of Punjab and Sind, converging in
Pakistan and emptying into the Arabian Sea south of Karachi.”
Thus Pakistan was insecure in terms of the availability of
continued water supply from the Indus as this was its primary
source of water for agricultural land. It wanted the
distribution to be based on its historic rights through which
it would be entitled to all of the Indus tributaries. However,
this was unacceptable to India which later demanded that
the Western tributaries be given to Pakistan and the Eastern
tributaries to India.
Initially after independence, the Inter-Dominion Accord of
May 4, 1948 determined how the waters were to be divided.
Under this accord, India had to ensure the sufficient water
supply to Pakistan in return for payments from the Pakistan
government. Negotiation for a permanent solution continued
soon afterwards, however no agreement could be reached.
162 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
India also did not agree to take the issue to the International
Court of Justice as it claimed that the problem ‘required a
bilateral solution’. 30 Tensions were high by 1951 as
negotiations were no longer taking place. However both sides
knew that it was essential for talks to continue as there could
be no lasting peace without them.
In 1951, David Lilenthal, former chairman of the Tennessee
Valley Authority and of the US Atomic Energy Commission
visited both India and Pakistan. With a background
provided by the State Department, he aimed to understand
and give his opinion about the conflict between India and
Pakistan as well as ways to work around them. Lilenthal
suggested that the antagonism between India and Pakistan
could be reduced and cooperation could be ensured in the
long-run if both countries worked together on an Indus
Development Program. Through this program, they would
aim to increase water productivity in both countries. He
suggested that the World Bank should assist both countries
in reaching an agreement and also finance the Program.
His ideas were subsequently taken up by the World Bank
and eventually by Pakistan and India as well. India agreed to
the World Bank’s involvement as the Bank claimed that it
would only ‘work as a conduit for agreement’.31 Eugene R.
Black, the President of the Bank at that time consequently
formed a working party of Pakistani, Indian and World Bank
Engineers in the hopes of working for a ‘functional’ solution
without worrying about political concerns. However, a solely
functional and technical solution could not solve the problem
as both sides refused to compromise over their initial
positions. Hence it became evident that political concerns
could not be sidelined in reaching an agreement.
In 1954, overstepping its previous role, the World Bank
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 163
offered a proposal which supported the Indian position of
giving India the three eastern tributaries and Pakistan the
three Western ones. It proposed the construction of canals
and storage dams ‘to divert waters from the western rivers
and replace the eastern river supply lost by Pakistan.’32 This
proposal was unacceptable to Pakistan and negotiations
virtually came to a stalemate at this point. However, both
sides could no longer ignore the issue and were forced to
resume talks by December of 1954. It was decided that the
World Bank proposal was now to be used as a basis for
negotiation instead of settlement.
The talks continued for the next six years. The Indus Water
Treaty was signed in 1960 after it was agreed that the United
States and United Kingdom would finance the construction
of canals and storage facilities to divert the water to Pakistan.
As part of the Treaty, the permanent Indus Commission was
also set up in order to arbitrate any possible disputes over
the waters in the future, and to ensure communication
between the two countries over this matter.
After much effort and compromise the agreement was in
place and has continued to be this way over the best part of
the last fifty years. This agreement is indicative of the fact
that peace between the two countries is possible in the long-
run, and agreements can be reached – especially when the
cost of not doing so is higher for both countries.
Saving Indus
Whilst Indus as a major supplier of water and life to Pakistan
is a paramount reality, preserving Indus folklore is also a
major challenge. Indus legends are lived reality of the
communities that reside along its majestic banks. In addition,
their livelihoods are threatened due to environmental
164 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
degradation and forces of globalization where commercial
greed is the key driver for change and ‘progress’. Mangroves
are vanishing and the boat-communities are struggling for
their survival. This is where culture and environment acquire
a powerful synthesis for they are equally important to preserve
and conserve life patterns.
World Wildlife Fund states that Indus eco-region is one of
the 40 biologically richest eco-regions of the world. The
Indus ecoregion is situated in a semi-arid environment, the
eco-region harbors riverine forests along the Indus River,
and mangrove forests in the coastal areas while desert
ecosystems occupy the periphery of the eco-region.
Currently, about 50 percent of the gross area of riverine
forests is inundated in high floods. As a result, the riverine
forest area is shrinking alarmingly while less salt tolerant
species have almost disappeared.33 It is estimated that this
situation may further be compounded by the construction
of new dams and barrages, enabling only 20 percent of the
original forest area to get inundated.
Thus the livelihoods and cultural practices are under rapid
transformation and this has a direct impact on the way folklore
is getting diminished in the wake of ecological neglect,
population explosion and policy environment. Indus
communities engaged in traditional livelihoods of
agriculture, fisheries and livestock rearing have been forced
to give up their traditional professions. The Mohanas (fisher
folks) have been displaced, driven towards alternative
livelihoods. Over two million Mohanas have been impacted
across Sindh. This has been termed as a major loss to ‘the
cultural diversity of Sindh’.34 As we have noted above, water
holds a significant position in the cultural existence of Sindhi
people. Water has been a source of literature, mystical beliefs
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 165 166 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

and a composite way of life that is threatened now. This state
of affairs is equally relevant to the communities that live along
Indus in the Southern parts of the Punjab province.
Reclaiming Indus folklore along with environmental
conservation is a powerful way of saving the shared heritage
of India and Pakistan. Indus is an all-encompassing metaphor
of securing long-term peace in the region, documenting and
preserving cultural heritage and maintaining the sublime
literary standards set by the Indus followers. India cannot be
without the Indus and Pakistan cannot function as a viable
ecological zone without this magical river.
Iyer, Ramaswamy R. “Conflict-Resolution: Three River Treaties.” Economic and
Political Weekly 34.24 (1999): 1509-518. JSTOR.Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <http:/
/www.jstor.org/stable/4408076>.
Memon, Altaf A. “Devastation of the Indus River Delta.” World Sindhi. Proc. of
World Water and Environmental Resources Congress 2005, Alaska, Anchorage.
May 14-19, 2005. American Society of Civil Engineers, Environmental and
Water Resources Institute. Web. 30 Sept. 2009.
<www.worldsindhi.org/...Delta_Devastation_Alaska_Paper_Revised_
Draft.doc>.
Website
“Indian Mythological Rivers.” Indianetzone. 19 Jan. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2009.
<http://www.indianetzone.com/28/indian_mythological_rivers.htm>.

What could be a better agenda for the two countries to agree
upon and take their cooperation forward beyond the
constructed walls of acrimonies and bitterness?
Bibliography
“Pak-India talks on Kishanganga Hydro Project break down.” Daily Times. 6
June 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/
default.asp?page=2009%5C06%5C06%5Cstory_6-6-2009_pg7_27>.
“The Indus Waters Treaty: A History.” Stimson. 2007. Web. 14 Sept. 2009.
<http://www.stimson.org/?SN=SA20020116301>.

BOOKS Notes
Albinia, Alice. Empires of the Indus: the Story of a River. London: John Murray, (Endnotes)
2008. 1. Possehl, p. 247-252
Auj, Nurulzaman A. Harappan Heritage. Multan: Caravan Book Centre, 1998. 2. Albinia, xvi
Griffith, Ralph T. H. Hymns of the Atharvaveda. Vol. 1. Delhi: Munshiram 3. Ibid, p. 106
Manoharlal Pvt. Ltd., 1985. 4. Indianetzone
Griffith, Ralph T. H. Hymns of the Rgveda. Vol. 2. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal 5. Griffith (1987), p. 172: Book VIII
Pvt. Ltd., 1987.
6. Ibid, p. 98-99: Book VII, Hymn XCV. Author’s comments: Here, “Sindhu
Possehl, Gregory L. Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Delhi: Vistaar, or Indus appear to be intended under this name [of Sarasvati].”
2002.
7. Albinia, p. 159-60
Qureshi, Samina. Legends of the Indus. London: Asia Ink, 2004.
8. Griffith (1985), p. 119: Book IV, Hymn XIII
ARTICLES
9. Ibid, p. 288: Book VII, Hymn XLV
Alam, Undala Z. “Questioning the Water Wars Rationale: A Case Study of the
Indus Waters Treaty.” The Geographical Journal 168.4 (2002): 341-53. JSTOR. 10. Griffith (1987), p. 528-529: Book X, Hymn LXXV, The Rivers
Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3451476>. 11. Albinia, p. 107-8 for a detailed description
Doctor, Roma. “Sindhi Folklore: An Introductory Survey.” Folklore 96.2 (1985): 12. Ibid, p. 90
223-33. JSTOR. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1259645>. 13. Ibid
Devotion, Syncretism and Politics 167

14. Qureshi, p. 44 Bhagvandas Patel

15. Ibid, p. 42
16. Ibid,
17. Albinia, pg. 155
18. Ibid, p. 162
19. Qureshi, p. 73
20. Ibid,
21. Quoted in Albinia, pg.79 Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili
22. Ibid, p. 97
23. Ibid, p. 79
Language: In Social Perspective
24. H.T. Sorely as quoted in Qureshi, p. 42
25. Alibinia, p. 94-95
26. Qureshi, p. 49 Background of the Dungri Bhils
27. Albinia, p. 110
In the mountain range of Aravalli and the surrounding areas
28. Ibid, p. 96
in the Northern part of Gujarat dwell an ancient tribe of
29 . This section is based on the summary given at Stimson
Dungri Bhils. This indigenous tribe has its own rich cultural
30. Stimson
tradition. Many scholars maintain that they are the
31. Stimson
descendants of ‘Nishadas’, one of the major indigenous tribes
32. Stimson
of India, inhabiting India for about ten thousand years. These
33. http://www.wwfpak.org/foreverindus/pdf/290409ifap_%20
adivasis, who occupy the North-Eastern part of Gujarat and
annualreport_2008.pdf
central provinces of India, were instrumental in heralding
34. Memon
the Neolithic Age in India. Their role in the development of
Indian culture is many-fold.

Social, Cultural, Political and Economic Life of the

Dungri Bhils
The Bhils is a homogeneous tribe, and the subdivisions
among them are for the most part based on geographical,
natural and vocational factors only, rather than on socio -
economic circumstances. The settlements of Dungri Bhils
are to be found in the fringes of villages bordering on the
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 169
hill tracts and forests. As the inhabitants of the neighbouring
localities are related to one-another by blood-ties, the
ownership of the resources like land, forest and water is
collective rather than individual. They display great respect
for their ancestors and for that reason the elders of the family
have an authority in the matter of ownership of the land.
The land is usually divided equally among all the members
of the family. Although the authority of the elders is accepted
by all, even they are not considered the owner of land and
do not have a power to sell it, nor can they levy any tax on it.
In this way, the land, the water resources and even a village
is a shared property and social equality prevails among them.
Moreover, as they hold their ancestors in high esteem, they
believe that they are not entitled to sell the land or the yields
they get from it, as it belong to the clan rather than any
individual. They can only use this resource to subsist.
Nevertheless, the right of use can be extended to others by
the owners. It can also be bartered to fulfill some other
material requirements. Since, acquisition is not a passion with
the adivasis no divides based on economic or social status
exists among them.
The Bhil – adivasi society of North Gujarat basically has a
patriarchal structure. However, women enjoy more freedom
than their counterparts of rural or urban societies. And the
traces of matrilineal traditions of the ancient days are still
visible. Birth of a child, irrespective of its gender is celebrated
with much enthusiasm. Pre-marital affairs of a girl do not
hinder the prospect of her nuptials. The prospective groom
has to pay a ‘bride-price’ and if he does not have enough
money for that, he is required to work as a labour in the field
of the girl’s parent. Mother has the privilege of greeting the
bridegroom during the welcome ceremony on the occasions
170 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
like weddings, and she has the right over the gifts and
ornaments received on such occasions. Not only that, a
woman can retain the family name of her father even after
her marriage. A widow can re-marry and with the permission
of her deceased husband’s parents, can bring in her new
husband to the house of her former spouse. She continues
to enjoy all the social and economical rights in that family.
When a female parent dies, her remains are collected and
preserved in an earthen urn and are worshipped as a deity
called ‘Heet devi’ (heet means wellbeing in the local
language). This way, she becomes a guardian deity of the
family. During a religious ritual called Dhula no Pat, a woman,
and not a man is worshipped as a guru (a religious teacher).
Practices such as these are indicative of former matriarchal
social system. Oral epics like Rom-Sitma ni Varta, Bhilo nu
Bharat, Rathor Varta, Gujaran no Arelo among the others
are steeped in such socio-religious practices. Interestingly,
the patriarchal structure of an adivasi society does not impose
any restrictions on the women. Its ideology or social norms
do not hinder their development in any way.
Songs of Courtship
The corpus of songs of the Bhils can be divided in two broad
categories – 1. Songs sung on religious occasions, and 2.
Songs sung on social occasions. This paper focuses on the
songs of courtship among the songs pertaining to the social
occasions.
The songs of courtship are embedded with the social
structure of the Bhils. Encompassing the life cycle of a human
being, they cover all the four stages – adolescence, youth,
advanced youth and declining years of human life. According
to the tone and tenor the corpus of the courtship songs can
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 171
be divided into four categories - 1. Infatuation 2. Union 3.
Separation and 4. Relation born out of wedlock.
Social Context of the Courtship Songs
The songs of courtship are known as songs of ‘gothiya’, the
term ‘gothiyo’ means a male friend and ‘gothan’ means a
female friend. Thus, the ‘songs of ‘gothiya’ indicate the songs
pertaining to infatuation or companionship. Having a
companion – a gothiya – during one’s adolescence is a
prevailing custom among the Bhils.
Amidst the abounding nature, an adivasi youth feels a natural
attraction towards the person of an opposite sex, which turns
into an infatuation and true mutual bonding develops
between the friends.
The roots of this custom may be traced back to the matrilineal
society of the primordial period. A woman was free to choose
a companion before her nuptials in the matrilineal society of
the ancient time. A Bhili woman enjoys such freedom even
today. An act of taking a mate is approved by the community
as the collective psyche of a Bhili society still follows some of
the practices of olden days. The Bhili community is so liberal
in the matter of pre-marital relationship that even if a courting
pair is spotted by an elder, instead of condemning such pre-
marital physical intimacy of the lovers, s/he would approve
it saying that such act would groom them for a healthy future
relationship. A proverb prevailing in their society glosses such
attitude. It says that anyone can taste khichri from a cooking
pan, but once it is served on a platter, only the owner of the
platter can relish it.
Such practice points towards the matrilineal society of the
ancient time and is still the part of their worldview. And
172 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
owing to such a healthy tradition, an adivasi maiden can
express her first instance of love to her mother, without any
inhibition:
I went out with a friend, O mother
I went out with a friend.
Under a karmadi tree, O mother
We made love under a karmadi tree.
It made me pant like a frog, O mother.i
But such relationship does not consummate into nuptials as
the Bhils being exogamous community, one has to marry
outside one’s clan and sub-clans. In such cases, wedding
becomes an event of mourning rather than rejoicing. On
one hand, the gothiya and gothan experience the pangs of
separation, and on the other the honeyed memories of their
blissful relationship linger on their minds. Such duality of
existence gives way to innumerable dance-songs. In fact, it
has been a preferred theme of the song of courtship. For
instance, remembering her lost love, a newly wedded girl
sings:
You’ve made me cry for number of times, O friend,
How I pine to shed tear like that for one more time! O
friend.ii
Especially, when one is in the lap of nature, each element of
nature makes one pine for the honeyed moments of past.
For instance, a glimpse of water makes the girl pine for a dip
in a lake with her gothiya; similarly, a canopy of a tree ignites
a desire to chill off under it in the arms of her companion:
The shadow of the rohila tree is inviting, O friend,
Where have you disappeared, my sweet heart?
Come, let’s get lost in each other’s arms.
And a bee droning over a fragrant flower compels one to
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 173
sigh:
The rohila tree is all in bloom, O friend,
Why don’t you come and gather me in your arms?iii
Or
O my sweet heart, the rohila tree is calling us once again,
Its swinging branches summon us to fade away under its
shade.
Do you remember? As we sat under it, locked in each
other’s embrace,
Flowers blossomed and the air was thick with fragrance.iv
The songs of courtship do not sing of familial relation as the
courting pair is not burdened with any social obligations.
They are aware of their fleeting love. But since such
relationship is approved by the community, a girl can share
her feelings and experience not only with her companion
but also with her parent. She has no qualms regarding her
physical intimacy with her companion. She does not hesitate
to request her mother to facilitate such contact. For instance:
My companion may arrive here at any time, O mother,
If you hear heavy treading of his feet
Pretend to sleep, if you are still awake at that time.v
No other literature, not even the folk literature of the village
dwellers has delineated this basic experience in such bold
strokes. A Bhili maiden is not compelled to hide her desire
nor does she need to silently suffer the pangs of unfulfilled
yearnings. Her community allows her to satisfy her carnal
curiosity in a natural way. Her counterparts elsewhere cannot
express their innermost feelings as naturally as she. Adivasi
literature considerably differs from the so called mainstream
literature or the folk literature of the villagers in this regard.
Although the major theme of the songs of courtship is love,
174 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
it is not always about physical attraction and carnal desire. A
female companion is sympathetic and willing to share the
bitter tidings of her male companion. In one of the songs,
we come across an instance when a maiden is ready to sell off
all her adornments and jewellery in order to save the life of
her companion. She tells her mother:
A person, bitten by a rabid dog may not survive, O mother
I must take him to a doctor, O mother
I sold off my necklace and anklets to a goldsmith
I need to take him to a doctor, O mother.vi
This song reflects a benevolent feeling of a girl towards her
mate. Even otherwise the adivasis are very philanthropic.
They do not beseech their deities for their personal gain or
pleasure but request him to kindly bless the entire
humankind and also flora and fauna. Such benign feeling is
reflected in many of their songs.
When a maiden is not fortunate to marry her mate, her
nuptials becomes the cause of separation. The ceremony of
pithi1 and her bridal panetar2 bring tears to her eyes as they
indicate the parting from her beloved. She sings:
Till the ceremony of pithi was not over,
I was not considered someone’s bride.
But the yellow powder of turmeric, O beloved
Reminds me that I am going to be someone else’s
This yellow colour makes me cry, O sweet heart.vii
A recently betrothed girl addresses her beloved:
I am already affianced, O sweet heart,
1. Fragrant yellow substance made of turmeric powder and other ingredients,
anointed to the bride for bridegroom as a part of a ceremony of that name.
2. sari worn on the wedding day
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 175
Now don’t wait for me.
I’ll be tied in wedlock with someone else, O sweet heart,
Better you do not wait for me.viii
As the wedding day arrives, the lovelorn pair pines to meet
each other for the last time. Such emotions are aptly reflected
in a song:
Let’s eat together for the last time, O beloved,
Let’s have a round of liquor together for the last time.
My groom would set out soon to wed me, O beloved,
Let’s spend some time in each other’s company for the
last time.ix
An occasion like one’s nuptials brings sorrow rather than
excitement and joy for the parting pair of companions. The
girl grieves her wedding on account of her sweet heart. She
fears that her lovelorn friend will reject another
companionship and feel lonely. She urges him in the
following words:
Find out another mate,
Do look for my alternate,
Find out my namesake, O beloved,
So that my memory remains fresh.x
An adivasi girl, nourished and nurtured by nature does not
live a life of duality. She expresses her emotions very honestly
and sincerely. Entrusting her beloved to another maiden,
she says:
If he goes to Idar,
The whole city of Idar gets illuminated by his presence.
I entrust such a brilliant mate to you, O Keli.
I have cosseted him all through these years
I entreat you to look after him well, O Keli.xi
176 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
A Bhili woman is not so jealous as her counterparts from the
cities and villages. Such egalitarian attitude is a major
characteristic of their community. One would rarely come
across instances of such generosity, however, reverse of it
always sounds more convincing. For instance, when the gopis
came to know about Kubja’s devotion for Krishna, they were
green with envy and slighted her for her physical deformity.
But an adivasi girl will hardly do so. Her heart is filled with
compassion and simplicity. Although she grieves her plight,
an adivasi maiden will always wish that her mate gets another
companion so that he does not have to suffer pangs of
separation and loneliness.
The songs of the Bhils express the deepest feelings but they
hardly glorify personal experiences. They spring out from
the hearts of the courting pairs. The feelings of the parting
mate is not different from that of Ram, roaming in the forest
in search of Sita in Uttararamcharitam of Bhavbhuti, who
describes, “In the lonely wilderness even the boulders and
stones shed tear of sympathy to see the anguished and grieving
Ram.” A parting mate advises her first love, “Try to banish
my memories from your heart, and take care of your self, O
sweet heart.” Pleading further to her mate, she says:
The witnesses of our togetherness -
Boulders and rocks,
Trees and shrubs of the wilderness
Will not be able to restrain their tears
At the moment of our parting, O sweet heart,
Take care of yourself for my sake.xii
The mate of the girl bemoans the approaching moment of
separation with heavy heart. In Valmiki’s Ramayan, after the
abduction of Sita, an agonized Ram becomes distraught and
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 177
roams from tree to tree and hills to hills in search of Sita. He
is so agitated that with an innocence of a child, he requests
every tree on his way about whereabouts of Sita. Ram’s
mental state is not very different from that of an Adivasi boy.
These descendents of Valmiki might be ignorant of Sanskrit
language but their songs, composed in their tongue are full
of vigour and verve and are apt in capturing the feelings of
human hearts. For instance, while musing over his plight,
the mate of the girl asks her whether he would ever again be
happy amidst nature as the memory of his beloved was
attached to all the elements of nature. And that the memory
of lovely hours spent together in the vicinity of abounding
nature would unsettle him. And his companion asks him,
“Why are you shedding tears in pasturage of Jhejunia, O
beloved?” She further sings:
You had promised not to cry for my sake, O mate,
Then why your cheeks are not dry?
You had vowed in the name of your parents, O mate,
Then why do I hear the sound of your sobs?
Unable to bear the laments of grieving companion, she tells
him:
Till today we have enjoyed togetherness, O mate,
Let’s meet under the shade of khakhra tree for one last
time;xiii
Ticking of the time makes her say:
(From tomorrow) a hillock would be lying between us
It won’t allow us to become one again.xiv
The multi-hued creeper of first love withers at the altar of
wedding. Like a piece of camphor, all their hopes and desires
dissolve in the air. But memory of the first taste of bliss is
178 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
deeply entrenched in the hearts of the two parting mates.
The intensity of their green love was so acute that the broken
cores of their hearts remains alive in them for the rest of
their lives. Remembering her mate, the girl sings, “Those
moments of consummated love under the shadow of the
khakhra tree still chases me in dreams.”
Although ephemeral, the love experienced during the green
years is so intensely felt by both the partners that it becomes
an inseparable part of their existence. The songs pertaining
to nuptial bliss is a rarity among the corpus of the songs on
the Bhili language. More often than not, a maiden marries
someone other than her mate and such reality is hard for
her to digest. On one hand, she cherishes the honeyed
moments shared with her mate, and on the other she has to
cope up with the demands of familial life and harsh realities
of the worldly affairs. Her predicament is aptly captured in
the following lines:
In the fair of Gor
Neturi, the fair maiden of Tharad,
Moves around in a passionate frenzy.
Like a whirling ravaiya3 she turns round and round.
A glimpse of her beloved
Rekindled the fading passion
A body, as slender as an arrow
Whirls like a ravaiya in the fair of Gor.xv
Fearing the slights and slanders of the society, a newly wedded
girl could not talk to her former mate but the memories of
their intimacy makes her oblivious of the world around her.
Like an inebriated person she gets lost in the world of
3. A long staff used for churning curd.
Songs of Courtship in Dungri Bhili Language 179 180 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

cherished moments. In such moments of intense feelings,

she sings:

I have been wedded in a far-off land

Place a mirror by your window-pane, O mate.
Riding the shaft of the reflection of the sun rays
I’ll return to you, O mate.xvi

This song reflects an ardent desire to be one with her

companion. The songs of courtship capture the feelings and
emotions ensuing from the companionship in a simple and
unornamented, yet poignant language. Poetry emerging out
of simplicity leaves long lasting impression on its listeners.
The songs of courtship depicting feelings of infatuation,





union, separation and adultery are not just subjects of a
poem but are narration of actual emotions experienced by







real men and women, and hence a subject for serious










deliberation for the makers of the theory pertaining to
aesthetics, poetics and rasa. That is why Abhinav Gupta, a
noted theorist states “What ever is substantial in ‘folk’, is later
established as a principle or doctrine after some
embellishments. The mainstream literature owes its substance
to the spontaneous feelings of the folk.”xvii For that reason,
Indian thinkers consider the folk natural and instinctive and
their literature is regarded as the source and basis of the main
stream literature. Bhatrihari also maintains in this regard that
whatever is approved by the folk should not be measured on
the anvil of logic.xviii








C. M. Bandhu
Common Roots of Our
Oral Traditions
Oral tradition is one of the three broad categories of
Folklore, the other two being Material and Customary (Sims
and Stephens, 2005:12). The oral or verbal folklore deals
with all forms of oral expression; the material folklore deals
with the tangible objects, the processes and knowledge
related to their creation; and customary folklore deals with
the repeated habitual actions and usual ways of doing things
(ibid, 16). The major part of traditional knowledge is
transmitted verbally. It is articulated in various genres of
folklore such as songs, poetry, ballads, epics, tales, riddles,
proverbs and even in the idioms. The life cycle rites and
various types of rituals, performances, social practices as well
as ceremonies, fairs and festivals are parts of customary
folklore. As they represent social practices, institutions and
their behavior some folklorists prefer to call them “Behavioral
Folklore”. Various kinds of narratives such as myths, legends,
hymns, and ritual songs as well as dances and plays when
accompanied with some social practices and festive events
represent the customary folklore of the cultural groups.
Generally, the folk beliefs when translated into actions
confirm their behavioral traditions. In Nepalese traditions,
182 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
various types of songs and dances and myths and legends are
closely linked to rituals and festivals. The artistic and useful
objects made by the folk groups represent their knowledge
and skills.
Traditional knowledge is the knowledge of an individual or
a group about their surrounding and nature handed down
from person to person. It is accumulated through the
practical experiences of hundreds of years and generations.
The traditional knowledge, which is also known as
indigenous knowledge, is closer to the local knowledge. It
can be collective or individual depending upon the nature
of the specific item. The knowledge that various linguistic
communities possess has been the most important factor for
safeguarding cultural heritage.
South Asian Region is multilingual and according to one
estimate there are 767 languages in eight countries of South
Asian region (Ethnologue, 2005). The major language
families of this region are Indo-European, Tibeto-Burman,
Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic with some unclassified
languages. Many of the languages of this region have already
developed their writing systems from a common root such
as Brahmi. Though writing systems have been devised in
recent years for many languages to develop them, many
others are still unwritten. We know that both written and
spoken languages have their oral traditions. We also know
that some of the languages are common as they are spoken
in more than one country and the oral traditions carried by
these languages are shared by the people of these countries
of the region. These common languages had their common
roots in the past, but they have developed now in their own
unique environments forming their linguistic and cultural
ecologies.
Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 183
Nepal is described as the flower garden of various castes and
ethnic groups. There are over 100 castes and ethnic groups
in all three regions (Mountain, Hill and Terai) of Nepal who
speak various languages of four major families mentioned
above. More than 80 percent of the total population are
speakers of Indo-Aryan languages while a large number of
languages are from the Tibeto-Burman family. About half
of the population speaks Nepali as their mother tongue and
others use it as a second language. The religions of this region
also play an import role in promoting oral traditions within
and between different religious groups such as Hindus,
Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians etc. A unique
blend of Hindu-Buddhist-animistic traditions can be found
in Nepalese folklore.
In the major part of my paper I would like to discuss some of
the oral traditions which are found not only in Nepal (and
particularly in Nepali language) but also in other languages
of the region. These traditions are the Damari, Caryagiti,
stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the epic
performances of Sorathi, Bharathari and Gopichan, the
performances of Bharat and Karkha, singing of Nirgun and
reciting of Sakhis, and the telling of folk tales.
The Narratives of Rama and Krishna
The most important and wide-spread narratives are the
stories of Rama and Krishna. “Like the Ganga or the
Himalayas, Rama and Krishna have shaped the contours of
the life and art of the peoples not only of India but of South-
East Asia.” (Vatsyayan, 1980:110). The story of Rama known
as Ramayana is found in many languages of the region in
their written traditions. But there are also the oral versions
of the Ramayana in many languages of the region handed
184 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
down from generation to generation with their local
variations and adaptations.
There are at least five types folk Ramayana performed in
various regions of Nepal. Starting from the western part of
Nepal, they are Chait, Dhamari, Nachari, Lila and Balun.
The Chaits or Chaitis are the oral narratives narrated by the
ladies individually or in groups during the festivals and on
auspicious occasions. The Chaits of classical and local deities
and historical personalities are collected and reported by
several scholars (Pant 1975, Bhatta 1996 and Sharma 2009).
Like Dhamari the dance-drama known as Nachari and Lila
are performed in the central Nepal by the Magars - an
ethnic group speaking a Tibeto-Burman language. This is
also performed by so-called untouchables. Nachari is
systematized like Sorathi, which is a typical performance of
the people of different classes. As we move eastwards we
find Lila and Charitra performed in the Sorathi style. Baluns
show semi-literary nature of performance which is popular
among the Brahmans and Chetris, but also being participated
by other groups in Central and Eastern Nepal, Darjeeling
and Sikkim.
Krishna Dhamari
Dhamari consists of devotional songs and prayers to Lord
Krishna which can be found in Western Nepal and Kumaon.
It is considered one of the earliest forms of Hindi poetry.
According to Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Dhamari is the
devotional song of proto-Hindi preserved in the foothills of
the Himalayas. It is said that during the invasion of the
Mughals the cultural life of the Indian plains was disturbed
and many of the Hindus came to the foothills of the
Himalayas for shelter. The Krishna Dhamari referred to by
Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 185
Hazari Prasad Dwivedi are preserved and performed in the
Doti region of western Nepal whose language contains words
from Brajaboli.
Epic Traditions of West Nepal
Bharat is a term used for a kind of legendry epics in Nepali,
Kumauni and Garhwali. The Hudkyas are the carriers of
the Bharat performance, which they sing with a two-sided
drum known as Hudka. But the epic of Chait (Charitra)
are performed by men in a group consisting of different classes
of people. Presented in episodes, Chaits are forms of
mythological and heroic poems, which are narrated by men
and women in the Dotyali society. There are chaits of the
local folk gods and goddesses , Ramayana and Mahabharata
as well as historical personalities.
Caryagiti/Cacaa
Caryagiti, the oldest form of the songs of early Eastern
modern Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali, Assamese, Oriya
and Maithili, was housed in the Darbar library of Nepal. It
was discovered by Haraprasad Shastri in 1907 and was
published in 1916 (Sen,1973:3). After its publication
various studies were made and it was claimed that these
songs and dohas belong to the time when these eastern MIA
languages were not divided into distinct languages. Later,
Arnold Bake and Shashi Bhushan Das Gupta also collected
some 100 cacaa songs from the Buddhist community of
Nepal (ibid,5).These days the Carya performance is
preserved in the Bajracharya community of Kathmandu
valley only (ibid, 3).
Other forms of oral poetry: Karkha, Nirgun and Sakhi
The history of Nepali Karkha is quite interesting. Ain-i-akbari
(1597) of Abu ’l-Fadl has mentioned that the Dhadi
186 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
musicians used to sing the warlike and heroic songs called
karkha and sadra in various languages. Later they developed
their tradition of classical music in Punjab. Thus the karkha
is found not only in Nepali but also in Rajasthani, Punjabi,
Lahanda, and old Hindi. According to Faquirullah (1665/
66) dhadhis were the oldest community of musicians, and
originally they were Rajputs. After the partition of India the
tradition of Dhadis of Punjab developed with Sikh musical
tradition while in Pakistan they have become the bearers of
the Sufi tradition.
The most popular heroic poetry of central Nepal is known
as Karkha. The Karkha is sung by the professional singers
known as Gaine which means a ‘singer’. Traditionally these
singers were put at the lowest level of social hierarchy, but
they have upgraded themselves as Gandharvas. They play
a violin-like instrument called Sarangi. Their narratives are
either of the classical and local myths like Pashupati and
Gorakhanath or the legends related to the historical
personalities like kings, prime ministers and fighters. They
also recite Sakhi, poems on social topics as well as Sabais
which narrate important events of the time such as wars,
earthquakes or floods.
Nirgun is another type of devotional music sung by the
Gandharvas. The Nirguns are the prayers to their supreme
and invisible god and spirituality which show their
relationship with North Indian tradition of the saints and
singers. The Sakhis as sayings and teachings of the saints and
poets which are particularly from North India and Punjab.
Gandharvas recite Sakhis when they perform Karkhas. This
also helps us to relate them with the Gorakhapanthis as well
as other saint-poets who had great impacts in the oral
traditions of this part of South Asia.
Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 187
Sorathi, Gopichan and Bharathari
The epic of Sorathi-Brijbhar which is narrated in the Bhojpuri
area of North India is dramatized in the Magar and Gurung
communities of central Nepal. Sorathi is performed in some
of the villages of eastern Nepal and in Darjeeling and Sikkim
as well. In various parts of Nepal, a short version of Sorathi
is performed with Maruni dance. The text of Sorathi is in
Nepali with some flavor of Magadhan languages like
Bhojpuri and Tharu. Other little known groups such as
Darai, Kumal and Bote living along the river basins in the
central Nepal were also the sources of this folk traditions
who helped to bring them from the plains to the hills. The
part of the text related to Brijabhar is left in most of the
Nepali versions in the Tharu version he is known as
Brishabhan. Sorathi was part of a folk tradition spread in
the northeast India and Nepal.
The Gorakhapanthis were the followers of the Natha sect,
an important folk tradition extended from Kamarup to
Kandhar covering present day India, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Gorakhanatha and his followers
not only united the Shaiva-Shakt-Bajrayan Buddhist
traditions but also tuned the hearts of the downtrodden
people of both Hindu and Muslim societies. Probably a folk
tradition like this was never so powerful in this region of
South Asia (Raghava,1963). The narratives like Sorathi,
Gopichan and Bharathari were spread by these singers, the
carriers of the oral traditions, who used the spoken
vernaculars from the time of Gorakhanatha himself. The
Nepali performers learnt from these singers who were the
followers of Gorakhanath who sang these narratives from
door to door. This is still practiced in the Maithili, Bhojpuri
and Tharu speaking area of Nepali Terai. During the Sorathi
188 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
performance the main performers called guru babu ‘the
teacher’ recite the text and Maruni – a male dancer dressed
in the female costume, becomes the central point of
attraction.
The Bhojapuri Sorathi is narrated individually and in groups
by some male singers. The text has several editions describing
the births and rebirths of Sorathi. A text published in Kolkata
and rewritten by Singh has sixty four parts which is said to
be a genuine story (Singh, n.d.). The printed versions of
Bhojpuri are available and every publisher claims that his
version is genuine and the rest is fake. In the text that I found
the stories of earlier births were recent insertions. Sorathi is
one of the most popular epic of Bhojpuri oral tradition that
one can find the Bhojpuri speaking folks narrating the story
of Sorathi and Brijabhar wherever they lived in groups.
Though reported earlier by Thapa and Subedi (1984) and
Thapa (1993) a text of Nepali version of Gopichan was
recently discovered by Neupane (2008) which is quite
different from the Bhojpuri and Magahi (Aryani,1976)
versions. Historians claim that Gopichan, who became one
of the nine Naths of Gorakhapanthi sect was a son of
Manichan, the king of Bengal in the 11th century. His wife
queen Mainavati was a sister of king Bhrathari. It is said that
Mainavati herself brought her son to Gorakhanath and
requested to make him his disciple. Gopichan is performed
in the Magar community of Baglung in central Nepal in the
month of October-November and also as a part of birth and
death rites. The content and language of the Nepali version
of Gopichan is quite different from the Bhojpuri one, but it
is interesting to note that the Magars, a Mongoloid ethnic
group preserved it for centuries. The text presents a good
example of the ethnic variety of Nepali oral tradition.
Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 189
Gopichan is very popular and is narrated as a ballad in several
languages of the region. The influence of Gorakha Nath can
be seen not only on the narratives of Sorathi, Gopichan and
Bharathari but also on many other narratives of the foothills
of the Himalayas and plains of the Ganges. The narratives of
Bharathari and Gopichan are also preserved by Newari
speaking people of Kunchal, South-West of Kathmandu, who
are known as Gopalis. Shrestha (2006) has reported that
they sing parts of these narratives which show a blend of
Nepali, Newari, Maithili and Bhojpuri languages.
The Folk and Fairy Tales
The general practice of storytelling in Nepali society is similar
to those of the neighbouring countries of the region. They
sit around the fireplace and tell stories to children and other
listeners. This helped the old to educate and entertain the
new generation by the old. Translations of Panchatantra,
Hitopadesh and Tantrakhyana were done in Nepal and
manuscripts of such translations are preserved in the national
archives in Kathmandu. As a multicultural country Nepal
has a large number of myths and legends representing the
belief system and associated to the origin and explanation of
the world, the life and the objects around us. Migration,
modernization and schooling of the new generation have
caused their disappearance. There is a vast treasure of
folktales in different languages and a careful comparison of
folktales of South Asian region will certainly help us to find
their common roots.
Proverbs, Riddles and Idioms
There are similarities between the languages of this region
in other forms of oral traditions like proverbs, riddles and
idioms which are equally important in understanding the
190 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
common heritage of South Asia. There are also forms of folk
sayings with fixed phrases. Though many of these forms of
oral traditions of the languages of South Asia are collected,
analyzed and published, comparative studies have not yet
been done in detail. A comparative study of Nepali and
Maithili proverbs has shown that many of them are similar
in their form and content. Such studies across the oral
traditions of the region will certainly help us find our
common roots.
Dalits as Performers
It is generally found that many of the folk groups in the
South Asian region are hierarchical and the people at the
lowest level of social hierarchy have been contributing more
than others as carriers of oral traditions. In the Nepalese
contexts, the dalits like Hudkya, Dholi, Auji and Damai are
the performers of Bharats while Gaines are the performers
of Karkhas. They are traditionally known as professional
singers and performers who also play traditional types of
folk musical instruments. They were so-called untouchables
in the past, but the law has already abolished the system.
Now, with their schooling and chances of better jobs they
are shifting to other trades, which eventually lead to the loss
of their oral traditions. The ethnic groups, such as Magars
and Gurungs who contributed to the development of Nepali
oral traditions are also reluctant to participate in folk
performances.
Maintenance and Revitalization of Oral Traditions
It is true that with the loss of a language the oral traditions
in that language will also be lost. Sometimes the languages
can be revitalized but not the oral traditions. Once a great
Common Roots of Our Oral Traditions 191
American linguist Joshua A. Fishman said, “Most of culture
is so thoroughly interpenetrated by its traditionally
associated language that culture without that language would
not be, could not be the same.” The body of law, the prayers
and ceremonies, the songs, the proverbs, the folktales, the
education, the greetings, the blessings, the curses, the jokes,
the literature…all of these are in and through a given
language (and only in that language) for a given culture.”
(Fishman,2005:245). There is a trend that various items of
oral traditions are lost, mutilated or changed but the
languages are developed and modernized. So, we need to
preserve and promote our age-old oral traditions and we
can work collectively to accomplish this important task.
References
Bandhu, C.M.(2001) Nepali Lok Sahitya , Kathmandu: Ekta Books.
—.(2006) “Folklore Studies in Nepal: A Historical Survey” Nepali Folklore and
Folk life: Bulletin of the Nepali Folklore Society, 2:3.4-8
—.(2008) “Regional Dimensions of Oral Narratives: Cases from Nepal,” A
paper read at the SAARC Folklore Festival , New Delhi, December 6-9,
2008
Bhatta, Atma Ram (1996), Baitadika Pawarinik Lokagathaharuko Adhyayan
ra Vishleshan, M.A. Dissertation, T.U.
Diwasa, Tulasi (1975) Nepali Lok Katha, Kathmandu: Royal Nepal Academy
Fishman, Joshua A (2005) “What do you lose when you lose your language?” in
Marti, Felix, Paul Ortega, Itziar Idiazabal, Andoni Barana, Patxi Juaristi,
Carme Junyent, Balen Uranga and Esstibaliz Amorrortu, (2005) Words and
Worlds; World Languages Review, Unesco Etxea, Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters Ltd.
Kaila, Bairagi (1998) Tansing Takma Mundhum, Kathmandu: Royal Nepal
Academy.
Nepali, Purna (2003) Gandharva Sangeet ra Samskriti, Kathmandu: Satya Devi
Kayastha.
Neupane, Kusumakar (2005) Gandharva Jatiko Loka Samskriti ra
Pradarshankari Lokasamskritiko Adhyayan, A report submitted to NFS,
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Kathmandu: Nepali Folklore Society.
—. (2009) Gopichan Loknatak, Pokhara: Self
Nijhawan, Micheal (2004) “Punjab’s Dhadi Tradition:Genere and Continuity
in the Aftermath of Partition” , Indian Folklife,3:4,No.17, 5-7.
Pant, Deva Kant (1975), Doteli Lok Sahitya, Kathmandu: Nepal Tatha Esiyali
Adhyayan Samsthan.
Pant, Kali Bhakta (1971), Hamro Lok Samskriti, Bhairahawa.
Parajuli, Motilal (1980), Kaski Jillaka Samajik Gathako Sankalan va Vishleshan,
M.A. Dissertation, T.U.
Rabhav, Rangeya (1963) Gorakhanath aur unka Yug, Delhi: Atmaram and
Sons.
Rakesh, Ram Dayal (1989) Maithili Lokgit Sangalo, Kathmandu: Safari Nepal
Rana, Jagadish Shamasher (1988) Nac ganko Rajdhani Bhaktpur, Kathmandu:
Amar Shamsher, JBR
Sapkota, Hom Nath (1985), Gulmeli Lok Gatha Sankalan, Vargikaran va
Vishleshan, M.A. Dissertation, T.U.
Sen, Nilratan (1973) Early Eastern NIA Versification, Shimla: Indian Institute
of Advanced Study.
Sharma, Beena (2003) “Continuity And Change Among The Gandharva
Community In Kathmandu”, TU MA Dissertation.
Shrestha, Tej Prakash (2006) Gopali Jatiko Lok Sahitya ra Pradarshankari
Samskriti, A report submitted to NFS, Kathmandu: Nepali Folklore Society.
Singh, Mahadeva Prasad (n.d.) Sorathi Brijabhar, Kolkata: Loknath Pustakalaya.
Thapa, Dharm Raj and Hansapure Subedi (1985), Nepali Lok Sahitya ko
Vivechana, Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University, CDC.
Thapa, Din B. (1993) “Galkot Chhetrama Prachalit Lokgitharuko Sarvekshan
ra Adhyayan,” Tribhuvan University M.A. thesis.
Vatsyayan, Kapila ( 1980) Traditional Indian Theatre: Multiple Streams, New
Delhi: National Book Trust.
Yatri, Purna Prakash Nepal (1985), Bheri Lok Sahitya, Kathmandu: Royal
Nepal Academy.

Abdul Khaliq Rashid
Pashto Language: A Great Source of
Human Folklore Studies
Pashto Language is one of the oldest languages of Asia, spoken
by the Pashtoons and Afghans in the heart of Asia
(Afghanistan, Pakistan) and in India, Iran and some of the
Middle Eastern countries as well.
Most of the world’s linguists believe that Pashto language
has the status of a third sister, the others being Sanskrit and
Persian languages.
Some believe that Pashto has a strong linkage with the two
above mentioned languages, so it has a direct kinship in
different grammatical parts like (phonology, morphology,
etc) and with all those other languages which exist in the
region of it.
Pashto and Sanskrit languages are very close to each other,
however Pashto’s links reach the aric branch of the Indo –
Aryan languages, but because of its geographical location
they came near to each other and borrowed a lot of words
from each other as well. For instance the word likna – (to
write) was strange to Vedic Sanskrit language. It means Pashto
gave this word to Sanskrit which is now common to many
194 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
contemporary Indian languages.
Anyway, here we are talking about Pashto language and the
oldest language of Aryans who were living in Arian – Vaejo,
(‘the Aryan home’) even today; the Pashto speaking people
use the word Vaejo for their home, village and country.
“Numerous items of beliefs and rites entered the ideas and
rituals of the new culture. Endless numbers of words bringing
in their train unlimited expressions, meanings and nuances
entered Vedic Sanskrit and helped form the classical and the
Dravidian languages themselves drinking deep at the Aryans
which were rich in poetry and their elemental contacts with
nature generated an imagery, as sublime today.1
The Aryans were really acquainted with singing songs and
poetry. Their spiritual hymns called Vedic songs ran like this:
“O, come thou hither having harnessed thy car,
With twenty, thirty
Forty horses
Come thou with fifty well trained
Coursers Indra, sixty or seventy
To drink the Soma
Come to us hitherward, O Indra,
Carried by eighty, ninety or a hundred horses
(RV.II: 18.5.6)
Among the Indo-Aryan languages two of them ( Pashto and
Pali ) have a very rich and important folk literature. Pashto
is living language spoken by more than fifty million Pashtoons
– Afghans all over the world. Pali language is no more a
1. B.S. Upadhyaya, FEEDERS OF INDIAN CULTURE, Delhi, 1989, p. 11.
Pashto Language: A Great Source of Human Folklore Studies 195 196 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

language of contact and use, but has a very bright past and Landay explains the beauty of the nature and its real values,
rich folk literature. you can find in it the sky, sun, moon, stars, trees, flowers,
As, I mentioned Pashto language has two categories of city, villages, love, sorrow, laughter, cry, war, peace, men,
literature: oral and written. Most of the literary experts believe women, children, boys, girls, mountains, gardens and eyes.
that folk literature and poetry are the first forms of the human For example:
creative endeavour expressing their feelings. “Instead of
Flowers:
defining poetry through its connections to feelings, ideas,
and actions, however, some writers have tried to look at the O Flower that you grow on the mountain side;
aesthetic and technical elements of the craft.”2 The duty to water you belongs to me, but to whom would
Pashto folklore is full of images and symbols, defining beauty you belong?
and nature, and related to explaining all kinds of subjects. Fetch me an armful of flowers
Under Pashto folk literature we could study genres like to build a canopy over my forehead.
landay, charbaite, bagaty, saruki, dastan, etc.
Sky:
Landay is an exceptional and wonderful kind of Pashto folk
The sky is made beautiful by the shining stars,
literature not seen in other world literatures, it has a specific
structure with two couplets the first is with 9 syllables and Otherwise it doesn’t have any beauty
second is with 13 syllables, and has its own rhythm. We would Moon:
not forget that most of the characters in landy are women Come, kiss me in the light of the moon, darling!
not men. Men also could use and make it general. It means,
So that my locks are not disarranged in the dark
we can find the very tender and sincere feelings of women
in this form of Pashto folk poetry. O, Moon! Hurry and arise;
Landay has a golden past in Afghan – Pashtoon folk literary My beloved is traveling through lofty mountains.
tradition and history. From Vedic time to till now, this kind Vision:
of Pashto folk poetry is being used by Pashtoons for
The ship of my life is drowning; I stand on a plank.
exchanging their feelings and ideas. Folk experts have divided
landay on the basis of their subjects and purposes like Sorrow:
romantic, epic etc. The grief you inflicted on me is not like a shirt to turn into
Generally, landay is an appreciation of representation; it is rags,
emotional knowledge leading to a closer evaluation of reality. I recall it bothering me since the early days of my blooming
period.
1. Jon C. Stott & others, The Herbrace Anthology of Literature, Toronto 2006, p-
Pashto Language: A Great Source of Human Folklore Studies
O God! Bestow health upon the injured parrot,
to enable him to fly with his flock with wing wide-spread.
Kissing:
Obstinate one! let me kiss you once;
for your beauty and youth and my beseeching (craving) are
not everlasting.
My lover you have become intoxicated with a smile of mine;
You will verily rave if I were to give u a kiss.
I will give you a kiss for God’s sake,
leave off shaking my jug, you have splashed water over my
clothes.
Love:
I am in love, I do not deny!
Even if the mole on your cheek is removed by the tip of
knives.
My youth may perish prematurely,
If were to bestow upon someone else the love I give you.
Sources :
1.Bennawa , Pashto Landy , Kabul , 19 66 ,
2.T.H.Griffith , Regveda ‘s translation, New Delhi , 19...
3.Anwar Shaikh, The Vedic Civilisation, U.K 2003 .
4.Jon C. Stott & others , The Harbrace Anthology of Literature, Toronto 2006.
5.B.S. Upadhyaya, Feeders of Indian Culture, Delhi, 1989.
197
Molly Kaushal
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition
Of all arts the best is chitra,
It gives the fruit of dharma,
Artha, kama and moksha
Wherever it is established in a house,
It is the harbinger of the best of auspiciousness.
VDhP-43-5-381
The genre of Folk painting in India mostly belongs to the
realm of the ‘sacred’ and qualifies as ‘auspicious art’. The
driving force of these paintings and drawings is to bring
auspiciousness into the house and the life of the family and
community. Vernacular terms used are mangal kamna
(wishing auspiciousness) and shubh labh (gaining
auspiciousness). The act of drawing or painting is referred
to as mangal karya or shubh karya i.e auspicious act. Such a
view deeply ensconces the painting in the realm of religion,
ethical and moral values. The bearers and practitioners of
the tradition, along with the skill to draw and paint, also
pass on the worldview embodied in the painting to the next
generation.
One of the oral narratives associated with Sanjhi popular
throughout Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in a manner of
speaking, sums up the essence of the world of folk paintings:
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 199
A sanyasi was once immersed in meditation. A group of young
girls happened to pass by. Upon seeing the sanyasi, they began
to mock and tease him. Some of them even began to throw
balls of fresh and wet cow-dung on him. Sanyasi was beside
himself with rage and was about to curse the girls when all
of a sudden a girl of exceptional and hitherto unseen beauty
appeared from nowhere. Sanyasi was distracted and instantly
calmed down by her beauty. No sooner had the girl appeared,
she disappeared again. Sanyasi, no longer angry, forgave the
girls and advised them to draw the goddess every year during
pitri-paksha for 14 days with fresh cow-dung and offer
prayers to her for wishfulfillment and for obtaining a
handsome and virtuous husband. It happened to be a full
moon day of Bhadrapada month of Hindu calendar
(September). The girls with the help of their mothers began
to draw the image of the goddess on the walls of their houses
in cow-dung. They continued this activity for fourteen days.
Every evening the girls offered prayers to this image and
named it Sanjha (twilight).
Sanjhi is a traditional art form, prevalent in many parts of
India, especially in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. Sanjhi tradition is also
prevalent in Maharashtra and Goa. I take up here the
tradition as witnessed in Rajasthan and Malwa region of
Madhya Pradesh. This art form is associated with a festival
known by the same name. The festival of Sanjhi is celebrated
by young girls in honour of a goddess named Sanjhi or
Sanjhya. This festival coincides with the annual worship of
ancestral spirits during the Hindu month of Ashwin
(September), that lasts a fortnight, beginning with the first
day of the dark-half of the Ashwin month and concluding
on the sixteenth day i.e. the new moon day of the same
200 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
month.
During this fortnight, known as pitri-paksha (the fortnight
of the ancestors), young girls in Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh emboss various motifs inside a parallelogram with
four gateways, on front walls of their houses. These motifs
are embossed in cow-dung every day in the evening and are
scraped off the next day. In their place new motifs are drawn.
This process is repeated everyday till the 13th day, when the
process of drawing a full blown Sanjhi know as kila kot
(literally-fortified dwelling) begins. Everyday new motifs are
added to the ones drawn on the previous day and finally the
pictograph depicting the story of Sanjha is completed on
the 14th day. On the new moon day, i.e. the last day of pitri-
paksha, kila kot is also scraped off the wall and this along
with the earlier scrapings is immersed in the river,
accompanied by ritual worship amidst dancing and singing.
The pictograph of Sanjhi is pregnant with multilevel
symbolism and is a visual statement of narratives associated
with the Sanjhi myth as prevalent in the region. The
pictograph done in bas-relief style with the help of fresh cow-
dung is decorated with flowers, bright and colourful strips
of paper. Every evening, the girls belonging to the same
locality gather together to offer prayers to Sanjhi in front of
the pictograph and sing songs in praise of the goddess. These
songs are replete with social and religious connotations.
Though mostly based on various episodes and characters
associated with the life of Sanjhya or Sanjhi, they are a mirror
to the aspirations of young girls and their anxieties over the
future married life.
Many interpretations exist, as to who this Sanjhi is. According
to Braj Mohan Javalia of Rajasthan, Sanjhi is daughter of
Vishwakarma, the divine architect and wife of the Sun god.
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 201
She is also the mother of twin Ashwins. We could locate about
50 interpretations associated with Sanjhi and its origin. Some
of these are as follows:
1. Sanjhi is one of the forms of Goddess Durga.
2. Sanjhi is Sanjhya, the mind born daughter of Brahma.
3. Sanjhi is Parvati, the consort of Shiva.
4. Sanjhi is replication of the original worship, performed
by Parvati to obtain Shiva as her husband.
5. Sanjhi depicts Parvati’s childhood form.
6. Sanjhi is the distorted form of Vedic deity of the dawn
and dusk, Sandhya.
7. Sanjhi is the name given to the worship performed in
honour of the deity of Dawn.
8. Sanjhi is Radha, the beloved of Krishna.
9. Sanjhi is the pictograph drawn by Krishna to please
Radha.
10. Sanjhi depicts Krishna’s childhood lilas (divine play).
11. Sanjhi is a reminiscent form of Lakshmi-Narayan
worship.
12. Sanjhi is representative of Nava-durgas.
13. Sanjhi is a goddess of Braja region.
14. Sanjhi is a young maiden from Rajasthan, who is married
out in Ajmer, and whose paternal home is in Sanganer.
15. Sanjhi is a close and a very dear friend and personal
deity of young girls.
16. Sanjhi is a lady who finds mention in the Rajasthani
folk-narrative of Bagravats.
17. Sanjhi is the wife of the Sun god.
202 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
In folk songs, Sanjhi is shown as closely associated with
maidens. She appears both as a goddess and a village belle;
in some versions she is a young girl, who dies an untimely
and unnatural death. She is known by several names such as
Sanjh-phul, Sanjhya-phuli, Sanjha-sanjul, Sanjulde,
Chchabari and Hanja to name a few. The tradition and the
pictograph are propitiation of her spirit. At another level
Sanjhi is a married out girl, who is not very happy at her in-
law’s place. She is shown visiting her parents and at the end
of her stay, she is taken away by her husband, Khondya
Brahmin, who is the central target of jokes and butts in these
songs.
Whatever may have been the origin and source of Sanjha,
in its contemporary and vibrant form it is a visual and verbal
expression of creative and aesthetic response to the world as
seen, experienced and desired by the girls who have come of
age.
It is pertinent to note, that the festival of Sanjhi coincides
with the shraddha ritual performed in honour of dead
relatives. As already mentioned, these rituals are performed
in the Hindu month of Ashwin (September) during the dark
fortnight marked as pitri-paksha. During the pitri-paksha,
ancestors are propitiated by feeding the Brahmin priests and
offering rice and barley balls called pindas to deceased
relatives. It is believed that ancestors descend on earth during
this period to accept these offerings and in return bless their
descendents with fertility, prosperity and progeny.
During the ritual, shraddha mandalas, (ritual diagrams) are
drawn to propitiate and invoke the presence of ancestors or
pitris. These diagrams, as Pupal Jayakar observes are: “magical
tools through which the dead are contacted and empowered
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 203
to participate in living ritual”.1
According to her, the pictograph of Sanjhi is a shraddha
mandala. Jyoti Bhat, believes it to be “the abode where the
wandering souls of the departed relatives take shelter.” As to
the name Sanjhi, he contends: “Since the souls enter these
abodes in the evening (sanjh), the diagrams are called
sanjas…..”2 However, at no time during my field work was
Sanjha kot referred to as shraddha mandala. It is equally true
that links between ancestoral worship and Sanjhi cannot be
denied. It is likely that the origin of Sanjhi ritual lies in the
hoary past, when Sanjhi was probably worshipped as an
ancestral deity of the lineage or clan. It may be of importance
to note here that one of the images of Sanjhi in Jayakar’s
book The Earth Mother does depict her face as that of a dead
woman, gaunt and emaciated3. However, the Sanjhi that
we find on the walls of contemporary Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh is full of life-force, bright and vibrant. The dynamism
and contemporaneity of tradition has added layers of
narratives and motifs to the image over the years and today
Sanjhi is celebrated primarily as a festival of young girls which
operates at multiple levels of significance with a wide semantic
field of shared meanings and symbols.
According to one of the myths, mentioned earlier also, Sanjhi
is a young, married out daughter, who has come to visit her
parents for a period of sixteen days. On the basis of this,
some scholars have drawn parallels between Sanjhi and the
Durga Puja tradition of Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh Sanjhi
arrives in her natal home on the last day of the pitri-paksha
and stays there through navratras (period of nine-days, falling
immediately after pitri-paksha; dedicated to the worship of
goddess Durga) till Dashera (the festival on the 10th day
devoted to the goddess worship; also celebrated as the day of
204 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
victory of Rama over Ravana).
In the shared Indian tradition, death and regeneration occur
concurrently. Death and life form a continuum. Ancestral
worship is closely linked with the notion of perpetuation of
the lineage. Sanjhi is a shodashi kanya, a sixteen year old young
maiden, containing within her the seed of creation. The
goddess in her virginal form as a sixteen year old girl represents
source of all life. All the motifs that find place in the Sanjhya
pictograph are symbolic of fertility. Her worship during the
fortnight dedicated to the dead, who are invoked to bestow
progeny and continuity of life on earth, verbally and visually
recapitulates and revalidates the notion of cosmic rhythm,
in which life gets created out of death. The pictograph of
Sanjhya captures and binds this life-source in a ritually
fortified enclosure. Commenting upon the ritual and magical
diagrams in folk paintings, Stella Kramrisch writes:
“The magic diagram makes it possible for power to be present
and it brings this presence into the power of the person who
has made the diagram…. Here it is the magic circle, in other
designs the sacred square, a concatenation of curves or an
intersection of polygons, that encloses the magic field. Into it
the power of the god is invoked. It is assigned to its enclosure,
it is spellbound. It cannot escape; it is controlled….”
Reverting back to the notion of cosmic rhythm where life is
created out of death, we may point out the iconography of
Chinmasta in Tantric art, which is an example par excellence
of this cyclical rhythm; and so is Sanjha at another level; in a
different idiom and lexicon.
Every evening, girls collectively offer prayers to Sanjhi. A
special plate containing curd, vermillion, rice, grains, incense
stick and flowers is used for offering the prayer. A lamp is
lighted in front of the pictograph and various hymns and
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 205
songs are sung as mark of offerings to Sanjhi. The food
(prasada) offered to deity consists of kular (wheat flour fried
in ghee, and mixed with sugar and banana fruit). After the
prayers girls often play together and sing Sanjhi songs that
invite Sanjhi to join them in their play.
On the sixteenth day of pitri-paksha called pitri-moksha
amavasya (the new moon day when pitris are believed to be
released from the cycle of birth and death) Sanjhi-kot is
completely scraped of the wall and this along with the
scrapings of the earlier days are ritually immersed in the river
water. Girls carry their Sanjhi scrapings in a bamboo basket
on their head and singing songs proceed collectively to the
nearby water source. After immersion they share the prasada
of roasted wheat grains, barley, peanuts and fluffed rice. They
also sing and dance together.
The process and technique of making Sanjhi is both simple
and elaborate. The first step involved in making Sanjhi is
called gohali. It consists of plastering a specific area of the
wall with clay and cow-dung mixture and sculpting a square
boundary with a triangle at the top in relief with cow-dung.
The process of making designs inside this square involves
use of thumb and first three fingers. Lines that evolve into
concrete designs and figures are drawn by pressing cow-dung
on the surface of the wall with the help of the thumb and
the fingers. Once the design is complete, flower petals and
paper strips are pressed against these figures while the dung
is still wet. Some motifs may be embossed directly by placing
balls of dung on the wall and pressing it and moulding them
into specific designs.
The designs of the previous day are scraped off the next day
and the surface is plastered with a fresh coat of cow-dung.
206 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Motifs are drawn in accordance with the tithi i.e. the exact
day of the waning lunar fortnight. They either correspond
numerically with the date or the object that is embossed
shares in common its first letter with that of the date. For
example on the first day of the dark fortnight called ekam
(one first), a single motif would be drawn; or for instance on
the sixth day (chchati), 6 objects or an object, whose name
begins with letter chch like chchabari will be drawn. Though
girls may draw any object that takes their fancy, there are
certain objects, designs and figures that must find their place
in the Sanjhi pictograph. These objects either have ritual
significance or are directly associated with the narrative of
Sanjhi. Some of these objects and designs may not have any
specific connotative meaning, but find place in Sanjhi because
of prevalent norms and conventions. They appear on the
canvas in their denotative aspect.
In Rajasthan the gohali is done using geru and green arsenic
(harhmachi or hirmich). This gohali is left untouched for three
or four days after which another coat is applied over it. Gohali
can be a square, rectangle, triangle or polygon in shape.
The next step in the making of Sanjhi is the actual embossing
of motifs inside the gohali enclosure. In some places this
process begins on the full moon day of the Bhadrapada
month and at others from the first day (tithi) of the Ashwin
month.
On full moon day, both in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,
a motif called Poonam Patala, symbolizing the stool or seat
in a square form is drawn. Sanjhi, is invited to take her seat
on this patala. Prayers are offered to her and songs inviting
her to take the seat are sung.
Sanjhya, which begins with the embossing of a single star,
gradually develops into a huge illustrative pictograph on a
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 207
wide wall. The depiction from Gyaras onwards is called ‘kot’.
In some places, the kot depicts the marriage – procession of
Sanjhi and in some others, Sanjhi alone represents her entire
family. This is called as Narvar kot in Brja and Kila kot in
Malwa. In the region of Mithila and Bundelkhand it is called
Kot.
In Rajasthan, kot also refers to thick circular boundary wall
running along towns and cities to fortify them against invasion
from enemies.
In Sanjhya kot also a boundary is created on all the four
sides with an opening in the lower portion. Inside the kot,
along with all the motifs that appear on specific days, new
motifs are added. On the upper part of the parallelogram
are drawn sun and moon, a parrot and a crow. Images of
Panwaris, Char Jogiyon ki Jamaat and a driver with the cart
are also drawn inside the kot. Outside the kot, on the lower
part Jaadi Jasoda, Patali Pema, Gujarni, Khaphariya Chor,
Bhangan, Dholi, Malan etc. are drawn. Jaadi Jasoda is shown
as a fat lady. Her braid is shown standing. Patali Pema is lean
and lanky. She is shown with two pots on her head. Jasoda
holds a sword in her hand.
Khaphariya Chor is drawn upside down. Gujarni is shown
with milk pots on her head. Bhangan holds in her hand a
shaft of straws meant to depict a broom. Dholi (drummer)
has a drum and he holds a tiny twig that represents the drum-
stick. Malan (flower girl) is shown with a basket of flowers
on her head.
All these motifs are decorated very artistically. Khaphariya
Chor has ears of maize as moustaches. Jaadi Jodha and Patali
Pema are decorated with different flowers, leaves, colourful
stripes of paper and corn and barley garlands are put on
208 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
them. Cowries are used to depict eyes. Sometimes they are
shown as standing under the kot like others and sometimes
they are resting/ reclining against the wall.
Kot is profusely decorated from inside. A boundary is made
from the leaves of banana tree. Saffron coloured flowers are
used for decorating the images of the Jogis. Date-palm is
decorated with similar coloured leaves. Bright paper strips,
frills of various kinds, broken glass pieces, grains, seeds,
cowries and beads are used for decorating the kot. It has
three gateways, guarded by the guards. In the centre of the
kot is depicted the marriage-procession of Sanjhi. She is shown
with ornaments, cosmetics, fruits and sweets dear to her. In
some places, Sanjhya Bai is shown seated on an elephant-
chariot. In some Sanjhis, she is depicted along with Sanjha
who is her husband. Some kots are drawn in the form of a
chariot with two wheels.
Kot thus represents a city where people from all the castes
and creeds are shown busy in their chores. It is infact a ritual
enclosure where the entire cosmos with its three layers or
three worlds-of gods, humans and dead are brought together
in the cyclical rhythm of the universe to ensure happiness
and well being of the community.
I give below a few songs associated with Sanjhi:
Sanjha ko Darbar
Sanjha ko darbar champo phooli rayo mhari mai
champo phooli rayo mhari mai
kun bai phool kin bau mal gunthe mhari mai
suraja ji tode phool rani bau mal gunnthe mhari mai
guthyo guthayo haar Sanjha ka sees chade mhari mai
Sanja ka darbar champo phooli rayo mhari mai!
(Madhya Pradesh)
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 209
Meaning: O Mother! There is a tree of Champa in the
premises of Sandhya’s house. The tree is replete with flowers.
Now which brother would pluck those flowers and which
brother’s wife would prepare the garland. My brother Suraja
would pluck the flowers and his beloved wife would prepare
the garland. This fragrant garland would adorn the forehead
of Sanjha-Devi, i.e.; Sanjha would adorn herself with this
garland and her beauty would enhance manifold.
Khud-khud Re
Khud-khud re mhara khodya baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ko maatho jara-so
tiko kyon ni layo re?
layo tho bhai, layo tho
pan baate bhuli aayo re
khud-khud re khodya baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ka kaan jara sa
suralya kyon ni layo?
layo tho bhai, layo tho
pan baate bhuli aayo re
khud-khud re mhara khodya baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ki naak jara si
naathani kyun ni layo re?
layo tho bhai layo tho
pan baate bhuli aayo re
khud khud re mhara khodyo baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ko galo jara so
thussi kyun ni layo re?
210 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
layo tho bhai, layo tho.
pan baate bhuli aayo re
khud-khud re mhara khodya baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ka haath jara sa
gajara kyun ni layo re
layo tho bhai, layo tho
pan bate bhuli aayo re
khud-khud re mhara khodya baaman
Sanja ke leva aayo re
mhari Sanja ka paanv jara sa
bichiya kyun ni layo re?
layo tho bhai, layo tho
pan bate bhuli aayo re
(Madhya Pradesh)
Meaning: “O you lame, slow-paced Brahmin! You have come
to take our friend Sanja away. But first do tell us, have you
brought some cosmetics/ornaments for our dear and comely
friend Sandhya? How come you have not brought the golden
Tika (forehead-ornament), Suralya for ears, Nathani (nose-
ring) for her nose. Thussi (necklace) for neck, Gajra (floral-
bangle) for hands, and Bichiya (toe-ornament) for her toes?
Khondya Brahmin meekly replies, “I surely got all these things
for her but alas! I lost that parcel of jewels on my way. Please
forgive me and send your friend off with me. I shall get her
new ornaments there.” The friends, then, happily send her
off.
Lugado Laya Jada Ji
Sanja bai ka lada ji
lugado laya jada ji
aiso koi laya jali ko
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 211
lata got kinari ko
Sanja bai to gol-mol
lugdo layo jhot-mol
(Madhya Pradesh)
Meaning: Sanja’s friends taunt, O husband of Sanja! The
saree, which you have got for Sanja, is very thick. If at all you
had to get her a saree, you should have got a finer one. Our
friend Sanja is very graceful, you must not take her otherwise.
She would never wear such a saree. Get her a fine saree next
time.
These are a couple of narratives from large repertoire of
myths and songs associated with Sanjhya:
(1) The Puranic Myth of Brahma’s Mind-Born Daughter
Sandhya
In the beginning, Prajapati Brahma created ten prajapatis.
Simultaneously a desire arose in Him to create the universe.
Out of this desire was born Brahma-kanya Sandhya. Smitten
by her beauty Brahma himself and his sons were filled with
desire to unite with her. Seeing their lustful state, Sandhya
envoked Shankara. Shankara appeared before them and
brought them back to their senses. The semen that fell down
on the earth from the bodies of prajapatis turned into 64
thousand ancestors (pitris).
Sandhya immersed herself in austerities to deliver the world
of kama (desire). She was blessed by Shankara. Later, she
gave up her body in the sacrificial fire in order to purify her
body. The impure form took birth as Arundhati, who later
married Guru Vashistha. Her purified form was transported
to the region of the Sun by Agni. The Sun god divided her
into two parts and established them on his chariot. The upper
portion of her body became dear to the gods as Pratah Sanjya
212 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
(the dusk/ the morning twilight) and the lower part became
dear to the manes as Sayam-Sanjya (the dawn/ the evening
twilight)
[Shiv-Puran, Chapter 7]
(2) Sanjhya, A Village Maiden
Once there was a village belle by the name of Sanjhya. She
was kidnapped by a demon, who later killed her. This girl
appeared in a dream to her friend and told her that her soul
was tormented as she had died an untimely death in the
hands of a demon. She asked her friend to deliver her from
this misery and help her attain peace, This could be done
through giving a concrete form to her memory by the girls
of the village collectively.
The girl reported the dream to her mother, who in turn
informed the entire village. All the ladies expressed their faith
in the dream and asked their daughters to decorate the walls
of every house with chitram (painting) in cow-dung on the
eve of the pitri-paksha. The girls happily agreed to do what
was asked of them. Ever since, during the pitri-paksha, various
motifs made in cow-dung are sculpted on the front wall of
the house in memory of Sanjhya.
Every evening, the maidens scrape off the old motifs and
create new ones, decorate them with flowers and worship
Sanjhya. They feel that Sanjhya, who left them due to her
untimely demise, springs back to life in the pitri-paksha
through these depictions and plays with them. This is the
greatest meaning and achievement of the decorative art of
Sanjhi.
(Tamabai Pitalia, age 60, Udaip)
Sanjhi : An Indian Folk Tradition 213

End Notes Rakhshanda Jalil

1. Translation by C. Sivaramamurti of Chitrasutra of Vishnudharmottara
Purana, 1978, New Delhi, Publications.
2. Pupul Jayakar 1969, ‘Colour in the hands of folk makes holy Mandalas
in gay spirits’, Marg, vol. 22, no. , p. 38.
3. Mulk Anand, 1969, ‘The Hand and the Heart. Notes on the Creative
Process in Folk Imagination’. Marg, . 22, no. 4, p. 5.
The Folk Element in
Urdu Literature

On browsing the internet I found that one of the objectives

of the Haryana Government is to promote folk literature in
Hindi and Urdu. This recognition of the importance of folk
literature is somewhat belated, but it is as always a case of
‘better late than never’. Given the overpowering presence
of what is regarded as ‘classical’ or ‘high’ literature, the
richness and variety of folk literature, to which Amitav Ghosh
has in recent years drawn our attention, has been lost sight
of. I shall argue in this paper that the time has come to not
just pay lip service to our commitment to the folk – be it in
dance, music or literature — but to revive those traditions
and to incorporate them as an important segment of our
literary and cultural sensibility. For, in doing so we would
also set at rest many of the popular but mistaken assumptions
about what constitutes ‘folk’ and the line that divides it from
‘high’ culture. This would, in turn, ensure that we do not
discern any inherent contradiction or contradictions in our
cultural streams. In our pluralities and cultural diversities
lies our boundless creativity. In re-affirming and claiming
the folk element in our literature, we can make the study of
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 215
literature more fruitful and let me stress, at the very outset,
that without social and cultural histories literary histories are
barren and unproductive.
Folk culture has, in the past, been associated with superstition
or magic, the local or trivial, and the primitive or obsolete.
This is no longer the case. Today folklorists and other social
scientists recognize the link between culture and folk belief.
Somewhat belatedly, literary historians too are beginning to
recognise the link between folklore and literature. It is
important for this conference to take note of this fact. It is
equally important for all of us gathered here – writers, poets,
historians, critics — to do away with the perception of folk
as inferior because it is associated with the rural, the isolated
and the uneducated.
The folk element has been a part of Urdu literature virtually
from its birth. Its influence and popularity can be traced in
the works of Amir Khusro (1254-1324), the original poet
of the people. His dohas, sukhanas, unmil bejor, geet, paheli,
dhakoslas show a remarkable linguistic and cultural synthesis.
According to a popular anecdote, Amir Khusrau, was given
a set of four unrelated words: kutta, kheer, dhol and charkha
and challenged to string them together. From these everyday,
prosaic words he produced the following four-line verse:
Kheer pakayi jatan se
Charkha diya jalaye
Aaya kutta khaa gaya
Tu baithi dhol bajaye
And elsewhere, Khusro showed how the people’s idiom could
clothe both the prosaic and the profound:
Khusro darya prem ka, ulti waa ki dhaar
Jo utara so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar
216 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
O Khusro, the river of love runs in a strange direction
One who jumps in it drowns, who drowns gets across
While recognizing the quaintness and picturesqueness of
verses such as the above, the great pity, however, is that literary
historians tend to tie themselves up in knots verifying the
authenticity of the vast bulk of the folk clamouring for
‘critical’ versions even in orally-transmitted texts. In the
absence of original texts and ‘reliable’ critical analysis it seems
easier for literary critics to challenge the authenticity of several
Hindavi compositions attributed to even a great composer
such as Khusro. It is much the same in the case of the great
Bhakta poets who relied almost solely on the folk traditions
to convey larger, philosophical truths to the lay people. The
sakhis, dohas, horis, jhoolnas, ulatbasis, manglas and
barahmasas of Kabir convey the spirit of the times and the
richness of local culture. More importantly, they give ample
evidence of pluralism and syncretism that was very much a
way of life. My contention here is that had the thrust of
literary criticism and research been on exploring the folk in
Urdu rather than discrediting its presence by casting doubts
on its verifiable antecedents, our literary canon would have
been that much richer.
Fables or lok kathas have always been incorporated into both
prose and poetry – as qissa-kahani in older times and in recent
years with devastating effect by Intizar Husain. Other
elements of the folk that have crept into Urdu literature are
in the form of children’s folktales and folk lore from the
Panchatantra tradition to the tales of tota-maina and chira-
chiriya variety, char-baits (Pathan songs from Rampur, Tonk
and Bhopal), pahelis (riddles), dohas, sawarian, jokes,
anecdotes, etc. Many writers have used these folk stories,
some with generic beginnings such as ‘Bahut saal pehle…’
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 217
(A long time ago…) or ‘Ek tha badshah, hamara tumhara
badshah…’ (Once there was a king, yours and mine…). The
baramasas (meaning songs for all the seasons) attributed to
Kabir are songs of separation — both mystic and secular –
expressing love and longing for the beloved. The singer’s
moods change with the seasons and thus allow the poet to
draw in the local, seasonal and natural elements.
Sometime in the early 17th century Afzal Jhinjhanvi compiled
the first baramasas in Urdu. Drawing upon its ancient roots
in Prakrit, Hindi and regional dialects, the baramasa is almost
entirely rural. It still survives in the form of lok geet or folk
songs. A product of qasbahs and suburbs, the baramasas were
remarkably free of the courtly influences that characterized
the rest of Urdu poetry. Here’s a sampler from Bikat Kahani,
the baramasa by Afzal Jhinjhanvi:
Ari jab kook koel ne sunayi
Tamami tan badan mein aag lahi
Andher rain, jugnu jagmagata
Oo ka jalti upar tais ka jalata?
Ah, when the cuckoo sounds her cooing
It sets my body aflame
The glow worm glows in the darkness of the night
Why does it burn one already on fire?
And, elsewhere:
Gayi barsaat rut nikhara falak sab
Nami danam ke sajan ghar phire kab
Piya bin aikal kaise rahoo ri
Sitam upar sitam kaise sahoon ri
The rains are gone, the skies are clear
218 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
But I don’t know when my beloved will return
How will I live alone without my beloved?
How will I bear affliction upon affliction?
The folk element has also been present in popular
entertainment. Syed Agha Hasan Amanat had written a play
as long ago as 1851 which was staged in Lucknow two years
later. It was called Indra Sabha and it was the first Urdu play
to be performed in several cities and villages in and around
Awadh. The first to be published and reprinted in Urdu
and reproduced in Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi scripts and
the first to be translated into German, the Indra Sabha is a
landmark in the canon of literary history and a foundational
monument in the evolution of popular culture in South Asia.
It wove together music, dance and poetry with Hindu
mythology to re-create certain aspects of feudal society that
were common and clear to its mixed audience. Interestingly
enough, it introduced elements from the qissa kahani genre
into what was essentially an opera based on Hindu mythology.
So one finds the unusual but altogether delightful spectacle
of Sabz Pari (Green Fairy) disguising herself as a yogini and
appearing before Lord Indra in his court to win back
Gulfam, her beloved.
Folk literature occupied the religious realm in many parts of
18th and 19th century Awadh from where it made its way
into Urdu literature. The Sufi shrines dotted all across the
landscape from medieval times onwards have always been
great centres of cultural and religious fusion, especially
because they did away with the ‘high’ culture of the urban
elites and incorporated, both in their beliefs and practices,
the folk traditions. The use of certain imageries and idioms
were typically folk oriented, notably in the songs in praise of
the Prophet and Lord Rama. These existed, to begin with, as
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 219
oral traditions. Sufi mystics played a great part in
accommodating the folk element in the popular giving rise
to a vast repertoire of poetry in simple, everyday Urdu. A
good example would be of the Sufi saint, Ghazi Miyan of
Rudauli. I will quote a long excerpt from Ismat Chughtai’s
The Heart Breaks Free1 to illustrate not just the syncretism of
the qasbati culture – which, incidentally, played a profound
role in incorporating the folk into Urdu literature — but
more significantly for the purpose of this paper, the presence
of the folk in modern Urdu literature and how a writer like
Chughtai uses the folk to bring alive the Ganga-Jamuni
tehzeeb (multi-culturalism) that she had witnessed at first
hand:
There was an Urs at Ghazi Mian’s shrine every year. Qawwali
singers and others came from far and wide. People of every
religion and caste, old and young, children, women and men,
all made the pilgrimage to the shrine, offered vows and received
answers to their prayers.
Every Thursday the dancing girls from the town and its
neighbouring districts arrived with their offerings. They sang
thumries, dadras and ghazals in honour of Ghazi Mian. When
a dancing girl was about to surrender her virginity she would
first sing and dance at Mian’s shrine. A fair was held during the
flame-ridden heat of May and June and the faithful came
months ahead of time and set up camp. Such enormous crowds
gathered during the actual days of the fair that you couldn’t
find an empty spot anywhere. Stretched in front of the main
entrance to the shrine was an over-sized marquee on which the
arriving pilgrims threw garlands, sweetmeats and money
Flags were transported here from neighbouring towns and
districts. There were sixty-foot high bamboo poles with clusters
of black or white hair attached to the top, while just below
them hung streamers made from rupee notes. Anyone whose
wish was granted offered the standard at the shrine. Dancing
220 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
and leaping to the beat of kettle-drums, the men arrived at the
entrance of the shrine and formed a circle; a muscular man
built like a wrestler, balancing the standard, stationed himself
in the middle of the circle; in order to keep the banner steady,
to prevent it from tipping, four other men held on to ropes
extending from the spire of the standard. Then, lifting up the
standard, the man danced and executed tricks with it. Sometimes
he’d place the base of the standard on his forehead and wriggle
his body, at other times he’d catch it between his teeth and
sway. Finally, when everyone began sweating, or maybe when
the group ran out of time (there were other groups with
standards waiting their turn), the weary flag was furled around
the pole like a sail tied to its mast, hitched on shoulders and
carried into the shrine through the tall entrance-way. And then
another flag dance began. At the end of the fair days all the
flags were auctioned off.
Our mother bought flags every year for use as floor cloths–
these were the best examples of tambour–work. Embroidered
on the rough cotton fabric were colourful designs in the shape
of elephants and horses. Here you could see whole armies on
the march with their spears hoisted, there a caravan of camels;
in another corner were flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cows,
along with groups of men and women exchanging secrets. We
would roll around on the divans all day long, observing the
scenes below us, never tiring of what we saw.
Besides the flags, those whose prayers had been heard also
offered, in accordance with what they had promised, gold and
silver figurines, tables, chairs, beds, and pots and pans. All this
was followed by Ghazi Mian’s wedding ceremonies. A kettle-
drum was placed at the entrance. Early in the morning the
playing of the drum commenced to one’s annoyance and
continued late into the night. All day one group after another
came and surrounded the drum players, and sometimes one or
two men broke into sad songs about lost love. As soon as one
group had exhausted itself another took its place. Women
possessed by evil spirits came to Mian’s door to be rid of them;
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 221
they loosened their hair and shook their heads rhythmically
from side to side, and when the person chanting holy verses
blew smoke over them, they screamed and fainted. But it wasn’t
long before they re-gained consciousness and started swaying
again. If the spirit were a stubborn creature it would not budge
for days; red and green clubs were used to punish it and only
then, after a terrible struggle, did it depart. Happy and
contented, the women who had been healed then made offerings
at the shrine and went their way.
On the fifth of the month came the ceremony of the fan, on
the seventh the sandalwood ceremony and on the ninth, the
henna ceremony. At night on that day Ghazi Mian’s kurta, on
which the Quran was etched in its entirety, was brought out
for viewing. Frenzied crowds engulfed it. On the eleventh, the
ceremony marking the readying of the marriage procession took
place.
A long time ago, Radha Bai, alias Zehra Bibi, a child widow
from a family in Raduli, lost her heart to Mian. Ghazi Mian
appeared to her in a dream and accepted her love. She made
her home in his shrine. She was known to wash the tomb with
her tears and sweep the floor of the shrine with her hair every
day. Her father was an oil merchant. He forcibly dragged her
away from Ghazi Mian, but Radha refused to give in. All girls
with the name ‘Radha’ are stubborn; boldly and fearlessly they
announce their love, suffer every dishonour and stigma happily,
and put life and soul on the line. And the dice rolls in their
favour. Unfavourable winds are compelled to give in when
confronted with the ardour of their love, people begin to worship
them, sing songs about them, and finally worship them as
goddesses.
Ghazi Mian’s Radha also had to walk on coals. She too had to
drag herself through thorns. Her mother beat her senseless, her
father whipped her with moistened rope and tied her to a peg
in the cow shed. And the whole village spat at her. In the middle
of the night, when poor Radha, starving and thirsty, weary
from her wounds and splattered with cow dung, was taking
222 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
her last breath, Ghazi Mian came to her. He washed her wounds
with his tears, clasped her to his sacred chest, and dipping his
forefinger into his heart’s blood he made the bridal mark in the
parting of her hair.
When the demented Meera fell in love with her Girdhar Gopal
the world let vipers loose in her life and gave her a cup of poison
to drink and then - Krishan Murari’s flute came to life and the
viper turned into a garland of flowers, the cup of poison
brimmed over with the elixir of life.
The next morning the inhabitants of Raduli awoke to the sounds
of temple bells and the azan echoing from the minaret of the
mosque. Immersed in the fragrance of sandalwood, dressed in
majestic clothes, Radha lay on a bed of flowers in everlasting
sleep. There was not a single scratch on her, her body glowed
like burnished gold, her hair shone with sindbur.
People in Raduli were thunderstruck. A meeting of the village
elders was called. It was decided that the girl now belonged in
another’s house, there was no reason for her to stay in her
parent’s home. So she was delivered to her groom’s dwelling.
The Hindus called her Radha, the Muslims referred to her as
Zehra Bibi. Her plain, unpretentious grave sat at the foot of
Mian’s tomb. At one end of her grave grew a tamarind tree
whose bark was known to exude the fragrance of sandalwood
when burnt.
Since Radha’s death the Raduliwallahs had been bringing an
offering of Mian’s barat to the shrine every year. Children were
put to bed early so they could be aroused around three o’clock
at night to witness the arrival of the wedding procession. As
soon as the familiar sound of trumpets was heard everyone was
awakened. Quickly splashing some water on our faces, we all
ran up to the roof to see the wedding procession enter the village.
***
Urdu is mainly, but it must be remembered not exclusively,
the language of the shurfa or the elite classes concentrated
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 223
around urban centres such as Lucknow and Delhi in North
India. While much of Urdu poetry, the ghazal in particular,
catered to the prevailing taste of the umara or the nobility
which as Ayesha Jalal notes2, ‘also held the purse strings
sustaining many poetic livelihoods’ and thereby became the
arbiters of literary tastes and sensibilities. However, the Urdu
of the common people, Jalal goes on to say,
‘less liable to being encumbered by the whimsical fancies
of the aristocracy, found expression in a thriving folklore
heavily coloured and textured by the local north Indian
environment. Much of the folklore was a result of
collective creativity and passed on orally from one
generation to the next. Covering every aspect of life, Urdu
folklore displays its debt to Islam and its Indian context
in equal measure. Frequently borrowing from local
dialects, whether Brajbhasha or Awadhi in the north or
Deccani in the south, Urdu folklore has maintained
stronger ties with the soil than the idiomatically more
structured products of elite poetry.’
Elements of folklore that crop up in Urdu literature from
medieval times inwards in a steady, virtually unbroken
stream–whether it is in the poetry of Khusrau and Kabir or
the fictional writings of Qurratulain Hyder and Ismat
Chughtai–show an extraordinary rootedness to the soil.
Songs sung at marriages, seasonal festivals, visits to shrines,
panegyric poetry such as naat, marsiya or manqabat, songs
celebrating the birth of a child, the bidai (farewell) of a new
bride, even a mother’s lullaby to the babe in her arms convey
the easy co-existence of the local and the regional with the
religious and the cultural. For the literary historian these
cameos serve a very useful purpose; they help locate the
characters in a specific social, local, regional context. By their
224 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
appearance – no matter how incidental or fleeting in larger
literary narratives such as the story about Ghazi Miyan cited
above – they give a sense of time and place. Folk images,
idioms and motifs – embedded in literary texts – leaven the
narrative with a flavour that is full-bodied and robust. Like
the proverbial salt of the earth, whenever the folk makes its
appearance in Urdu literature, it makes the language more
vital, more real and at the same time more natural. Here, I
would like to stress that the folk tradition is in no way
incompatible with modernity. If anything, it makes the writer
and his work more accessible to modern readers. Nothing
can exemplify this better than the life and career of Nazir
Akbarabadi (1739-1830), whose vast ouvre showed a
remarkable fusion of the folk and the classical traditions; what
is more, Nazir continues to be as popular with contemporary
readers as he was in his own times.
A folk oriented poet, Nazir created humour from anecdotes
passed down through the oral tradition, created poetry out
of the everyday and the mundane and taught Urdu readers
how to celebrate the Ordinary. He joined the ranks of Kabir,
Mira and Surdas both in his choice of subject and style.
Shunning the company of fellow poets who basked in royal
patronage, speaking in the voice of the Common Man, using
prosaic words of everyday Hindustani, he wrote of a syncretic
culture to which he very clearly and proudly belonged. He
wrote of festivals like Holi, Basant and Krishna Janamashtami
and chose unconventional subjects – for a poet of the ‘high’
tradition that is but subjects that were nonetheless of great
interest to the average listener – such as the kakri-seller in
the bazaar of Agra, the baby bear who featured in itinerant
road shows as well as the mullah, pandit, teacher, farmer,
kotwal, courtesan and scores of ‘real’ people facing ‘real’
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature 225
problems in ballads like ‘Banjara Nama’ (The Chronicle of
the Nomad), ‘Roti Nama’ (The Chronicle of the Bread),
‘Aadmi Nama’ (The Chronicle of Man).3 At the same time,
Nazir also wrote some great protest poetry, to use a modern
expression but his protest poetry was a departure from the
classical shehr ashob (‘lament of the city’) tradition in that he
spoke of everyday struggles, sufferings, failures and declines
without resorting to any maudlin sentimentality whatsoever.
He differed from the writers of the shehr ashob in his clear
sighted acceptance of contemporary social ills and his refusal
to hark back to the imagined glories of the past – which was
a characteristic of the Urdu poet then, and continued to be
the defining feature of the shehr ashob tradition for over a
century after his death. In this, as also in his use of
contemporary language and choice of subject, Nazir was an
Ibnul Waqt, a man of his time and age.
Nazir chose to celebrate all those spheres of cultural life that
were marginalised by the highbrow and the elitist poets of
his time. Quite naturally, therefore, he was marginalized by
the upholders of good taste; his poetry was dismissed as
sensationalist and his worldview pedestrian. Neither a
philosopher nor a satirist, he was, like a poet of the folk
tradition, a spectator, one of the crowd, writing for and about
the common folk in a language that was simple and
spontaneous. Shunning the Persianised expressions,
complicated conceited and far-fetched similes of
conventional Urdu poets, Nazir adopted a style that was
unconventional, vivid and realistic. The following lines,
however, give a sense of the richness of his thought and the
lucidity of expression clothed though it was in the simple
and the natural which is the hallmark of the folk tradition:
Here is Nazir’s description of the ghats of Yamuna during
226 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Holi:
Jamuna ka paat goya sehan chaman hai bare
Pairak iss mein tairein jaise ke chaand tare
The surface of the Jamuna glistens like velvety lawns
Swimmers glide through its waters like the moon and stars
From the Rotinama:
An eyeless fakir was once asked:
Of what stuff are the moon and stars
The fakir smiled and shook his head:
God bless you, sir, the answer is only bread.
On Krishna Janmashtami:
Milkmaids away, the little fellow had a field day.
He stole into houses like a thief much skilled.
Climbed on a cot and brought down the pot
That with cream or butter was freshly filled.
He ate some and wasted some,
And some he simply spilled.
Fabulous were Krishna’s childhood days.
There are so many tales of his naughty ways!
On the potter:
Behold the splendour of my pots of clay!
Like a bed of flowers on a sunny day,
Which freshen your heart and brighten your way.
Useful for storing water or milk or whey.
By tapping on it like this you can play
Any old rhythm, either sad or gay.
Behold the splendour of my pots of clay!
And, in the end there is the voice of the banjara, the nomad
The Folk Element in Urdu Literature
from Banjara Nama who says:
Why do you wander restlessly, why this envy and greed?
Death will follow wherever you go, a truth you better heed!
All your wealth and possessions, your cattle of every breed
Those heaps of rice and lentils, every grain and every seed
As you pack your bag to leave there’s nothing you will need.
References :
1. Translated by Tahira Naqvi, 1993, published by Kali for Women, pp 10-
14.
2. Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam since
1850, Ayesha Jalal, Routledge, p 15-16.
3. For more details, see Ali Ahmad Fatimi, ‘Nazeer Akbarabadi ki Awami Shairi’,
Chapter 8 in Qamar Rais (ed), Urdu Mein Lok Adab, 1990, Simant
Prakashan, New Delhi
227
Piyush Daiya
Shared Symbiosis :
The Solemnization of Ingenuity
Before comprehending the subject of folk consciousness (Lok
chetna)’ in the beginning years of the new millennium, is an
attempt to delve into the consciousness that developed in an
almost mono-linear manner after the British rule was
established in India is imperative. It is not a coincidence that
the denotations and designs in which almost all modern
scholarly works exploring the genetic code of folk life
reorganize and imply themselves are, in fact, the tools and
methodologies created by colonial anthropologists. Isn’t it a
cruel reality that we have aped exactly the same methods
and customs of studying the folk gene-pool that developed
in the West in the last two centuries? The toeing of their line
unfortunately continues until today, by virtue of which, for
instance, the dichotomy between the oral and the written
has acquired wide legitimacy. Could we ever be able to
perceive (as suggested also by Udayan Vajpayee) that those
conveniently categorized as villagers, tribals or folk, and
thereby termed relatively under-developed (?) and poorly-
organized (?), had actually organized themselves in an
extremely developed manner, and compared to modern
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 229
societal system that organization was more egalitarian, open
and carried a space for the self respect of its each member.
The authority-mechanism of that organization possibly
secured participation of all the constituents, and therefore
didn’t need a mental asylum to protect the centre or centres
of authority in the society as required in a modern social
mechanism. To comprehend how and when the texture of
this organization became feeble, how and when it
disintegrated, and eventually withered away is a chief
challenge before the contemporary scholars concerned about
the future of India. The institutions the British set up after
dismantling Indian social organizations at some places
weakened the texture of Indian folk life and at others
destroyed it. Allured by those institutions nevertheless,
scholars of Independent India continued with them. Doesn’t
it mark a domination of first the British and later of the new
scholars, over the Indian folk world?
Can we ignore that the perspective and fashion in which a
researcher presents a distinct culture, society, or creative
forms, that mere presentation itself eventually overturns the
entire structure? That, in a well-calibrated manner, it alters-
adulterates the integral elements of the system?
The situation, in fact, began deteriorating from the beginning
of the nineteenth century. Many historical factors destroyed
the multi-layered fabric that could have preserved the
complementary association not only among various
components of a province, but among all folk communities.
After attaining Independence, we attempted neither to
comprehend nor to resurrect this association.
Indeed, the genetic cartography on the basis of which we
sought to reorganize the nation did not draw its DNA from
230 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
the ancient and authentic community systems of the land.
After gaining Independence, we should have pondered over
decongesting the nucleus, the reservoir of primeval energy,
of folk life blocked by the British. Instead we began a
mammoth but mindless exercise of accommodating this
delicate and distinctively formed nation of multilayered
community organizations into a mould of modern
development, which made almost all communities
impoverished and wretched with time. The disappearance
of the Jajmani system almost broke the spinal cord of these
communities. I strongly believe that to present a vivid
dissection of the Indian society, the Westernised scholarly
works, instead of locating an inherent continuity within the
myriad demigods of local communities, highlighted and
propagated their minute differences, claiming those to be
internal and integral. Else instead of underlining rather
apparent continuity, inconsequential differences would not
have been emphasized. The kind of aporia—a question that
has no answer, a problem that has no solution— these scholars
have created is sheer illusion, deception. In contrast, a few
historians such as Dharmpal have proposed meaningful and
revealing testimonies and expositions, unfortunately though
our Westernised academic historians refuse to accept them
as history.
Nevertheless! If only we locate that a diametrically different
cartography emerges by bringing together various creative
works and skills of these communities. This map will certainly
still be incomplete though, highly incomplete indeed, and
we lack the space here to perfect it, but if this map could be
completed one would clearly determine that it is created by
the compassion inherent in autonomous interdependence,
and not by a fragmented approach of mere assembling the
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 231
isolated, indifferent and independent particles.
There can’t be a greater irony that our self-discretion and
critical wisdom no longer ask why the coexistence of oral
tradition and faith in the written word in India is being
reduced to a starved creature, who now appears a mere
skeleton, somehow able to breathe. Folk creativity is usually
an animated and continually active imagination, not
confined to any specific and static period. The roots of this
imagination are always deeply entrenched within the
consciousness of the community. We live the coexistence of
many centuries in a singular time frame, as our narratives
are the multi-hued functions of collective memory and
provincialism transcends itself to metamorphose into
universality. This illustrates the Lila of form-formation-
transformation, as the traditional language of folk expressions
always manifests itself in the novel surge of aboriginal
creativity and sensitivity.
In his later thinking, Wittgenstein reached the conclusion
that to conceive of a language is to conceive of a life form.
We all know of the saying ‘Pran jaye par vachan na jaye’. In
primeval areas of Rajasthani, a native saying still prevails—
Bachan baap mardan ra kahije jug men ek. For a warrior, a
promise equals his father. The saying, according to Wittgenstein
methodology, characterizes the life-forms and behavioural
pattern of Rajasthan. Must it mirror the multilayered
manuscript of this entire province though?
The ethnic-self of Rajasthan is considered the synonym of
pinnacle and the ideal of glorious valor, courage and bravery,
and this has been distinctively highlighted that compared to
other provinces the rich traditions of ‘valor sagas in folk
consciousness’ of Rajasthan blend a dynamic harmonization
of integrated forms of vivid styles, modes and methods,
232 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
attaining their consummation in myriad references.
Lord Krishna says in Gita: Swabhavastu Pravaratate — The
nature manifests itself.
What is the nature of folk-forms of Rajasthan? What is the
underlying element in folk narratives classified as valorous,
through which we can attempt to delve into the consciousness
of this province; in fact, can these narratives be underlined
as playing a role in moulding the nature of Rajasthan?
An epic narrative carries immense ability to define the
collective and localised vision of universality. It reflects a
submersion into the multi-hued luminosity and aeonian
allusions of the illusive and impenetrable ionosphere of
ingenuity.
But can this nature be captured through the contemporary
textual analysis? The notion of interpolation does not exist in
the grammar of folk creativity. Deductions-inductions a text
gather in its readings through the centuries are inseparable
components of the text itself. Alterations achieved in a text
are the carrier of the collective memory of the text. Textual
differences are the strength, and not the weakness of folk
narratives. The so-called authentic text does not exist in folk
literature, and only scholars have created this futile and
fallacious issue.
Why, for instance, barring a few exceptions, have maximum
valor-narratives emerged from the Marwar region? Is it
possibly due to the absence of cattle-rearers in the Mewar
area? Viewed through modern references, the valor narratives
of Rajasthan have a tragic end, as the hero doesn’t sacrifice
his life to protect his village, land or country or egalitarian
values. He enters into a war to protect cows, that too, merely
because he has made a ‘promise’ to someone. ( if Mewar/
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 233
Marwar did not have cattle-rearers, how valor sagas could
emerge from that land, considering cow protection was an
essential component of these sagas? Does the text lend a
seemingly contradictory correlation between cattle-rearers
and sagas?)
Even this promise he is forced to made in the pursuit of his
selfish interests. Here, it’s the promise, and not cows or
anything else, which takes centrestage. Each tale emphasizes
individual identity, not the human concerns permeated by
collectivity as modern contexts imply. The extent and expanse
of the narratives of Pabuji or Devnarayan are interwoven
with myriad minor episodes, in which other characters gain
an importance similar to the hero. In a technical sense, it is
also extremely difficult to assert that the narrative is permeated
or informed by any vision or value-consciousness; instead
there come many instances when instead of lending him the
glory of heroism, acts and utterances of the hero only
denigrate his character. Also notable is the fact that while
warriors belong to famed ancestry, saints mostly have no
pedigree to boast of. And in almost all valor sagas of Rajasthan,
women characters perform the Sati. The notion of Sati,
indeed, is so entrenched in these narratives that once deprived
of this element, the sagas lose their valor. This aspect is so
cultivated that both appear interdependent. Can it be
claimed though, that the Sati system blemishes these sagas?
Well, it could be an issue for moderns like us, but it never
bothered them.
Does inquisitiveness, then, have no place in the worldview
of faith and devotion? Nature and its phenomenon, too, after
all, do not invoke any critical inquiry in these narratives.
My attention is also drawn to the fact that despite the spread
234 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
of Jainism, Rajasthan is characterized by belligerent notions
of valor instead of non-violence. The spinal cord of these
sagas rests on the ‘promise’ of the hero, to fulfill which he
sacrifices his life. This sacrifice nevertheless is such a
consequence of vanity, that a psychologist would define this
as an ailment, and not as the sublimity of human endeavor.
Pushing the flat descriptions of these texts into a baffling
maze of entangled narratives, many explanations and issues
can be raised causing endless scribbles, but that would not
be the right approach.
I propose these narratives be read-comprehended in the light
of Indian pagan-vision and its characteristics. This pagan-
vision has an astonishing attribute insofar it doesn’t suggest
any hierarchy. The hierarchy, in fact, is never constructed.
As peerless painter Akhilesh says, there is no first-second-
third among Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. At times Brahma
is in soup, and all others help him out, sometimes others are
threatened and Brahma saves them. And sometimes Shiva’s
life gets threatened. The composers of the Puranas never let
it dawn who among the triad occupies the first, second and
third position. Without any hierarchy, hence, everyone has
formal similarity. All attain the pure and sacred form.
Everyone is consigned to the punishment of bodily form. Exactly
the same aspect applies to these narratives also. Precisely this
vision enables, to borrow a phrase from Patvardhan, these
narratives to ‘anoint ordinary with the extraordinary’.
Hierarchy has been done away with here, and most
intriguingly, this absence carries neither any insinuation nor
explanation.
The mode by which the heritage inherent in these sagas
reveals the value-vision of Rajasthan and makes its cultural
expression peerless can only be understood by
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 235
interdisciplinary wisdom. These narratives do not contain a
bit of what many scholars have glorified through their
communal readings as an agenda of ‘cow-protection’.
In whichever communities these sagas are popular, they
constitute the creative manifestation of the autobiography
of their culture and geography. Each society finds ways to
live with its surroundings and cattle and cow-rearing are its
living instances. We can also comprehend it in the works of
Anupam Mishra. It is no coincidence that virtually
everywhere in India art forms are inseparably integrated with
sacred ceremonies. Heroes metamorphose into deities as there
is no dividing line that decisively separates human from
gods— myths and epics coalesce with each other.
In a religious or family event or a temple ceremony, a ritual
performance is witnessed when in a cosmic moment, those
hero-gods, whose tale is being narrated, pervade the soul of
Bhopa. This is a unique structure of the consciousness through
which the society identifies an invisible and implicit limit for
all the community members, with religion and faith
operating as the pillars of reason.
Not a coincidence it is, therefore, that the prominent sagas
in Rajasthan are also linked with an effort to protect cows.
This is a jijivisha ka manviya adhyatm.
Stella Kremrish made a wonderful observation, although her
English translation of Chitrasutra is distorted …(in) Indian
art more than in any other, Form results from performance.
Making a work of art is a ritual. Its magic acts on the form. By
performing the rites of art, the craftsman transforms himself as
well his materials. Form, ritual performance and transformation
are spontaneous and inseparable aspects of Indian art. They
are inherent in its creation, and produce their effect in its
236 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
concrete shape.
Valor-sagas have undergone a phenomenal transformation
in Rajasthan. Pad-tradition has lent it a different dimension
and distinct foundation. This is also an unparalleled and
unremitting instance of autonomous interdependence
among various arts and literatures described in Pad
Vishnudharmettar Purana of Pabuji and Devnarayan.
A wonderful mosaic of word, painting and music, and its
public presentation – with a particular profile. Peerless
aesthetics of performance and painting. An innate curiosity
crops up why an image is not separate from the components
of its tale, even as the tale never gets confined to the image.
Note the wonderful technique and imagination that
transforms a text into performance. The narrated-text and
textual variations of Pabuji have been slightly discussed
elsewhere, but I wonder why it was never considered how
the variations the painting methodologies and painted
descriptions of Pabuji Pad gathered over the centuries
enriched the verbal text of narratives. Do the fluid fixity and
variations inherent in the textual continuity emerge from
the text or the painting? Great poet Gopinath, in fact, locates
an unblemished feature of Indian folk culture in ‘narrative
mechanism’. Fiction is possibly the characteristic of pagan-
consciousness. It is, nevertheless, surely a significant topic of
research how these painting traditions have impacted the
verbal text. This is an unexplored area of research similar to
my curiosity, that wherein almost all modern, and to a great
extent many traditional Western artists, have made their
portraits, such a concept never existed in the space and time
of Indian folk consciousness. This is clearly a characteristic
of Eastern self and philosophy in whose light we can perceive
the genetic cartography of wisdom tissues of Indian folk
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 237
literature. To delve into folk literature we have to invent and
develop our indigenous vision, methodologies and
mechanisms, else we will be left with documents of
disillusionment but not the mysteries of true avenues. We
cannot construct our home from borrowed bricks. It is no
coincidence that the Partition of the nation could not create
its space and form in folk literature. And valor sagas could
not be constructed from the folk pieces created in foreign
references. This is an unfortunate reality that the dominating
cloud of colonial contexts hovers not only on our education
system, but over the entire life pattern – consciously or
subconsciously.
Komal Kothari, for instance, brought forth folk issues
throughout his life, but his thinking was always invaded by
Western patterns. Though the Komalda phenomenon can
be a separate topic of discussion and deliberation, it is true
despite knowing that to comprehend the cultural character
of Rajasthan thought-methodologies and tools emerging
from its land would have to be created and developed, instead
of creating a Swarajya of resistance, he remained a nonchalant
scholar, who could never free himself of the Western channels
of thinking. In his later works though, there are invaluable
instances of intense restlessness to develop indigenous
methods and grammar. After Bijji, only Chandraprakash
Deval strikes in the context of Rajasthan who, though, is
striving hard to create an alternative vision, the evidence of
this vision is yet to be recorded.
Nevertheless, for me the creative forms of folk – valor sagas
here for instance – are not mere minor manuscripts, about
which we can continue to simply squabble and scribble and
put forward the statement of Mallinath in defense of our
proposition — “My all explanations emerge from within the
238 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
text only.” – Interestingly, it seems postmodern thinkers like
Derida, in their own manner, presented before us a mere
extension of the aforementioned statement.
There exists, in fact, a subtle form of domination of thoughts
that becomes discernible when a culture begins commanding
another culture in the field of ideas. This domination is
eventually more concerning, for normally we don’t perceive
it. Krishnachandra Bhattacharya, a peerless philosopher of
twentieth century, writes: “As long as someone is aware of
bondage, resistance is possible. Even suffering the bondage as an
unavoidable evil, one’s soul can remain free. Slavery begins when
a person ceases to perceive the evil. When evil is accepted as
virtuous, the slavery becomes more acute and alarming.”
Before we begin discussion on the monumental issue of ‘valor
sagas in folk consciousness’, I propose we must remain aware
of the danger that aren’t we trapped in an impossible vortex
of the incontestable and irresistible spell of Western
methodologies? To comprehend this aspect is the biggest
challenge for living a life of independent intellect, only then
we could rehabilitate in the roots of our folk Swarajya.
Nevertheless !
A discussion on valor sagas is not merely a conversation on a
narrative or on literary, aesthetic or moral values. This is a
deliberation on politics, and also on cultural sphere, else we,
for instance, can never comprehend the Charan phenomenon
of Rajasthan. This, in fact, has now become a business in
itself. We all are aware that in the first half of the twentieth
century, technological inventions like the tape recorder had
made oral traditions enter the agenda of academic research
in a totally different manner. In our time, the notion of ‘folk’,
in a way, has been confined to village communities— the
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 239
distinction among city, town and village is fast disappearing.
The information revolution has overturned the entire
mechanism. What can Devnarayan and Pabuji symbolize in
the twenty-first century? Isn’t the memory of the collective
identity of the folk disappearing in the blinding pace of life?
Divorced from the foundation of ritualistic and theistic aura,
the native heritage denigrates into a consumer product,
eventually to be used for entertainment, commercial and
selfish interests. Precisely therefore, it is crucial to identify
and locate the remains of bygone days in one’s memory and
life.
Almost every folk artist and singer I conversed with said they
indulged in learning-performing their traditional arts from
early childhood. How can the issue of child labor be placed
here? Doesn’t this issue depict the phenomenon of modernity?
I suggest two viewpoints: An artist-singer says an outstanding
artist is actually an artist, even though the world remains
oblivious to him. He is like pure ghee and will invariably
spread fragrance. This is traditional thinking holding an
immense faith and pride in one’s art. Another artist whereas
says, “An artist remains so as long as he is known to others,
and if he becomes confined to his village, home, he kills
himself. His status is of a stake in a barn.”
This reflects a restlessness to enter into the mainstream and
modernity. He wants to participate in the struggle of making
a space for himself in this dehumanized world. A folk sculptor
or a singer does not have any inkling or experience of the
world to which he now wants to submit himself. This culture
is totally alien to him. It may appear a bit of a digression, but
consider the field of design today. Armed with post-colonial
education, professional designers have belittled the art of
handicraft into a fragmented activity. Performing the dual
240 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
role of designer and craftsman, the folk artist today offers
only skilled labor to the city designer so that the city designer
can materialize his intended designs through the skilled labor.
Paintings performed in homes or among kin for ceremonies
are now made on paper or canvass for business interests—
— a society that never carried the evil distinction between
‘self and the other’, is now caught in the trap of ‘self-other’
in its consciousness and behavior. This is truly unfortunate
that we have gathered here to deliberate ‘valor-sagas in folk
consciousness’ but without securing the participation of those
folk artists and singers, who actually constitute the topic. I
wonder, without these folk artists how can we arrive at any
kind of theory or methodology?
The demand of Indian art forms is fast increasing in the
global market, but a glance at the lives of folk artists reveals
they are being reduced to perform as the colonies of industrial
houses, where their skill and labor are exploited in an
inhuman manner. The life of these folk and tribal artists is so
challenging and cruel that despite all welfare schemes their
personal world remains a living inferno. Artists are not aware
of their human rights and mostly remain victims of capitalists
and middlemen in the market, never securing a release from
this vortex.
To expose this all-engulfing web in these times of despair
imperative it is to make public the logbook of reality and all
the elements operating behind the screen so that a humane
space can be formed for artists, paving way to the path of
independence.
Globalization has a long series of challenges and concerns,
and without confronting them a meaningful blueprint of
the future cannot be carved out. If globalization is really
about togetherness—joining the scattered dots—, then to
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 241
become globalized, one needs those tools with which one
can globalize.
Why don’t we begin defining the parameters of our
contemporaneity, and thereby decide-determine and situate
alternatives that are equally legitimate and valued?
It is a notable fact in the context of modern art world and
cultural expression that almost all publications till date, either
books or magazines on various disciplines, primarily focus
on art forms, and there is a near-absence of works on the
world and concerns and problems of traditional artists and
singers – actually specialists – which could explore their
existence and voice. I would like to propose that we resolve
to hold a seminar on folk artists. This can be a pioneer and
unique programme, through which artists/singers can not
only address and express their concerns and art and aesthetics
to the society, scholars, government and world, but also enter
into a shared space of togetherness with them.
In the contemporary post-capitalist scene, such seminars can
help form a platform of folk artists / singers, where the creators
of traditional and folk art forms can not only assemble, but a
montage of their myriad voices can also create a fertile land
to help them define their space, identity and existence on a
wider plane.
This fundamental pledge to lend a self-reliant foundation to
the lives and times of artists, if on the one hand can contribute
meaningfully to the materialization of the project of culture
industry (a phrase proposed by the World Bank and Rajiv
Sethi), on the other can help an artist retain his ingenuity
and inventiveness. This resolution, in other words, invokes
an initiative whose materialization would strengthen the
possibilities of rehabilitating artists in the mainstream to
242 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
ensure they neither go weak before the challenges, dangers
and hurdles of the globalized world, nor become a victim of
the capitalist ambush.
The schedule of such seminars should be dialogue-based and
concentrate on a conversation with folk artists by bringing
them on a platform composed by harmony among various
elements. The form of the content and structure of the
seminar should be permeated by native dialects and a distinct
oral rhythm so that folk artists/singers can participate and
relish the event. It goes without saying that the planners of
this seminar must remain active in background only, and
should strive from the beginning to ensure that the reins of
the journey from sutradhaar to sabad-sakhi lie with the folk
artists/singers.
It is the primary obligation to remain aware of the arrogance
and dangers of becoming-being a spokesperson, as this
seminar should not mimic those workshops, which, operating
under a garb, are actually governed by the inherent interests
of organizers.
Besides such typical characteristic, such seminars can also
have a distinct identity by expressing a clear stand on policy
formulation related to artists and art forms and devising a
requisite strategy for the market, besides striving to ensure
that the government and related agencies implement the
programme, and in true sense, bring forward the
fundamental forms in which an artist actually lives and
breathes.
An aspect of this task is also linked with lending a
contribution in developing ‘creative economics’. Help of
experts of related fields can be taken to achieve this task and
an exploratory discourse can be initiated that takes up all
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 243
the issues related to the discipline from schools to syllabi. It
goes without saying that the pattern of each seminar must
be permeated with the interplay of multiple references–
revealing an all-accommodating diversity.
I believe this process can create such an identity of swa-
dharma that offers a meaningful resistance to the blind
globalization process of post-capitalism, and also hint at the
self-reliant beacon in whose radiance illuminate the lanes to
folk world. This self-realisation should always keep one aware
that a nation and a society can never bloom by repudiating
or remaining oblivious to its reason, roots and wisdom.
Anupam Mishra rightly analyzes that following a blind
adherence over the last 200 years, the English language and
the West have been considered as the nucleus of knowledge
such that their discourse has compulsorily become our
concern.
By ‘discourse’ Anupamji intends to include Western
viewpoints, their circumstances, cultural differences,
atmosphere and geography. By investigating the colonial/
post-imperialist notions and their all-devouring pervasion,
he draws attention to how life forms have been destroyed in
these 200 years in India —— be it the issue of determining
the ‘structures’ of development in the grand project of
modernization or by considering oneself superior imparting
‘training’ or ‘literacy’ to those considered marginalized.
The emphasis of Anupam Mishra is, indeed, on a
fundamental aspect that the art that has disappeared from
the society must be restored with full prestige and respect—
— not with an arrogant air of master but with the gratitude
of a humble servant. In his characteristic flavor, Anupamji
terms this role as ‘munshigiri’. He asserts that the biggest
244 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
experts are the members of the society themselves, and with
them around a society does not require any other specialist.
This is an ironic fact that despite the creative forms of all
traditional and folk arts having their distinct grammar,
technique and aesthetics, the testimonial works and essays
on these forms are written by modern scholars, and it needs
no mention that their approach is so illusory and prejudiced
that they cannot be trusted, even as, interestingly, their entire
works are only in English.
In contrast, I propose that through a prolonged dialogue
and conversation with an artist involved in a particular form,
if works can be composed in alphabets emerging from his
own view and voice, it would reveal before us an intricate
aesthetics composed of myriad elements of his artistic
genealogy.
Any reader of Anupamji’s works, for instance, cannot tell
the real technology, experiments, aesthetics and cultural sense
of Gajdhars he mentions, for we never visited the nucleus-
reservoir of wisdom so far, whereas ideally the works narrated-
written by Gajdhars should have directly been available to
us.
Exactly the same aspect applies to ‘valor sagas in folk
consciousness’. This, in other words, is the proposition for
change we actually need to dismantle the supremacy of
pseudo and infuse a fresh bloom into the roots.
Note that the creative vision of Mahatma Gandhi had
emphasized the training of handicrafts in schools and
institutes of higher education. He himself would spin yarn
daily and urge thousands to spin and weave cotton. Despite
the passage of many decades though, the condition of weavers
in Gandhi’s Gujarat is like that of untouchables. Not a single
Shared Symbiosis : The Solemnization of Ingenuity 245
traditional sculptor or craftsman is employed as a teacher in
any institute of primary or higher education or designing—
not even in the ashram-schools of Gandhiji. Like this
auditorium, for instance, not a single folk singer and artist,
who have kept ‘valor-sagas in folk consciousnesses’ alive,
sublime and reverberating, is present, even though they
constitute the nucleus and operate as, to say, the Queen Bee.
I wonder and also become remorseful why these artists and
singers are not included in the entire discourse as experts?
Before our living traditions and cultures get strangled in the
vortex of consumerism, we all must take an initiative to keep
them invigorated.
Needless to mention this seminar or the one I conceived can
operate to create a fertile land to rehabilitate these pioneers
and resurrect their arts, and also characterize the shared
symbiosis, the solemnization of ingenuity.
– This essay is an edited version of the key-note address delivered in a
national seminar ‘The tradition of valor-sagas in north Indian
languages’, organized by the Sahitya Academy in Jaipur, 2008. I am
grateful to my friend, who made me available the transcribed text of
the address, and also to my late father, whose submission for
unassertive affection I could never perceive.
Lubna Marium
Restructuring Tradition :
An Experiment in the Introduction of
Performance Pedagogy in an Indigenous
Performing Art of Bangladesh
Enduring Popularity of an Indigenous Performing Art
In spite of the strident expansion of global urban culture
into the indigenous domain, a continuingly popular form of
entertainment in rural Bangladesh is a martial art which
involves the use of bamboo sticks. It is variously known as
‘lathi-khela’, ‘lathi-bardi’, ‘sardar-khela’, ‘nurdi-khela’1. It is
an alternate profession for most of the ‘lathiyals2’, or players,
who are mostly from marginalized, subaltern communities
i.e. landless labour, carpenters, pallbearers, masons etc. These
groups of ‘lathiyals’ get together if and when they are
commissioned to perform, which is mainly during family rites
such as christening, circumcision, marriages etc. Every year
too, almost all regions of Bangladesh organize competitions,
known as ‘Lathi-mela’3, between the various groups. Each
group is headed by the ‘sardar, or ‘ustad’ who not just leads
the presentation but is the preceptor who is the repository
of the ‘content knowledge’ of the dance. The ‘ustad’ teaches
Restructuring Tradition 247
the art to pupils, from generation to generation, through
traditional ‘inadvertent teaching’ which rarely questions
techniques and methods. Besides the heady joy of this
competitive art, one reason for its enduring popularity could
be the minimal expense involved – with readily available
bamboo sticks being the only implement; while the
invigorating rhythm is provided by ethnic drums (dhol) and
brass cymbals (kartal, kasha etc).
History of Lathikhela
From various historical sources4, we are informed that in
medieval Bengal lathikhela used to be a highly skilled art, as
most feudal lords employed groups of lathiyals to defend
their fiefdoms. Lathikhela is a martial art which developed
as an extension of martial defense skills used by these lathiyals.
This is an ideal example of the natural intermingling of
recreation and work. Unfortunately, due to the decline of
patronization and other socio-politico-economic reasons5,
there was a marked waning in the practice of lathikhela
during the British Era till it was brought back to limelight
by a highly perceptive and visionary civil servant, Gurusaday
Dutta. In 1932 Dutta started the Bratachari movement
with the aim of preserving individual and regional cultural
diversities. Through this movement he revived many dying
art forms of Bengal. In his words:
‘the Movement is to bring back to humanity, in all countries,
the ideal and practice of the wholeness of life which, alike in
the individual, the national and the international sphere has
been so grievously shattered in the modern world in every country
by the fragmentary outlook on, and treatment of, life in
education, science, work, play and social functioning.6’
This holistic view of life, which integrates recreation with
248 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
work, continues to be true.
In 1933 an ‘All Bengal Stick Challenge Shield’ was
established in Majampur of Kushtia District, in, the then,
East Bengal. The tournament was participated in by groups
from all over Bengal, including a few enthusiastic English
players7. In 1934 an ‘All Bengal Lathiyal Samiti (Association)’
was established with 17 members. However, 19478 onwards,
with the partition of India, once again there was a waning of
the practice of lathikhela. Presently, it continues to be
popularly practised, but with little or no patronization. Also,
there is almost no systematized method for preserving its
‘content knowledge’. On the other hand, worldwide, martial
art practitioners have worked extensively to develop their
art to perfection. In comparison almost no thought has been
given to the development of lathikhela. As a result, presently
it has become a disorganized art lacking both form and skill.
Project to Revitalize Lathikhela
Besides the value of preserving traditional knowledge, which
is the accumulated information, vision and philosophy of
life acquired by local people in each place; given the fact
that lathikhela still continues to generate popular enthusiasm,
a project has been taken up by ‘Shadhona – A Center for
Advancement of Southasian Dance & Music’, a local cultural
organization in Bangladesh, with the partnership of the
national authority for arts – the Bangladesh Shilpakala
Academy (BSA) – to revamp this age old art by first
documenting the various styles of its’ practise followed by an
infusion of ‘pedagogical knowledge’ to its teaching, entailing
analysis and devising of a teaching methodology. The BSA
has a countrywide infrastructure which will allow the project
to permeate the benefits to most groups of lathiyals.
Restructuring Tradition 249
It is the goal of the project to:
• empower various groups of lathiyals with the benefits
of ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ which will be
formulated during the duration of the project, thus
allowing them to reorganize and strengthen their
performance thus revitalizing an age-old art form
and to generate an interest within the new generation
to learn lathikhela skills, thereby, ensuring continuity
of tradition.
Sustainable Development of Indigenous Knowledge
‘Lathikhela’ is an invaluable part of the indigenous knowledge
(IK) of Bangladesh. Today, more than ever before, the value
of IK is recognized as the medium of a community to express
itself and to communicate from one generation to another.
“Ethnic music, performances, mythology, games, handicrafts,
arts and rituals represent the whole cultural scenario of the
society” - was the declaration to the world countries by
UNESCO in 1989. Euro-centric folklore fossilised IK and
made it an exhibition item, but the present day post-modern
studies concentrates more on nurturing IK through methods
of sustainable development.
The first step towards a sustainable development of lathikhela
is to document and analyze its ‘content knowledge’ which
includes knowing how to perform: the vocabulary, skills,
and other aspects of discipline of this art form. Since this is
part of IK a specific methodology is needed to retrive this
information from the practitioners. The second step is to
understand ‘pedagogical knowledge’ which includes
information such as learning styles, and teaching strategies.
To contrive a system where the practice of lathikhela can
250 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
become sustainable it is necessary to devise a ‘pedagogical
content knowledge’ of the art by combining both the above
and impart this knowledge to indigenous practioners of
lathikhela.
Documenting And Analyzing Lathikhela9
The methodology to document IK cannot be defined as a
universal formula for everything and everywhere, but it
sprouts from the logic of the situation and is specific to each
region. Since IK in Bangladesh is mostly stored within non-
literate communities the methodology for acquiring this
knowledge is by ‘seeing, hearing and doing’ of not just the
art being researched but also of related myths, proverbs,
ancient sayings and other oral traditions where the ‘collective
memory’ of people is reposited from generation to
generation.
Training People to Collect ‘Content Knowledge’
Information, in such circumstances, cannot be collected
under a conventional survey system. There is a need to utilize
community-based research which is participatory in action.
In participatory action research (PAR), as this method is
known, the ‘research’ aspects of PAR attempt to avoid the
traditional ‘extractive’ research carried out by universities and
governments where ‘experts’ go to a community, study their
subjects, and take away their data to write their papers, reports
and theses. Research in PAR is ideally by the community
and for the community. The research is designed to address
specific issues identified by the community, and the results
are directly applied to the issue at hand.The methodology
for collecting such knowledge is ‘Sharing of the Local
Knowledge’ (SLK ) by a ‘mapping of the memory’ of the
Restructuring Tradition 251
entire community.
Content Knowledge of Lathikhela
Each lathikhela is preceded by a narrative which establishes
a situation of conflict, such as the story of the ‘Battle of
Karbala’ which narrates the conflict between, on one side,
the supporters and relatives of Muhammad’s
grandson Husayn ibn Ali and, on the other side, the forces
of Yazid, the Umayyad caliph. Various other local narratives
are also in use. The narratives build up the context for rivalry
till it reaches a crescendo, whereupon the lathikhela begins.
The next segment is a collective war-like dance with bamboo
sticks. This is followed by a display of group acrobatics
involving human-formations of pyramids, boats and various
other shapes. Next follows a display of various twists and
turns with first one stick and then two. A lathikhela is
concluded with a series of combative duels between two
lathiyals, using a small stick, and a grand finale of a collective
duel, involving the use of bamboo dhals10. A striking
characteristic of lathikhela is the constant use of rhythm
provided by local drums and cymbals, even during the
combat sequences. The project is therefore designed to
document:
• the various narratives related
• different movements and choreography of the dance
• various acrobatic formations
• one-hand and two-hand twists of the small and large
stick
• moves of dual combat
• moves of collective combat
• accompanying rhythms played on drums and cymbals
252 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
It is evident, therefore, that theatre practitioners, dancers,
professional acrobats, martial-art practitioners and musicians
need to work together to come up with the ‘pedagogical
content’ of lathikhela.
Understanding Performance, Including Dance,
Pedagogy 11
In performances, especially dance and martial arts, we need
to be able to describe each movement, temporally, spatially,
and qualitatively. Being able to give an effective, accurate
verbal description of movement is important for several
reasons:
• First, having an accurate verbal descriptions leads to a
greater understanding of the movement task at hand
and to the underlying concepts which form the basic
building blocks for more complex sequences as well.
• Second, having a clear vocabulary enables tutors to
provide cue words to students.
• Third, this vocabulary of cue enables teachers to
conduct classes without constantly demonstrating.
• Fourth, using descriptive words enables teachers to
impart qualities of a movement sequence to students:
is the action to be done with strength or lightness,
hesitantly or boldly?
• In addition, these cue or vocabulary words enable one
to create task sheets and criteria sheets, and test student
knowledge with written tests.
• Finally, having a vocabulary enables teachers to create
lesson plans that can be used from year to year,
Restructuring Tradition 253 254 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

reducing the amount of time you spend preparing for Integrating ‘Content Knowledge’ and ‘Pedagogical
classes and enhancing the consistency of your classes. Knowledge’
Besides an analysis of movements, both in dance and martial In order to integrate the ‘content knowledge’ of ‘lathikhela’,
arts it is necessary to create a regime for body fitness which garnered from practitioners and IK experts, and ‘pedagogical
enables students to experiment with highly stylized knowledge’ acquired from experts working with various
movements foreign to the normal gait of the body. segments of ‘lathikhela’ it is imperative that we understand
the basic difference between the two knowledge systems from
Pedagogical Knowledge of Lathikhela which both are to be gathered.
It is not as if there is no traditional pedagogical knowledge
related to ‘lathikhela’. The greatest detriment is that it is all Traditional Knowledge System Contemporary Knowledge System
‘oral’ in nature with a few, rare written treatise preserved Oral tradition Written documents
here and there. Born from nature Taught and disciplined
Almost all regions have their own vocabulary for various Eco-centric Anthropocentric
movements of dances. Movements within the martial combat Embracing the whole nature Pertaining only to physical world
of ‘lathikhela’ are classified into movements of defense or Integral/holistic Segmental
attack. However, the collective memory of this knowledge is Eco-contextual and shared knowledge Power centred and monopoly of
frail and will soon be lost if it is not documented soon. There scientific knowledge
is also a lot of controversy about this knowledge within the Accumulation of knowledge Partial knowledge collected through
ages during a short span.
various groups, each contending to hold the ‘correct’
Qualitative Quantitative
knowledge. It is necessary to consolidate the knowledge that
is still obtainable. Lastly, there is no analysis available, specially, Intuitive and emotional Analytical and depersonalised
for the martial combat leaving no space for developing the Decentralised knowledge of the people Centralised knowledge of the
experts.
art to a logical standard.
Years of ‘inadvertent teaching’ based on hearsay, learning Even from this brief comparison it is possible to acknowledge
from tertiary sources, or learning merely by observation have the pros and cons of both the knowledge systems and how
led to movements losing their ‘power’ due to a loss of ‘logical’ some segments of each can be utilized positively for a
delineation of body movements. Another reason is a sustainable development of any project in hand. While the
corruption of movements due to influences from external open-ended, eco-centric, traditional teaching of an art can
sources i.e. popular cinema etc. All this has left the leave many avenues of creativity open, it must be
presentation of ‘lathikhela’ in disarray. acknowledged that it is only through disciplined and
analytical teaching that an art form can achieve perfection.
Restructuring Tradition 255
In the case of lathikhela though there is much fervor involved
in its present practise, most practitioners are unaware of the
logic behind each movement or phrase and not having gone
through any disciplined training are unable to either properly
execute movements or learn new movements when so taught.
A good example is the use of rhythm in ‘lathikhela’. An
attempt was made to teach a group from Manikganj,
nearabouts the capital, Dhaka, to execute their own
movements to a rhythm they were unfamiliar with.
Unfortunately, no amount of exercise could make the group
comprehend the idea, till we realized that they were not
familiar with the basic concept of rhythms of music. It was,
therefore, necessary to first teach them the basic concept
about rhythm and the variety of rhythms. The next day
they were asked to create their own movement to their
rhythm of choice. Lastly, when they were played a rhythm
to which they needed to dance, each and every player
responded positively, showing the positive results of an
integrated knowledge system.
The Economics of Pedagogy
The undeniable reality for almost all players of lathikhela, is
that this art is merely an alternate and not very lucrative source
of income. Most rely on other professions to earn a living.
Rarely, does any player make a career out of lathikhela. Most
times it is only the ustad or preceptor who earns a living from
lathikhela by running an akhra or teaching center. The
meagre sum gained from commissioned performances barely
meets the expense of traveling to and from performances. It
can, therefore, be said with a certainty that most players play
for the ‘love of it’ alone.
However, there are some groups which receive more
256 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
commissions for performances than others as they earn a
reputation by sheer grit and skill. The logic behind the
elaborate project for revitalizing lathikhela by introducing
pedagogical training, thus, is that, improved player skills will
revive an interest in the community which will gain the
groups higher number of commissions, thus giving them the
option of make a living from lathikhela alone. This would
allow players precious time to concentrate on skills
improvement and body fitness. The project also envisages
an interest from corporate bodies to ‘sponsor’ a group once
they have improved enough to gain public attention.
A Successful Experiment In Restructuring Traditional
Dance12
The ‘Sarabhuj Dance Theatre’ is a socio-cultural institution
from Rangamati, Midnapore (West Bengal) which has been
playing an intrinsic part in the movement for the revival,
propagation and appreciation of traditional Folk Culture
since, 1986, under the able guidance of Dr. Tarun Prodhan.
Dr. Prodhan has had the fortune to be part of Gurusaday
Dutta’s school and has since been inspired to work with
indegenous performances.
The organisation is able to function meaningfully by
adhering to the values and ideas of Indian Art aesthetics and
derives its strength and inspiration from the warmth and
fragrance of the earth. One of Dr. Tarun Prodhan’s successes
has been the restructuring of the dying art of ‘lathikhela’,
known as ‘Raibenshe’13 in that region. Dr. Prodhan taught
the dance to a group of folk-dancers of Midnapore for whom
this was not a traditional local dance. He amalgamated the
performance with the very rich and diverse genre of local
dhol playing thus invigorating and livening up the art. Dr.
Restructuring Tradition 257
Prodhan has taught this age-old martial art at grass-roots levels
to a group of performers. To his credit, this group has gained
international recognition and are now a well-established
dance group, making a living from dance alone.
Any work with grass-roots, indigenous dance and dancers
usually results in contemporary, urban based performers
learning from the folk-forms and enriching their own
repertoire of movements. A remarkable characteristic of Dr.
Prodhan’s success is the reversal of the entire process with
the folk-performers and performances getting revitalized to
the extent that urban performers often go to the village and
perform with the group as a member of ‘Sarabhuj Dance
Theatre’.
Dr. Tarun Prodhan’s experiment has been a great source of
inspiration for this project too.
The Project So Far
In December 2008 ‘Shadhona’ invited four groups of
lathiyals from four districts of Bangladesh–Jhenidah, Kushtia,
Manikganj, Shirajganj and Dr. Tarun Prodhan and his wife,
Sutapa Prodhan, from Mednipore for a five-day ‘interaction
workshop’ to study the feasibility of a country-wide project
to restructure the practice of lathikhela in Bangladesh. Qazi
Qais an internationally renowned martial-art expert was also
invited to a few sessions. Lastly, dancers from Dhaka were
brought in as participants and observers.
Findings of the December 2008 Interactions
Dance
It was observed that dance within the lathikhela of all four
regions had its own characteristics. The common
denominator was that they all used the small bamboo stick
258 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
as an aide to dance with the practitioners from Kishoregang
also using a handkerchief. All groups used a circular
choreography for their dance with the dancers continuously
moving along the circumference in a clockwise flow. This
flow was interspersed with intermittent inward and outward
movements. The dancers of Manikganj sometimes broke into
two parallel lines and the lines crossed each other to take up
positions at opposite ends.
It was decided that each group should continue to maintain
its own characteristics, but while preparing a pedagogical
handbook of lathikhela, movements and phrases from all
regions should be incorporated.
Acrobatics and Twists of the Stick
Every group had its own repertoire of acrobatics and twists.
However, due to general lack of body fitness these displays
were weak in form and skill. There was an urgent need to
give form and structure to these displays by breaking down
components into basic movements, giving them a name, and
adding them again in a form that could be taught easily to a
beginner. It was important that players understand that
exercise, fitness, character building - all have to be
incorporated into the total system to keep the art alive in the
modern world. However, in spite of learning from others,
lathikhela should retain what is specifically unique to it age-
old practice.
Martial Arts
The different components of martial art segment of lathikhela
which needed to be worked on were identified as follows:
• Objectives
• Benefits
Restructuring Tradition 259
• Warm-up/cool-down exercises
• Basic blocks
• Stances and footwork
• Practice sequence/drills for individuals (form/imaginary
fights)
• Two person sequences/drills for individuals (form/
imaginary fights)
• Salutation
• Meditation/mental-spiritual aspects
• Breathing
• Demonstration techniques
• Specific programs for children, women, groups such as
police/armed forces
Costume of Lathikhela
Another area of concern is the costume used for lathikhela
performances. Though historical sources trace a particular
ethnic mode of costume, presently most groups habitually
wear the dress of the modern footballer or athlete. This is
unfortunate, as the one or two sources of history which speaks
about this art form, describe an attractive ethnic costume
which is much more consonant with the indigenous quality
of lathikhela. In an experimental demonstration of lathikhela
an attempt was, therefore, made to design a costume which
reflected the indigenous and Bangladeshi nature of the
performance.
Introduction to Urban Arts
All lathikhela practitioners were introduced to various dance
forms and martial arts being practiced in Dhaka. The
intention was to create awareness about the discplined training
260 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
regime followed by most arts. The lathiyals were particularly
impressed by a trip to a local dojo – which trained students
in the art of karate and aikido. They were particularly eager
to learn more about the use of sticks in both these martial
arts of another country.
Willingness of the Participants to Accept Change
Overwhelmingly all participants of the 5 day interaction
session were eager to accept reforms and showed a willingness
to give the time and energy to concretize these changes,
provided they were guided by experts in each field of
performance. Of course, the economics of change was
discussed at every step and all lathiyals made it clear that
they did not have the means to enter any training program.
Design of the Project
The project has been designed in three phases covering a
14/15 month period. The different phases are:
• Phase One: Brain-storming session: The idea is to bring
practitioners from all over Bangladesh for a final brain-
storming workshop to Dhaka where extensive
documentation of each group’s performance would be
carried out. Also SLK sessions would be organized to
garner information from the IK experts through the
‘mapping of collective memory’ still reposited in them
in the form of myths, riddles, and songs about lathikhela.
• Phase two: Follow-up workshops: Sharing interactions
will lead to a follow-up workshops where 20 young
practitioners of lathikhela will be trained in:
i. Body-fitness
ii. Acrobatics
iii. Dance
Restructuring Tradition 261 262 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

iv. Martial Arts declining. It is strongly believed that with only a small
v. Pedagogy of Lathikhela intervention these arts can be restructed not just to regain
their former glory but also develop in a way consonant to
vi. Dholbadon – drum playing
the needs of a post-modern world. It is very fortunate that
With the collaboration of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the apex policy-making
we then plan to send this team to various areas of Bangladesh, body dealing with culture, has agreed to partner such a
to strengthen local ‘lathikhela’ groups. From January 2010 project, thus giving it national status and prestige. This
onwards there will be training camps at several District impetus will certainly help in a country-wide diffusion of
Headquarters. the benefits gained through this project.
• Phase three: Competitions: The final phase of the project It is hoped that with this year-long program a sustainable
is to organize Divisional competitions from which groups development of lathikhela will gain its own momentum and
will be chosen to perform in a Grand ‘Lathi Mela’ in see the growth of its practice throughout the country.
December 2010 in Dhaka.
Note: The above paper will be presented through a power-point
Goal of the Project presentation including audio-visual inputs, requiring a sound-system
• It is strongly believed that with the inputs of ‘pedagogical and projector to be plugged to a laptop.
knowledge’ provided by experts of various spheres of
performance included in this traditional art form,
Lathikhela can be projected nationally and
internationally as the National Martial Art of Bangladesh
thereby gaining recognition for an indigenous
performance of the country.
• Also, practitioners of the art, when trained can gain
financially both by getting more commissions to perform
and by being part of enterprises connected to their art
i.e. opening schools to teach the art.
• Lastly, this project will generate an interest in ‘Lathikhela’
amongst the new generation thus ensuring continuity.
Conclusion
Bangladesh is a treasure trove of indigenous performances.
Unfortunately, only due to lack of resources, these arts are

Our Contributors
Abid Hussain : Eminent Author, Scholar and Diplomat.
Executive Chairman, Chancellor of the Rai University at
Raipur (Chattisgarh). Professor Emeritus at the Indian
Institute of Foreign Trade (IITF). He is a member of the
Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, and B.P. Koirala
Foundation, Kathmandu. He has been a member of the
Indian Administrative Service. Dr. Hussain was for nine years
Special Rapporteur to UN on Freedom of Opinion and
Expression. He also served on the ‘Democracy and
Development’, and was a member of the Constitution Review
Commission set up by the Government of India. He was a
member of Prasar Bharti Board till April 2001. He is now a
member of Asiatic Society, New York.
Abhi N. Subedi : Professor, Writer, Folklore Research
Scholar, Columnist, Playwright, and Theatre Director. He
is a scholar and expert in folklore documentation. This genius
of a writer has been closely associated with FOSWAL for
more than a decade and has held important positions in
different organizations. Prof. Subedi is recipient of many
honours and literary awards. He has many research
publications, in Nepali and English. Currently he is working
on a research project for FOSWAL. He is an honoured
Member of the Think Tank of FOSWAL.
Abul Ahsan Choudhury : The senior most Professor of the
Department of Bengali at the Islamic University, Kushtia,
264 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Bangladesh. He studied at Dhaka University where he
specialized in Bengali literature and obtained a Ph.D. He
has been teaching at the graduate and post-graduate levels
for almost thirty two years. Dr. Choudhury is primarily an
essayist and a researcher, his principal research interest is in
folklore, mystic literature and 19th Century society and
literature. His works on mystic baul poet Fakir Lalon Shain,
Kangal Harinath and Mir Mosharraf Hossain have been
acknowledged widely. He has a number of research articles
besides seventy books in Bengali. He was the Editor of
“Lokashitya Patrika” and has won Lalon Award-2000.
Ajeet Cour : Well-known fiction writer of India, is the spirit
behind the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature.
She is a visionary who envisioned ideas of cultural connectivity
and peace in the SAARC region way back in 1986, fighting
her way through beaurocratic mindset, and got visas for ten
writers from Pakistan. The first-ever Conference of Indian
and Pakistani Writers and Intellectuals and Cultural Activists
was held in New Delhi in September 1987, opening new
vistas of people-to-people contacts, bringing the intelligentsia
from both countries together to raise ‘people’s voice’ for peace
in the region. This was the first time after Partition of the
country in 1947 that the writers set foot on Indian soil with
dignity, to talk peace, and to exchange their creative writings
in the three-day mega event.
Thus was launched the idea that cultural connectivity is the
most important and most vital component of any dialogue
in the SAARC region, the idea which eventually was adapted
by the SAARC Secretariat, amending their Charter and
including ‘Culture’ as an important bridge between the
countries of the SAARC region.
Our Contributors 265
Thus Ajeet Cour’s vision in ‘FOSWAL’ emerged the first
and the only non-govenment organisation working in the
specific area of culture, for creating cultural connectivity
through a Think Tank of Intellectuals and Writers, Creative
Fraternity and Peace Activists, who have common sensitivities
and common concerns for the socio-cultural-political-tribal
gender issues of the region.
One of the most important Punjabi writers. She has 19
collections of short stories, novelettes and novels, besides
creative translations of fiction and poetry and numerous
articles, to her credit. She writes in Punjabi and is the recipient
of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award and has been
honoured with the national honour of Padma Shree. Widely
translated into several Indian and foreign languages, Ajeet
Cour’s forte lies in the passion and commitment she brings
to bear on everything she takes up–from creative writing to
cultural activism and from preservation of historical heritage
to the conservation of environment.
Abdul Khaliq Rashid : Eminent Poet and Scholar. First
Secretary in the Embassy of Afghanistan, New Delhi. Was
one of the two first-ever delegates in FOSWAL’s SAARC
Writers Conference in April 2000, along with fellow poet
Lalzad.
Anungla Aier : Worked as a lecturer of social anthropology.
Currently working as the Director of Women’s Studies
Centre, Nagaland University. Her research interests are
Gender, Oral Traditions and Folklore; Culture, Ethnicity
and Identity Studies. Author of many books.
Azizuddin Ahmadzada Panjshiri : An eminent Scholar and
Diplomat, with several outstanding achievements in giving
shape to policies of the Government of Afghanistan, has been
266 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Head of Foreign Trade Department, Ministry of Commerce
and Head of International Affairs Department at the Office
of the President of the Republic of Afghanistan. Has been
participating in International seminars, symposia and
conferences. He participated in the SAARC Folklore Festival
as a Special Representative of Secretary General of SAARC
Secretariat, Excellency Dr. Sheel Kant Sharma.
Bhagvandas Patel : Renowned Scholar of Tribal Folklore and
Literature, Author and Documentation Expert of Folklore
Culture. Presently the Honorary Director, Adivasi Akademi,
Vadodara, India. Earlier associated with many folklore
projects in Gujarat and other states. Authored many books,
cassettes, publications. Recipient of many prestigious awards
including Vanvasi Sahitya Samman, 2002. An activist for
the welfare of tribals, particularly the Bhils, he is revered by
them as their Guru.
B. N. Goswami : A distinguished Art Historian and Scholar.
Leading authority on Indian art. His work, especially in the
area of Pahari Painting, is widely regarded as the best on the
subject so far. Among his publications are: Pahari Painting:
The Family as the Basis of Style; Painters at the Sikh Court;
Essence of Indian Art; Wonders of a Golden Age; Pahari
Masters: Court Painters of Northern India; Indian Costumes
in the Collection of the Calico Museum of Textiles; Nainsukh of
Guler : A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill State; and
Painted Visions: The Goenka Collection of Indian Paintings.
C. M. Bandhu : Folklore Scholar, Editor and Writer.
Completed education and Ph.D. in Nepali Linguistics from
Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Founder Head of Central
Department of Linguistics in Tribhuvan University. Founder
Member of Linguistic Society of Nepal and then the
Our Contributors 267
President. Conducted extensive Folklore field research and
founded many organizations for children’s literature and
Nepali Folklore Society. Compiled, edited and published
many research articles and books in the field of folklore,
culture and education and children’s literature. Winner of
many national and international awards.
Chinmaya R. Gharekhan : Special envoy of India for West
Asia and Middle East Peace Process since 2005. He is also
the President of the Trust of Indira Gandhi National Centre
for the Arts. He has held the prestigious posts of Under-
Secretary-General, United Nations Special Coordinator in
Occupied Palestinian Territory (1997–1999), Under-
Secretary-General and Senior Advisor to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations (1993–1997) and
Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the
United Nations in New York (1986-1992). He was advisor
for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister of India Smt. Indira
Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi (New Delhi – 1980-1981
& 1982-1986). Shri Gharekhan also served as the Joint
Secretary (Director General) of the Division dealing with
Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan in the Foreign Ministry (New
Delhi – 1981-1982). He was Ambassador/Permanent
Representative of India to the United Nations in Geneva
(1977-1980), Ambassador of India in Hanoi (Vietnam,
1975-1976), and Ambassador/Chairman of International
Commission for Supervision and Control (Laos – 1973-
1975), and Counsellor, Indian Embassy, Belgrade (1971-
1973). He was appointed to the Indian Foreign Service in
April 1958 and served in Indian Embassies in Cairo (Egypt)
and Kinshasa (Congo); Proficient in languages such as
English, French, Hindi, Gujarati, Arabic, and Serbo-Croat,
Shri Gharekhan is also the author of the book “The Horseshoe
268 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
Table : An Inside View of the United Nations Security Council”.
K. Satchidanandan : former Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, is
a leading and widely respected Indian poet who writes in
Malayalam as well as in English. Also a literary critic,
translator and editor of repute. He is the Editor of
FOSWAL's literary journal 'Beyond Borders,' has edited
several anthologies published by FOSWAL. A monumental
scholar and literary genius, Satchidanandan has 22
collections of poetry, 16 collections of translations of poetry,
18 works of literary criticism, 4 plays and 3 travelogues to
his credit. He has won 24 awards at regional and international
levels and has books in 18 languages including German,
French, Italian and Arabic. He was Language Policy
Consultant to the Ministry of Human Resource Department,
Government of India. He is an honoured Member of the
Think Tank of FOSWAL.
Lubna Marium : General Secretary, ‘Shadhona – A Center
for Advancement of South Asian Dance and Music’, is a
dancer-researcher-writer. Though a dancer, Lubna’s artistic
endeavors have taken a path beyond the rituals of artistic
expression and entered the realms of search for Creative
Unity. She has traveled from her early training in an avant-
garde style of dance taught at Bulbul Lalit Kala Academy of
Dhaka, in the early sixties, to later train in Bharatnatyam
and Manipuri; ultimately finding refuge in Robindro Nritto,
a fusion of dance styles promulgated under the inspired
guidance of the Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. She
has taken up the study of Sanskrit and has studied Natyasastra
under Dr. Radhavallabha Tripathi. For the last two decades
she has also been working tirelessly in promoting music and
dance of South Asia through her organization ‘Shadhona’.
Mamang Dai : Poet, novelist and journalist, is one of the
Our Contributors 269
exciting new voices in English to emerge from North-East
India. She was a correspondent for the Sentinel, The Telegraph
and the Hindustan Times. A former member of the Indian
Administrative Service, she left it to pursue a career in
writing, traveled extensively and has published numerous
articles, poems and short stories in various journals. She is
the author of Arunachal Pradesh : The Hidden Land which
received the State’s first annual Verrier Elwin Award, 2003,
Reprint 2009 (Penguin). Her other books include The
Legends of Pensem, Mountain Harvest - the Food of Arunachal
Pradesh, River Poems and two illustrated books of folklore-
The Sky Queen and Once upon a Moon time. Dai currently
is the General Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society
and Member, North East Writers Forum (NEWF). Dai lives
in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
Molly Kaushal : Is a Professor at the Indira Gandhi National
Centre for the Arts. She is currently heading the Janapada
Sampada Division of the Centre devoted to the study of
cultural heritage, folklore and lifestyle studies. She was trained
in folklore the Moscow State University, Moscow, where she
presented her thesis on Russian and Punjabi Folklore. Her
present research is on the Gaddi Community of Himachal
Pradesh, India. Her work explores the interrelationship
between nature, ecology, social structure, lifestyle, worldview,
cosmology and artistic manifestations. Her monograph
Landscaping the Divine; Spatial and Temporal Process among
the Gaddis is in the final stages of completion. She has
conceptualized and organized several national and
international conferences, seminars and workshops on
chanted narratives and other performative traditions of rural,
tribal and diverse religious communities including Sikhism
and Islam. She has published several research papers and
270 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
edited many books which include Chanted Narratives – The
Living Katha Vachana Tradition; Folklore Public Sphere and
Civil Society, (co-edited with M.D. Muthukumarswamy);
Journeys: Heroes, Pilgrims, Explorers (co-edited with Geeti
Sen); and 8 volumes on different styles of Folk Painting
Traditions in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh under the
project Handicrafts and Intangible Heritage of India. She
has currently initiated three new projects at the IGNCA
‘Rama Katha in Oral Narratives and Folk Performative
Tradition of India’; ‘Aqeedat ke Rang: Expression of Devotion
in Islam’; ‘Anhad Nad: Spiritual Musical Heritage of Punjab’.
Piyush Daiya : Editor, Author, Translator. Has won several
awards including : Padmashri Mukutdhar Pandey Puraskar
from Chattisgarh for outstanding contributions in the field
of editing, Pardesi Puraskar from Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi.
His magnus opus ‘Lok’ is a milestone book of folklore.
Currently working with Lalit Kala Akademi.
Rakhshanda Jalil : Rakhshanda Jalil is a prolific young writer
and a brilliant scholar. Has edited two collections of short
stories: Urdu Stories, and Neither Night Nor Day. Has also six
important works of translations to her credit. She has written
a collection of essays on the little known monuments of
Delhi, called Invisible City. Working as Director, Media and
Culture at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and co-edits
Third Frame, a journal brought out by the Jamia.
Raza Rumi : Based in Lahore; prolific commentator on socio-
political and cultural issues of Pakistan; academically trained
in Economics and Social Development, he writes in Urdu
and English in regular columns of The Friday Times, The
News, Dawn and Beyond Borders; editor of a cyber magazine
Pak Tea House and publishes Lahore Nama; self-taught
painter.
Our Contributors 271
Selina Hossain : A distinguished fiction writer, essayist and
cultural activist of Bangladesh. With 55 books to her credit,
she mainly writes novels which examine basic humanitarian
issues, drawn from history, folk tradition and contemporary
events. Her outstanding research works : On the girl child in
Bangladesh, Gender Glossary, Women Empowerment : Politics
and Movement and Women of Bangladesh and Society. Has
been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including
the Bangla Academy Literary Award. Has attended many
international Seminars and has worked as Director of
Research, Compilation and Folklore Division, Bangla
Academy, for several decades.
Sitakant Mahapatra : Is a major voice in modern Indian
poetry. Anthologies of his poems have been published in all
the Indian languages and in thirteen non-Indian languages
including Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese,
Arabic and Hebrew. Among the awards he has received are
the Bharatiya Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi Award and the
Kabir Samman. He has been recognized as the foremost
interpreter of the oral poetry of Indian Tribes and UNESCO
has published a volume of oral poetry titled They Sing Life,
edited by him. A noted social anthropologist, Oxford
University Press has published two of his major works. He
has been a Fellow in the Universities of Cambridge and
Harvard. Soka University, Tokyo conferred its ‘Highest
Honour’ on him in a special Convocation. The President of
India conferred on him the Padma Bhushan in 2003.
Shamsuzzaman Khan : Professor, Folklore Research Scholar,
Editor and Author. Completed study in Delhi University.
Held different academic and non-academic positions of
eminence in various universities, organizations and
Government Departments in Bangladesh and other
272 Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region
countries. Attended and organized many seminars, symposia
and workshops in Bangladesh and other countries. Edited
and published articles, research papers, and books on Folklore
and other contemporary subjects. Winner of many
prestigious awards for Folklore Research and Literary and
Cultural contributions including Bangla Academy Literary
Award.
Suryakanthi Tripathi : Retired from the Indian Foreign
Service with her last assignment as India’s Ambassador to
Spain. During her career she has served in Belgium, Pakistan,
France, Nepal, Bangladesh and USA. In India, she has
headed the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of
External Affairs and has been Director General of the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations. She has written for
newspapers and magazines on international trade and
economic matters, and science and technology issues. Her
special interest is in theatre and her play, Crying for
Kurukshetra, was produced in Delhi. It was translated into
Manipuri and presented by the eminent theatre director,
Ratan Thiyam. The play also won the first prize in 2004 in
the Philippines for the best play by a woman playwright.
She is interested in painting and has participated in several
exhibitions, including in the Zurich Art Fair in 2007. She
has curated the Photo Exhibition, “I AM — Women of India
from Vedic Times to Today” held at the Indira Gandhi
Memorial Trust, New Delhi in November 2008. She is
Managing Partner of Nasadiya Arts, a firm that does websites
and design work, and is the Managing Trustee of India
Foundation which runs a free medical clinic in Delhi for the
homeless.