By Hiranmayee Das Gogoi
If human being is the greatest creation of god
then music is the greatest creation of human being. Music breaks all
divisions of race religion, cast and creed. Mythology refers to music being
brought to the people of Assam from a place of celestial beings. Assamese
music is as ancient as the Purana, Mahabharata etc .It started its
maiden journey in the days of king Baan, when princess Usha and her friend
Chitralekha sang and danced together at Agnigarh (presentaly situated in
Tezpur, Assam). Chitralekha is said to be the first artist of Matyaloka (earth).So
the music of Assamese people which is so grand and special in its origin, thus
dates back to the time which history can hardly reach. The music of Assam is
said to have been inspired by the beauty and magical touch of nature of its
land and from its highly cultured and resourceful people. The present form of
music of this state can be said to have acquired as a result of the historical
development. Along its journey through the sands of time, music of Assam
adopted and assimilated the cultural sentiment and aspiration of different
small and large ethnic societies that inhabited Assam from time to time. The
entire class of songs possesses many kinds of melodic variations. The vibrant
festivals of the state are the prime occasions of singing these songs. This
write up is just a humble endeavor to explore some variety of songs which are
found in different form of Assamese language. Here some of the varieties are
verbal and run from mouth to mouth by common people and renders day to day life
chores a strain of folk feeling. On the other hand some of varieties are
preserved in manuscripts and some of them have the classical characteristic.
The
domain of Assamese music is as vast and deep as an ocean. This article has been
delving only an inch of it and has presented just a few elements of it. The
famous songs from our different tribes are not included here.
Assamese
songs can be divided into three categories:
1.
Folk
2.
Classical
3.
Modern
Folk:
“The folk song has been well defined as a lyric poem with melody originating
anonymously in times past among unlettered folk and remaining in currency for a
considerable time, usually centuries.”(By Cassel’s Encyclopedia of literature,
vol.1.p.225). Assamese folk song is very rich in the sense of literature,
varieties and an esthetic value. The seasonal festivals are the most vibrant
occasions for singing these songs. According to prof. Hemanta Kr Sarmah,
Assamese folk song can be divided into four different divisions. These are as
follows:
1.
Song of Festivity
2.
Work song
3.
Ballad or Malita
4.
Miscellaneous
1.Songs
of festivity can be divided in to two parts; these are ‘mythological and
profane’. Mythological songs are sung by
both male and female in different festivals. The songs that are sung by women
are likely in praise of Goddesses to get rid of diseases and epidemics, long
life for husband, for good wealth etc. These are Sheetala aair naam, Chora
brator geet, Mansa pujar geet, Tulsi geet, Lakhimi aadorar geet,
Dihanaam etc. Some of the songs are sung by male called Bhakat .These
songs are sung by playing khanjori(consists of many cymbals)
to beg for food and money. These are called Dehbisaror geet,Tukari geet
etc. Haidang geet of Kasari tribe also a kind of devotional song
of Assam. Songs of Krishna Janmastami and Gusai naam ( ghur andhokare shila boroxile e…) are some
mythological songs which are very famous in entire Assam. Jikir and Jari
are also famous devotional songs of Assamese Muslim community with esthetic
value. The famous Holi geet; (Gunjore Madhukare….,popular in Barpeta)
can be considered as devotional song of festival Holi.
Village elders move from household to
households singing carols, also in the style of bihu geets, called husoris. The singers are traditionally Welcomed
into the courtyard where they sing the husori songs and perform a ring
dance. At the end of the performance they are thanked with an offering dakshina (contribution) of paan (betel leaf) tamul (bettle nut) in a xorai (brass
dish with stand), whereupon the singers bless the household for the coming year.
These devotional songs are playing a crucial part in Assamese music.
In Profane part the heart throb of Assamese
music ‘Bihu’geet and dance can be included.. Bihugeet is sung in
spring festivals. . The Bihu songs are very close to the heart of
Assamese people. It is seasonal and are sung by young boys and girls. Basically
juvenility is expressed by the young boys and girls in Bihu. Bihu songs
are accompanied by the musical instruments like dhol, taal , pepa , gogona
etc. The young girls wear golden muga mekhela-chadar and boys
were white dhoti and chapkon (shirt) to dance in bihu songs. The dance is also
known as Bihu dance. Bihu is the most popular form of music in Assam.
The
marriage ceremony is also a renowned occasion of singing. The marriage is known
as Biya in Assamese, and the songs of this occasion are known as Biyanaam. There are three kinds of Biyanaam
found in Assam. One is for the universal ceremony marriage .Here all the aayati
(singers) flourish every step of the ceremony and give advices, make fun, pour
the emotions and make the ceremony culturally rich. Other two kinds of Biyanaam
are singing on the occasion of first maturation period of a girl child and the
other one is in the marriage ceremony of a frog. A frog marriage ceremony is
celebrated when there is drought in an area. Through these songs, singer prays
to god for rain and proper harvest.
2.
Work songs: - from Cassells’s Encyclopedia we get “any activity, in fact in
which rhythmic movement was called for, might readily and easily give rise to
melody and song, as it still does amongst the laboring classes in many part of
the world”. Similarly in the Assamese community the manual labours sounds some
rhythmic words like ‘hei joor, o’ heiya’ etc to improve the strength of
workers. There are some other work songs like songs of cowboy, songs of fisher
men, songs of boat race, lullaby, nangeli geet (farmers song), xaktula
geet ,kuhiyar pera geet, mohohogeet ( mosquito drive out) songs of elephant catching, ranuwar geet
(songs of soldier) etc.
These songs work as catalyst to work by incising the spirit of the worker. The
famous Assamese lullaby is ‘aamaare moina huboye, barite bogori ruboye…’
3.
Ballad or Malita :-A ballad is a lyrical poem usually sung to accompany music.
It is usually a short poem which could be sung or simply narrated and read.
Assamese music is flourished by uncountable ballads. It is running from
prehistoric period. The Assamese ballads popularly known as Malitas are based
on historic and prehistoric stories. The pathos (birah) is its main essence.
Ballads of Nahar, Janagavoru, Moniram Dewan, Joymoti, Mulagabhoru, Lachit etc
are “Historic Ballads”.
Ballads
of Phulkonwar – Monikanwar, Dushmanta – Sakuntala,Tejimola, Beula-Lakhindar etc
are pre-historic or imaginary. The birth story of different Ragas which are
applied in Oja-pali, Lookgeet, Borgeet etc also found in the form of beautiful
Ballads.
Miscellaneous:
- In this section Bongeet , Kamrupi lokgeet, Goalporiya lok geet
can be included .These Folk songs are very famous in both upper and lower part
of Assam. Seasonal songs (Baramahi geet),Kuchan geet ,Juna or Dhemeliya
geet etc are also part of Assamese folk songs. Bongeets are outcome of
some spontaneous feeling of young boys towards the opposite sex. The pathos or Birah
is the main theme of Goalpariya lokgeet
.The bonding of a married woman generally expressed here. In kamrupi lok
geet singers express natural sceneries, day to day life, the bonding of
woman with the family, story of Ramayana – Mahabharata etc. Chah
masdur (tea garden labour) is a big branch of Assamese family. Their dance
and song is called Jhumur. In it both men and women participate of the ages. It
involves the community and performs as a group dance. It is also a seasonal art
form. Durgabor was a great lyricist of 15th century. His
songs are known by his name as Durgabori’s geet. E joya raghura nandana … ,
Moiu bone jaw swami hei .. etc are his famous songs.
The
classical form of Assamese songs can be divided in to two categories:
- Oja-pali
- Sankari
Sangeet
Oja-pali
:- Ojapali is an ancient musical art of
Assam, which consists of song, drama and dance. Here the Ojha(the lead artist)
perform the art form with the help of some Pali(team of performers).The
performance is based on tales from Ramayana , Mahabharata, Padmapurana
etc.The songs are based on raga which
are similar with the Chajya Pada.At
a time Oja-pali was the main source of entertainment in different
ceremonial functions and festivals of lower Assam. The Ojha and Pali(s) must be
expert in entertaining the audience and sometimes they even involve the
audience to make the performance more interesting. Performers infuse Hara-Gauri
(Lord Shiva and Parvati) as common Assamese couple; who work at paddy fields,
weave cloths, go to river to bring drinking water etc.
Many shades of
the Indian classical dances, like hasta, gati, bhramari and asana,
can be seen in Oja-Pali classical dance of Assam. There is a typical pattern of
dressing for the Ojas as well. He has to wear a pag-jama or a ghuri,
along with bangles, unti, ring and nupur and also has to tie a tangali.
The Oja-Pali dance is again subdivided into three types - Vyasageet Oja,
Suknarayani Oja and Ramayani Oja
Vyasageet
:-
This dance and singing form is mainly a preaching of the Vaishnava culture of Assam. The themes for this music have been adopted from the epic stories of Bhagavata, Mahabharata and Harivamsa and the attire for the chief is slightly different from that of the other Ojas. The leader here wears a long white skirt, a tight fitting jacket, a turban, anklets, and various gold ornaments in the neck, hands and ears.
Suknarayani :-
The hymns for this form of music were composed by an ancient Assamese poet, Sukabi Narayan Dev and are dedicated to the worship of the snake goddess, Manasa. The subject for this dance is the story of Beula and Lakhindar, which mainly deals with the tales of Goddess Manasa. In this case, the attire for the Oja consists of a long skirt (Chapkan), a white Dhoti, a pointed turban and various gold ornaments.
Ramayani :- The costume for this form of dance is similar to that of the Vyasa Oja and the songs sung here actually relate tales from the Ramayana.
This dance and singing form is mainly a preaching of the Vaishnava culture of Assam. The themes for this music have been adopted from the epic stories of Bhagavata, Mahabharata and Harivamsa and the attire for the chief is slightly different from that of the other Ojas. The leader here wears a long white skirt, a tight fitting jacket, a turban, anklets, and various gold ornaments in the neck, hands and ears.
Suknarayani :-
The hymns for this form of music were composed by an ancient Assamese poet, Sukabi Narayan Dev and are dedicated to the worship of the snake goddess, Manasa. The subject for this dance is the story of Beula and Lakhindar, which mainly deals with the tales of Goddess Manasa. In this case, the attire for the Oja consists of a long skirt (Chapkan), a white Dhoti, a pointed turban and various gold ornaments.
Ramayani :- The costume for this form of dance is similar to that of the Vyasa Oja and the songs sung here actually relate tales from the Ramayana.
This
way, though the tales were taken from the great epics the performer mingle the
lyrics with Assam’s folk life. The songs of Oja-pali are based on different
ragas and many of them similar to the Buddhist charyapada, which is
claimed to be the common musical property of east India. But the performance of
Oja-pali is flourished by Assamese folk essence. That is the reason of the popularity
of Oja-pali in Assamese villages.
Sankari
Sangeet:- It is the most systematic and
grammatical musical art of Assam. The creator of this music form is Srimanta
Sankaradeva and his work is further enriched by his disciples Madhavadeva,
Gopal Ata etc. Borgeet, Ankiageet, Naamprasanga, Kirtan-Ghosha are main
singing elements of Sankari Sangeet.
Some
scholars compare the Borgeet with ancient Prabhandha gayan . According to
scholar Golap Mahanta the Astapadi of Gita-Govinda were perhaps the creation of
fully developed stage of the prabhanda type of music. Being possessed of five
Dhatus and six angas, they may rightly be categorized as salagasuda
prabhandhas of the Medini Jati. Written in Sanskrit the Astapadis
were the last and probably the best specimens of prabandha sangita in
the general Indian context. No other musical composition is available today anywhere
in India comparable to the tradition of music represented by the austapadis of
Gita Govinda save the Borgeet by Sankara – Madhava. More than that, the musical
practice Astapadis being no more seen anywhere, the Borgeet of Assam may
with justification be projected as the only leaving reminiscence today of the
ancient probhanda type of music in entire India.
The
uniqueness of Borgeet is also corroborated by its accompanying Talas.
Both in structure and in rhythmic pattern, the Talas of Borgeet
display more complexity than those of Hindustani and Karnataki music. There are
Talas of ten to twenty eight matras(sometimes even more)
comprising of three parts viz. Gaman, Ghat and Chok. In the traditional
style of singing, Borgeet is sung in more than one tala. The special instrument
that is played to keep the rhythm in Borgeet is Khol.
Borgeet and Kirtan-Ghosha
are sung without definite beats. Prasangiya,
Borgeet, Kirtan, Naam Prasanga are used to sing in three different speed of
rhythm. There are very slow (vilamvit laya), medium (madhy laya), high (drut
laya). But the rhythm for Ankia geet remains fixed. The strength of
Sankari Sangeet is its close relation with the devotees of the lord Krishna. Bogeet,
Kirtana-Ghosha and Naam Prasanga are basically used for spiritual
& devotional functions. On the other hand Ankiageet is the are major
ingredient of Ankia Naat. Now a day Borgeet(s) and Ankiageets are popularly used for stage performance and used
in different form of Satriya Dance.
Almost all borgeets were written in
the Brajavali language. Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhabdeva
accepted this language in Ankia geet and Ankia naat also. This
language is not the spoken language of Assam.
Modern:
- The modern era of Assamese music had started from the period of gramophone
record. Prafulla Baruah, Umesh Choudhary, Anandiram Das, , Kirti Nath Sarma Bordoloi , Ambikagiri
Rai Choudhary, Purushutam Das , Joytiprasad Agarwala, Bishnu Prasad Rabha are
the pioneers of the modern Assamese
songs. The modern lyricists at first composed the songs on folk base like Biya
Naam, Borgeet , Gualporia Lokgeet, Kamrupi Lokgeet etc. These are considered as
modern because they are found in Gramophone in recorded form and also in
printed form. Here we get definite lyricists and the songs are known by the
name of the writer. The theme or the subjects of the songs are varying by
progress of the modern civilization. Now it is flowing with its rich varieties
by adding new elements from entire world. But the new lyricist and composer
should remember what Muktinath Bordoloi said,” In creation of tune in music, there
should always be the presence of holy water of classical and folk music,
otherwise it will not touch the hearts of the people .”
References:
1.
Axomiya Lokgeeti Sansayan by Hemantakumar Sarmah
2.
Vyaas Sangeetor Ruprekha by Durgeswar nath oja
3.
Sankari Sangeetar Adhar Grantha by Golap Mahanta
4.
Asamiya Sangeetor Oitijhya by Dr. Birendranath Dutta
*
My heartiest thanks to Dr. Anil Saikia, Principal Moran college*
Author’s
e-mail id is hiranmayeed@gmail.com
Really wonderful write up.. a window to Assamese Music..
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DeleteGreat write up with a meaningful description, nice explanation of music .
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DeleteVery informative and interesting presentation
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