Folk Music is a vital part of any country. It describes the culture, the life, the history and also the mythology of that culture. Similarly, the folk music of India is the most soulful and melodious thing you will ever hear with its’ exotic melodies. Instruments simplicity of the words used- India being a vast diversified country, gives you a plethora of the finest music.
1. Assam: Bihugeet
Heart-touching and most delightful folk music describing the daily life, about the life in farmland, rural Assam, dreams and love. Bihugeet is generally associated with Bihu dance, which is very tranquil and unwinding.
2. Maharastra: Koli
Koli is the dance of fishermen, which talks about their lives at the sea. The music and the dance are very lively, loud and fast paced.
3. Maharastra: Lavani
Folk music and dance from Maharastra, Lavani is generally performed on foot tapping beats of dholki, and often performed on energetically charged lyrics
4. Nagaland: Zeliang
Primitive style of music, the Zeliang dance talks about the history, romance and the lives of the tribes of Nagaland.
5. Punjab: Bhangra
One of the most lively, effervescent and energetic folk dances of India, Bhangra has not only taken India, but also International audiences by storm. The folk romances always have a narrative, which almost always stirs our heart .
6. Rajasthan: Maand
Maand is the most enriched folk music in India, soulful and expressive, the music speaks on the daily lives in Rajasthan.
7. Tamil Nadu: Nattupura Paatu
This style of folk songs have classical elements and are often accompanied by drums, flutes and shehnais and traditional dance.
8. West Bengal: Baul
Baul is derived from Sanskrit word- ‘Batul’, which means divine inspired insanity and is inspired from Hinduism as well as Sufism and the singers travel for philosophical enlightenment.
9. West Bengal: Bhatiali
Bhatiali is the song of Boatmen; the music is very soulful, melancholic and describe the deeper realizations of life. The subject of the music is Prakti-tatva, the matters of nature.
By: Archa Dave
