Goalpariya Lokogeet ( Assamese: গোৱালপাৰীয়া লোকগীত) is a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Goalpara Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati. Etymology The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...

, sung to traditional lyrics. It is sung by

goalpariya language Goalpariya is a group of Indo-Aryan dialects spoken in the Goalpara region of Assam, India. Along with Kamrupi, they form the western group of Assamese dialects. The North Bengali dialect is situated to its west, amidst a number of Tibeto- ...

speaking people. It was primarily

Pratima Barua Pandey Pratima Barua Pandey (3 October 1934 – 27 December 2002) was an Indian folk singer from the royal family of Gauripur in Western Assam's Dhubri district. Barua Pandey, a national awardee, best known for her Goalpariya (Koch Rajbongsh ...

, who raised the profile of this hitherto unknown genre of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

nationally in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This genre of music is being kept alive by the

Koch Rajbongshi The Rajbanshi, also Rajbongshi and Koch-Rajbongshi, are peoples from Lower Assam, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, Terai region of eastern Nepal, and Bhutan who have in the past sought an association with the Koch dynasty. Today, they speak ...

community in their music festivals. Currently, albums of Goalpariya songs are released commercially; and Goalpariya musical motifs and instruments are increasingly used in popular music in India. Some noted singers are Bina Das Borthakur, Mini Bhattacharya, Nazmul Hoque, Allauddin Sarkar, Hamida Sarkar, Abdul Jabber, Rahima Begum Kalita ,Ayaan Anisur Etc.

Variants

Goalpariya ''lokgeet'' refers to the lyrical songs of Goalpara that are not associated with religious or rituals. Love is the primary theme of these compositions, but not exclusively. There are various subgenres of this music that differ in the musical mood and themes, of which the ''bhawaiya'' and the ''chatka'' are principal forms, beside ''moishali'' and ''maut'' songs. These songs are often sung in chorus, but they are suited as solos sungs to the sole accompaniment of the ''dotora''.

''
Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has re ...
''

These are songs of love and longing, with the name rooted in the Sanskrit word ''bhava''. They are steeped in seriousness, and the tunes have a plaintive air to them. Love in ''bhawaiya'' songs is not tender and romantic; instead the songs express a longing for a husband or a lover.

''Chatka''

The ''chatka'' songs, in contrast to ''bhawaiya'', are themed not solely on love, and does not have the plaintive seriousness. Instead, they are direct and often flippantly casual. They often depict a special ''dewar-bhauji'' relationship, extra-marital relationships and situations.

Notes

References

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20110628233826/http://www.mapsofindia.com/assam/society/regional-folk-music.html {{refend Goalpara region Assamese folklore Music of Assam

Variants

''Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has re ...''

''Chatka''

See also

Notes

References

''
Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has re ...
''