Folk music of Haryana has two main forms: classical folk music of Haryana and desi folk music of Haryana (country music of Haryana). They take the form of ballads and pangs of parting of lovers, valor and bravery, harvest and happiness.

History

Haryana is rich in musical tradition and even places have been named after

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

s, for example Charkhi Dadri district has many villages named as Nandyam, Sarangpur, Bilawala, Brindabana, Todi, Asaveri, Jaisri, Malakoshna, Hindola, Bhairvi and Gopi Kalyana.

Folk music

Classical Folk Music of Haryana

The classical form of Haryana music is closely associated with and based on

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

. The

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

has produced a number of kinds of

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 ...

, and has also produced innovations in

. Hindustani classical ragas are used to sing

Alha-Khand The term ''Alha Khand'' is used to refer to poetic works in Hindi which consists of a number of ballads describing the brave acts of two 12th century Banaphar heroes, Alha and Udal, generals working for king Paramardi-Deva (Parmal) of M ...

(1663-1202 CE) about bravery of Alha and Udal, Jaimal Fatta of Maharana Udai Singh II of

Chittor Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghold ...

(Maharana Udai Singh was the son of

Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (IAST: Rāṇā Saṅgrāma Siṃha; c. 1482 – 1528 CE), popularly known as Rana Sanga or Maharana Sanga, was an Indian ruler from the Sisodia dynasty. He ruled Mewar, the traditional territory of Guhilas (Sisodias) in presen ...

and the father of famous braveheart

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap (c. 9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), was a king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty. Pratap became a folk hero for his military resistance against the expansionism of the Mughal Empire under A ...

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

Teej Teej ( ne, तीज, Tīja, translit-std=ISO) is the generic name for a number of Hindu festivals that are celebrated by women and girls. and welcome the monsoon season and are celebrated primarily by girls and women, with singing, dancing, ...

festive songs, Phaag songs of Phalgun month of Holi and

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

songs.

Variations

Mewati gharana is a musical apprenticeship tribe of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

Mewat Mewat is a historical region of Haryana and Rajasthan states in northwestern India. The loose boundaries of Mewat generally include Hathin tehsil and Nuh district of Haryana, Alwar ( Tijara, Kishangarh, Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh, Kathumar te ...

region. Known for being Pandit Jasraj's musical lineage, the gharana was founded by brothers Utd. Ghagge Nazir Khan and Utd. Wahid Khan () of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It ...

in the late 19th century at the Jodhpur court. Consequently, it is also known (though less commonly) as the Jodhpur Gharana. With its own distinct aesthetics, stylings, practices, and repertoire, the gharana emerged as an offshoot of the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, t ...

and Qawwal Bacchon (Delhi) musical traditions. The gharana gained visibility in the late-20th century after Pt. Jasraj popularized the gayaki.

Desi/country music of Haryana

The country-side or

desi DESI may refer to * Desorption electrospray ionization * Drug Efficacy Study Implementation * Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a scientific research instrument for conducting spectrographic ...

(native) form of Haryanvi music is based on Raag Bhairvi, Raag Bhairav, Raag Kafi, Raag Jaijaivanti, Raag Jhinjhoti and Raag Pahadi and used for celebrating community bonhomie to sing seasonal songs,

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, ceremonial songs (wedding, etc.) and related religious legendary tales such as Puran Bhagat.

Ahir Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

s also use melodic Raag Pilu on a scale using seven semi-tones. Kissa folklores of bravery and love such as Nihalde Sultan, Sati Manorama, Jai Singh ki Mrityu, Saran de, etc. are some of the most popular folklores.

Rasa lila The rasalila (), also rendered the raslila or the ras dance, is part of the traditional story of Krishna described in Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavata Purana and literature such as the Gita Govinda, where he dances with Radha and the gopi ...

and "Ragini" are folk theatrical performance Haryana. The Ragini form of theater was popularised by Lakhmi Chand.Manorma Sharma, 2007
Musical Heritage of India
Page 65. Singing is a great way of demolishing societal differences as folk singers are highly esteemed and they are sought after and invited for events, ceremonies and special occasions regardless of the caste or status. Songs are based on day to day themes and injecting earthy humor enlivens the feel of the songs. Haryanvi dances have fast energetic movements, and popular dance forms are Khoriya, Chaupaiya, Loor, Been, Ghoomar, Dhamal, Phaag,

Sawan Sāwaṇ or Sāuṇ ( pa, ਸਾਵਣ, ਸਾਉਣ, ) is the fifth month in the Nanakshahi calendar. Many Indian calendars started in different eras such as Shaka Calendar (national calendar of India) traditional Vikrama as well as the Nana ...

and

Gugga Gogaji (also known as Goga, Jahar Veer Gogga, Gugga, Gugga Pir, Gugga Jaharpir, Gugga Chohan, Gugga Rana, Gugga Bir and Raja Mandlik) is a folk deity, worshipped in the northern states of India especially in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Hary ...

. Loor, which means girl in bangar area of Haryana, is performed in the form of questions and answers format by the girls in traditional haryanvi attire in the month of

phalguna Phalguna ( sa, फाल्गुन ) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Phalguna is twelfth month of the year, and corresponds with February/March in the Gregorian calendar.Henderson, Helene. (Ed.) (2005) ' ...

(spring) during the

festival to marks the arrival of pleasant spring season and sowing of the

rabi crop Rabi crops or rabi harvest, also known as winter crops, are agricultural crops that are sown in winter and harvested in the spring in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The complimentary of the rabi crop is the kharif crop, which is grown after ...

s.loor dance
/ref> Young girls and women usually sing entertaining and fast seasonal, love, relationship and friendship related songs such as Phagan (song for eponymous season/month), Katak (songs for the eponymous season/month), Samman (songs for the eponymous season/month), bande-bandi (male-female duet songs), (songs of sharing heartfelt feelings among female friends). Older women usually sing devotional Mangal Geet (auspicious songs) and ceremonial songs such as

Bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

, Bhat (wedding gift to the mother of bride or groom by her brother),

Sagai Khakas (also known as Xakas, endonym: хакас тілі, ''khakas tįlį'', тадар тілі, ''tadar tįlį'') is a Turkic language spoken by the Khakas people, who mainly live in the southwestern Siberian Khakas Republic, in Russia. The ...

, Ban (Hindu wedding ritual where pre-wedding festivities starts), Kuan-Poojan (a custom that is performed to welcome the birth of male child by worshiping the well or source of drinking water),

Sanjhi Sanjhi is a festival to the namesake goddess, mainly by women and girls in parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Sanjhi Sanjhi is the name of a mother goddess, after whom images are made of mud and molded into various shapes suc ...

and Holi festival. All these are inter-caste songs, which are fluid in nature, are never personalized for specific caste. These are sung collectively by women from different strata, castes, dialects so these songs do change fluidly in dialect, style, words, etc. This adoptive style can be seen from adoption of tunes of Bollywood movie songs into Haryanvi songs. Despite this fluid nature, haryanvi songs have a distinct style of their own.

Traditional musicians and artists

The folk music of Haryana has been spread by the Bhats, Saangis and Jogis. Baje Bhagat, Bharatchandra kaushik,

Dayachand Mayna Dayachand Mayna was a poet of Haryanvi language. He is one of the important poets and folklore artists Haryana had ever produced. He was born on 10 March 1915, in a Valmiki caste family in Mayna village of Rohtak district of Haryana (erstwhile ...

, Jat Mehar Singh Dahiya and Lakhmi Chand are some popular early era Haryana artists.

Music Instruments

Music is made using many traditional instruments

Sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It i ...

, Harmonium, Chimta, Dhadd,

Dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in ''qawwali'', ''kirtan'', ''lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differen ...

Manjeera The taal, manjira (also spelled manjīrā or manjeera), jalra, karatala, kartal or gini is a pair of clash cymbals, originating in the Indian subcontinent, which make high-pitched percussion sounds. In its simplest form, it consists of a pai ...

, Khartal,

Damaru A damaru ( sa, डमरु, ; Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Ta ...

, Duggi, Daf,

Bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the ''Ri ...

, Been,

Ghungroo A ghungroo ( hi, घुँघरू, ur, ), also known as ghunghroo or ghunghru or ghungur or ghungura (Assamese, Bengali and Odia) or Chilanka or Salangai or Gejje (in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada respectively), is one of many small metallic ...

, Dhak,

Gharha Ghara is an earthen pot made in India and Pakistan. It is used for storing drinking water and keeping it cool. The word ''ghara'' has cognates in Pahari, Bengali and Odia languages that can all be traced to the Sanskrit word ''ghaṭa'' meanin ...

(by adding rubber cover on top of the pitcher),

Thali Thali (meaning "plate"), Bhojanam (meaning "full meal") or Chakluk is a round platter used to serve food in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Thali is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various di ...

(beaten with a stick to make music) and

Shankha A Shankha (conch shell) has religious ritual importance in Hinduism. It is the shell of any suitable sea snail which had a hole made for the performer's embouchure. In Hindu history, the shankha is a sacred emblem of The Hindu preserver god V ...

. Other instruments are: *

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

with an ancient history * Been - two bamboo pipes fixed in a gourd, associated with

snake charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous ...

s * Iktara - a

stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the s ...

with one string, made from a piece of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, b ...

with a gourd at one end. Associated with the Jogis. The iktara's two-stringed relative is the dotara. *

- a bow instrument, used both in Haryana's folk and classical music *

Shankh A Shankha (conch shell) has religious ritual importance in Hinduism. It is the shell of any suitable sea snail which had a hole made for the performer's embouchure. In Hindu history, the shankha is a sacred emblem of The Hindu preserver god V ...

- a sacred wind instrument, associated with

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Prese ...

Shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.Sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...

Sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

and Iktara The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Sarangi.jpg,

Shehnai.jpg,

Pakhawaj The pakhavaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, the oldest version of double sided drums and its descendants are mridangam of Southern India and kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia and other South Asia ...

Dholak.jpg,

Manjeera or Taal.jpg,

khartal1.jpg, A pair of Khartal blocks Tambour Damaru (British Museum) (8697430998).jpg,

Duggi1.JPG,

Duggi (drum) The duggi, dugi or dukkar, is an Indian drum, with a kettle drum shape, played with fingers and the palm of the hand. It is used in baul music of the Bengal/Bangladesh region. It is also employed in folk music of Uttar Pradesh (duggi) and Punjab ( ...

Mechendaf.jpg, A woman playing a Daf Hariprasad Chaurasia in Concert.jpg,

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...

playing the

beeninstrument.jpg, Been Schlangenbeschwörer-Delhi-1973.jpg, A

Snake Charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous ...

playing Been Ghungroo.jpg, A pair of

s Namrta Rai - Ghungroos.jpg, Danseuse with 400

s Nagara, a percussion instrument, Rajasthan.jpg, Nagara are kettledrums which accompany ''

shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.Dhak Kumda and satti.JPG,

is made by adding rubber cover on top of the pitcher Vegetarian Curry.jpeg,

is used to serve food and beaten with a stick to make music Carved Conch.jpg, Carved Vamavarta

s, ''circa'' 11-12th century, Pala period