Report from Rajasthan Komal Kothari (This article is based on a field report sent to the NCPA by Komal Kothari at the end of a tour of survey and documentation of Rajasthan folklore undertaken by the Rupayan Sansthan and the NCPA.) The Sirohi district is one of the smallest administrative units of Rajasthan ( 26 districts in all) . The district has five tehsils: Abu Road, Pind­ wada, Sirohi, Reodhar and Shivganj. The district can be easily divided into two geographical areas: mountains and fields. Abu and Pindwada are moun­ tainous whereas the rest of the three tehsils consist of field areas. The fields abound with rivers and rivulets and the flora in both the areas is rich. The mountain region is mainly inhabited by the Garasia and Bhil tribes . The Abu tehsil has a large number of Garasias with a small percentage of Bhils, whereas Pindwada has a Bhil population with small clusters of Garasias. The Garasias can be divided into four hierarchical groups. I am 'LGarasia girls 15 Garasia woman in dance form not yet very certain about the inbuilt differences in their social organisation. Similarly, the Bhils can also be divided into three groups: Gameti Bhil, Thori Bhil and Mewada Bhil. The Thori Bhils mainly live in the lowland areas whereas the Gametis live in the mountains. The Bhils and Garasias have quite dis­ tinctive characterics. The field areas provide a different picture. There are a lot of castes and professional groups. Carpenters, potters, iron-smiths, cobblers, leather workers are intermingled with the farming caste clusters. The area has a sizeable population of the Bania caste (business community) whose members work in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnatak and other southern states. This multi-coloured population poses a different problem from the point of view of folklore collection . Going by my past experience, I tried to concentrate 16 on professional caste singers and certain farming castes. The Reodhar tehsil had an important cluster· of the Koli caste, which actually seems to be a tribe. Mainly engaged in farming, the Kalis also venture into Gujarat. They appear to have a different musical lore and are a bit difficult to work with. Similarly, in this area, we find that the Kalbis form the main stock of the farm­ ing community. The Sirohi tehsil has the Kalbi and Raika as the main farming or cattle-rearing groups. Here we also find the presence of the Meena tribe which becomes a dominant group in the Shivganj tehsil. Another important caste is the Meghwal or Bhambhi (leather workers) . From the point of view of musical lore, we can safely work amongst the lower castes who have preserved the traditional material with them. Consequently we adhered to this approach. We were interested in recording the Raika, Koli and Kalbi people but due to social restrictions we could not go very far. Another caste like the Sargara or Hiragar also has an interest­ ing tradition of music, but we failed to mobilise women's groups from this caste. Garasia dance It is interesting to take note of the professional caste singers in this district. The Garasias, as such, do not have any group attached to it as pro­ fessional singers. The whole community, the child, the young and the old, sing and dance. It is important to note that this society has tried to develop and create a type of music in which every member can participate. No spe­ cialised practice is visualized to become a musician in an artistic sense. Naturally such a musical style will have to base itself on a limited number of notes and simple rhythm patterns which essentially remain subjugated to the 'word of poetry'. However, we found that the drummers have a special role to play. It is the general practice of the Garasias to dance to the accompaniment of a drum (kundi or nagari), thali and sometimes a bansali. The main drummer dances with the big drum and also accomplishes acrobatic feats. The drum depends on the main beats whereas the kundi provides the integral beat patterns. The bansali, as an instrument, is typical of the Garasias. It is a transverse flute (small in length), and closed at both the ends. The bansali plays a limited note, its high-pitched patterns merging with the main drum. All these instrument players are Garasias who are without any assigned social role. Garasia dhol Garasia kundi Garasia man playing the flute The instruments are played to the accompaniment of dance or are played freely for the drummer to dance. On all auspicious social occasions or rituals the drum is a must for the Garasias. For Divali songs, the Garasias use the dhak, a damaru-type of instrument accompanied with thali and singing . With the Gameti Bhils we encounter a change. They have what is to be found among the Garasias: the drum, kundi, thali and bansali. We also find the emergence of a surnai- a double-reed aerophone. The instrument is known as lakka or lanka. But the most important feature of the Gameti Bhils is a group of people known as the Kamarias. While we were recording among the Garasias in the Abu area, some people explained to us that there is a caste called the Kamarias among the Bhils . The caste fulfils the ceremonial and ritual needs of that community. While working near Rohida (Pindwada Tehsil), we came across these people. The Kamarias are not a separate caste, but part and parcel of the Bhil tribe. Even so, the Kama~ias has achieved a type of distinction as practising singers. 19 Garasia thali The Kamarias inter- marry with the Bhils. The Kamarias have a Mataji-worship niche in their houses . A brass horse, as a deity, is placed on a wooden pat; a sarangi, a number of changs and a few pairs of manjiras are arranged around the shrine. Every time a musical instrument is taken up for playing a Kamaria has to offer a coconut or its value. The Kamarias are invited by afflicted families or individuals who want to overcome evil. The Kamarias on their own go to Bhil farmers or others after the harvesting is done and they receive a small share of the crop. However, this practice does not make them a separate caste group in the Bhil community. Whoever has some expertise in ballad singing or in sacred songs is known as a Kamaria. Except for the tribal people, we find, in general, a different social setup. The professional singers are at a lower level and have a fixed and separate caste: the Jajmani system comes into force. During our work we came across a caste known as the Jogi (or Jogirha) in the Reodhar Tehsil, the Sami (or Samirha) in the Pindwada Tehsil and the Pauva in Sirohi in Shivganj Tehsil. These people play on a sarangi of three strings (made of horse-tail hairs) and with a small bow ghunghroo. The instrument is dif­ ferent from the ravanhatha. 20 Gameti lanka The .Jogis seem to be mendicants who go out to beg in the early morning with their instrument and songs. They visit different homes in the locality. They do not have .Jajmans. We were informed that in the month of pos (winter) the .Jogis move among the savaran houses in the early hours of the morning and at the end of the month, they are given old clothes, quilts, mattresses and grain. The .Jogis mainly sing about Ganesh, Krishna, Raja Harishchandra, Raja Chandan etc. The songs do not run in the ballad form but eulogise the exploits of great mythical or legendary heroes. We found that songs about recent dacoits are also sung by these people. Bhil marriage procession Kamaria Bhil girls In the last few years, the -.Jogis have decided that women folk should not sing with male singers. This decision has resulted in certain musical lapses in their compositions. We were able to record -.Jogi women separately and they seem to be exceptionally good singers and render complicated songs with ease and felicity. We could gather from various people that in the Sirohi Tehsil the -.Jogis have women companions who participate in the singing. But we found that families were reluctant to sing for the recording . Among other professional caste musicians, we came across the Turi Bhats and Dholis. The Dholis were of two types. One group was attached to the higher castes like the Rajputs and Banias and the other set of Dholis were linked with the Meena tribe. Both the Dholi sections have a different musical tradition . The Turi Bhats are to be found in the Reodhar, Abu and Pindwada tehsils . As professional caste musicians, they are attached to the Meghwal or Bhambhi community. The Meghwals are mainly leather workers or shoe­ repairers. In itself the Bhambhi caste is at a vEry low level of the social hier­ arc hy. In other parts of Rajasthan, the Meghwals or Bhambhis do have caste singers and they are known as Kamads. It would be interesting to compare the Kamads with the Kamarias of the Bhils. The name belongs to the same linguistic root and the ir function also seems to be identical. 22 The Turi Bhats play on the tandoora, khartal, chimta, manjira and apang. Their lore consists of the Nirguni Vani and musical narratives. Their expertise and control over narrative is fantastic. Even the prose of a story is musically rendered with the help of the group. We discovered that the Turi Bhats also perform folk dramas known as Veshlana. The drama is performed for a whole night and different themes related to Miyan-Bibi, Mina-Mini, Bania-Baniyani etc.