Trees Traditions from Around the World lBamboo is considered to be one of the most auspicious elements in traditional Asian cultures. Symbolically, it stands for longevity, friendship, diligence, and adaptableness. In Japanese culture, bamboo trees surround many shrines, as its sacredness is known to keep the evil spirits at bay.. lAmong the Newar community of Nepal, an interesting ancient tradition, known as ‘Ihi or Bel Biha’, requires that a young girl often 7 or 8 years old, be married to a ‘Bel tree’ or to its green fruit called ‘Bel’. This custom is still in practice and the young girls are considered widow only after the fall of the respective trees. lA legend about the origin of the Christmas tree tells us that Martin Luther, founder of the Protestant faith, walking through the forest one Christmas Eve, was awed by the beauty of the stars shinning through the branches of the evergreen trees. He cut a small tree and took it home. To recreate the same starlight beauty, he placed candles on all its branches. . lThe Old Irish name for Fir is Ailm meaning that which goes forward, will or desire. The spirit or Genii of the Forest is traditionally depicted holding an uprooted Fir tree according to Scandinavian folklore. The Fir tree has strong connections with the owner of the land where it stands. Should a Fir tree ever be struck by lightning or begin to wither, it is said that the owner will die. IHC Lok Sangeet Sammelan Sounds of the Forests The Third IHC Lok Sangeet Sammelan resonates with the Sounds of the Forests to coincide with 2011 being declared as the UN Year of Forests. The veneration that India has always had towards the environment is amply evident in the ancient texts and rituals. The concern for preserving the diverse flora and fauna is ages old, way before we had world eco summits. Music and the arts invariably have been used as effective tools to echo the concerns of humans, therefore it isn't surprising that art and music are replete with references to the rich flora and fauna of India. Folklore can play a vital role in a more sensitive understanding of ecology. Folklore in the form of tales, sayings, songs, ballads, dances, music and poetry can be highly illuminative of man- nature relationship. Often many of our fundamental scientific ideas and policies about nature draw from myths and modern folklore. The accumulated traditions, in the form of folklore could throw significant light towards an understanding of ecology particularly in the age of technology. The groups performing have been drawn from the various forest regions of our country. On 6th, Rewben Mashangva from the north–east and Basanti Devi Bisht and troupe from the Garhwal Hills will be performing while the inhabitants of the Sunderbans will present the story of Maa Bon-Bibi, a traditional mythological folk drama of Sunderbans which tells the tale of how the forest queen (Bon-Bibi) protects the foresters from the wild animals and elements of nature as they go in search of food, firewood and honey. The Band from Bastar displays the uniqueness of different musical instruments made out of natural products available in the Chattisgarh region. Also, August 9 is celebrated as the United Nations’ (UN) International Day of the World's Indigenous People. The day aims at the promotion and protection of the rights of the world’s indigenous population. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection. Join us in our celebration of the country's bountiful forests in the month that saw the birth of the nation. As the sounds of the forests pervade IHC on Aug 6th & 7th, we hope to see you there! Rewben & Saka Mashangva from Imphal Shairengwon – (Orchid) Tangkhul Version Aug 6, 7:00pm A poem comparing the two different worlds of wild Orchids and human beings. Rewben Mashangva is one of the most popular Naga musicians. Hailed as ‘King of Naga Folk Blues’ and Man is self-centered and selfish but the orchids bloom ‘Cultural ambassador of the Nagas’ he is a singer, beautifully in the wild. musician, songwriter, folk music researcher and maker of musical instruments. Rewben uses the guitar to produce Oh high branches of the jungle ethnic folk sounds, the mouth organ, the four hole flute Tossing to and fro in the spring known as yangkahui, the tingteilla (folk fiddle) & his rare Even unattended you bloom so brightly. cow bell percussion. He has reinvented the traditional You toil not in the fields Tangkhul Naga flute yangkahui and also modified the folk But still you live so luxurious fiddle tingteilla to suit the western tonal scale. His Oh, beautiful how you live? traditional hair style of the primitive Nagas- haokuirat, and colorful traditional outfit lend him a distinct identity. Thou art the creator of Shairengwon (Orchid) Winner of Northeast Excellence Award, State Kala I wanted to pluck and have you Akademi Award, and recipient of the title ‘Guru’ from Ministry of Culture, Mashangva performs all over the When I gaze at you, country and parts of Southeast Asia, attending seminars My eyes were enchanted and and guiding folk music scholars. His albums include My heart was desirous Tantivy & Creation. He has given music for the State and I lift up my hand to pluck National award winning Manipuri feature film Mayophigi But my hand felt shy Macha and various short films. Though I want to have you Rewben has also worked with filmmaker Oinam Doren for But oh; to go away without having you projects like Songs Of Mashangva, The Next Song and a Thrice I turn my face to think feature film in making, tentatively titled The Lonely Bloom for a longer time oh Shairengwon Village. Songs Of Mashangva won the 58th National Film Award for 2010. Every morning and every evening Saka Mashangva regularly accompanies his father on In the shade you smile brightly performances, having first performed at the age of 4 at a Oh Shairengwon (Orchid) reception for Prime minister Manmohan Singh on his Your joy makes you clap visit to Manipur. And toss your head. Whom are you teasing here? spirits, gods and demons that inhabited it. With time he became a demon (rakkhosh). The trust that had existed between tigers and humans was now shattered. Allah, on noticing this decided to put a stop to Dokkhin Maa Bon Bibi from Sunderbans Rai's reign of terror. He chose for this task Bonbibi, a Aug 6, 8:00pm young girl who lived in the forest. Alongwith her twin brother Shah Jangoli, she arrived in the infamous land of Anpur Rajat Jubilee …. Mahila Natya Sansthan the eighteen tides, the Sunderbans, and called out Allah's Presents name. Dokkhin Rai decided to drive them away. But The Story Of Maa Bon Bibi of Sunderbans, in the Pala Gaan style, a popular Bengali Dokkhin Rai's mother Narayani won over Bon Bibi's folk theatre form combining music, friendship. dance and storytelling. Bonbibi's story is always followed by Dukhe's tale. Dukhe Directed by Chittaranjan Mistry (literally 'sadness') was a poor young boy who was lured by Cast: his uncle Dhona to join him for collecting honey from the Bon Bibi: Molina Mandal forest. Dukhe's mother reluctantly allowed him to leave Shah Jungolee: Anjana Sarkar with the advice that he should call out to Ma Bonbibi Dhonai Moule: Monica Mandal should any harm befall him. Once in the forest, the team Dakhin Rai(Tiger): Madhumita Mandal is confronted by Dokkhin Rai, who promises to give Dukhe: Sushmita Sardar Dhona seven boats full of honey and wax if he could have Dukhe's mother: Anubha Mandal Dukhe in return. The greedy Dhona leaves Dukhe on the Majhi & Kumir: Jamini Sarkar, Sujata Sarkar banks of Kedokhali island and sails off. Just as Dukhe is (Crocodile) Gautami Mandal about to be devoured by Dokkhin Rai, he calls out to Bonbibi who sends her brother Shah Jangoli to beat up Musicians: Dokkhin Rai. Krishnapad Mandal: Casio Subhendra Joddar: Harmonium The Ghazi, who is a pir, intervenes and saves Dokkhin Rai Kalipada Sardar: Flute by pleading to Bonbibi. Bonbibi accepts Dokkhin Rai's Prashanto Mandal: Khol apology and accepts him as her 'son'. Later she orders her Bhakti Bhushan Mandal: Kartal pet crocodile, Seko to drop Dukhe to his village. It is after his return to the village that Dukhe popularised the In the Sundarbans, a little-known goddess Bon-bibi worship of Bonbibi in the neighbourhood. graces its forests. The story goes that Bonbibi, the 'woman of the forest', was chosen by Allah to protect people who work in the Sundarbans against a greedy man-eating half Brahminsage half tiger-demon, Dokkhin Rai. Dokkhin Rai, was a Brahmin sage in the forest, who decided to feed on humans in a fit of greed one day. Using his ascetic powers he took the form of a tiger. Soon he refused to share any of the forest resources with humans. He also started legitimising their killing by calling these a 'tax' (kar) – one they had to pay with their lives for the products they usurped from 'his' jungle. He proclaimed himself the master of the Sundarbans and of all the tigers Arabic script. For the islanders, Bonbibi goes against the distinctions of caste, class and religion. This is the reason why those who work in the forest as fishers and crabcollectors stress the fact that they have to consider all However, Dokkhin Rai starts arguing that if humans are jatis – whether Brahmin or Malo, rich or poor, Hindu or given a free reign there will be no forest left. So, to be fair Muslim, or even human or animal – 'equal'. Tigers and and ensure that Dokkhin Rai and his retinue of tigers and humans share the same food, and they both depend on the spirits stop being a threat to humans, and humans stop forest hence making tigers equal to humans. Also, being a threat to non-humans, Bonbibi elicits promises Dokkhin Rai, the Ghazi and Bonbibi have to be placed from Dukhe, Dokkhin Rai and the Ghazi that they are all together in shrines, point out the villagers, to show how to treat each other as brothers. She does this by forcing different jatis must coexist and come to an agreement Dokkhin Rai and the Ghazi to part with some of their when dealing with the forest. Many Sundarbans islanders wood and gold respectively and by making Dukhe promise say that the most important factor for ensuring their that he and his kind should enter the forest only with a safety in the forest, apart from entering the forest 'empty pobitro mon (pure heart) and khali hate (empty handed). handed' and 'pure hearted', is that they should entrust their lives to Bonbibi, live up to her injunctions and not dwell on Following Dukhe's tale, the Islanders consider the forest as their differences. being only for the poor and for those who will not take more than what they need to survive. The 'pure heart' Although all the rituals of worship are Hindu, they always means that they have to enter the forest without any begin with the Muslim invocation 'Bismillah'. Also, the greedy or violent disposition, the 'empty hands' mean they Bon Bibi and her brother Shah Jongoli are born to the have to enter the forest without firearms and only if they Sufi faqir Ibrahim in the Arabian city of Medina, the do not possess riches or own land. holiest of cities in Islam. Allah set them on the divine mission of making the land of tides, fit for human Bonbibi's story is not very old. The Bonbibi Johuranamah, habitation. Bon Bibi, however, is always found dressed like the booklet that narrates her story – was written by Abdur a typical rural Bengali housewife. Implying thus, that the Rahim towards the end of the 1800s, and is written, worship of Bon Bibi transcends religious barriers. although in Bengali, from back to front to emulate the The Bon Bibi legend uses the power of folklore to draw a connection between human beings and the world of nature and is also a pertinent comment on the necessity to curb greed. The story serves as a melting pot for different cultures but is not very well known outside the Sundarbans. Local theatre companies, or 'jatra-dol'-s as they are called in Bengali, travel from village to village enacting the story, all the year round and especially during the worship of Bon Bibi. Bastar Band from Chattisgarh Aug 7, 7:00pm

The Bastar Band blends beautifully the ethnic and tribals sounds of the various ethnic groups of Bastar region. The numerous ethnic and tribal groups come together to strike a common chord in the Bastar Band. It also includes some rituals alongwith music which have been followed for centuries by the tribals that are slowly losing out to popular culture. The Lingo Dev is considered as the Sangeet guru of the Adivasis in Bastar. He is supposed to have created numerous musical instruments which are enlisted in the song Lingo Pata or Lingo Pen (meaning lingo Dev’s song). Some of the instruments mentioned in the song Artists: are no longer to be heard or found. Despite this, due to Maya Lakshmi, Ludo Sori, Budhram sori, Kosa Deva, the unique initiative of the Bastar Band these Kajju Ram, Chander Salam, Dasru, Korram, Shanti instruments along with a tribal chorus have been Dugga, Jogo Salam, Shreenath Nag, Kamal Sig Baghel, combined to bring the pulsating sounds of the Bastar Samaru Ram Nag, Ramlal Kashyap, Vikram Yadav, region to music lovers. Lakhandei Baghel, Rangbati Baghel, Babulal Baghel, Lachuram Sori, Babulal Sori, Sahadur Nag, Phaguram The Bastar band includes instruments used by the Bhawani, Lakshman Dugga, Lakshman Sori, Koytur or Koya Society like Muriya, Dandami Madiya, Purushottam Chandrakar, Anup Ranjan Dhurva, Dorla, Munda, Mahra, Gadba, Bhatra, Lohra, Parja, Mirgin, Halba and other tribes. Instruments: Madiya dhol, Tirdudi, Akum, Todi, Toram, Mohir, Dev mohir, Nangura, Tudbudi, Kundir, Dhurva dhol, Dander dhol, Goti baaja, Munda baaja, Narparai, Gutaparai, Mandri, Mirgeen dhol, Hulki mandri, KachTehando, Ujeer, Sulud, Baans, Charhe, Pen Dhol, Dhuseer, Kikid, Tudra, Kondodka, Hinang, Jheeti, Chitkul, Kirkeecha, Danda, Dhankul Baaja, Tupki, Siyadi Baaja, Vedur, Goga Dhol Basanti Devi Bisht & troupe from Garhwal Aug 7, 8:00pm

Basanti Bisht is perhaps the only lady singer of Jagars, a folk form of the Uttaranchal, usually sung by men. Having grown up in the hills of Uttarakhand, she heard her mother singing and learnt them by rote. Besides preserving a dying tradition of Jagar singing, she has also established herself in a male dominated art form. Basanti Devi, known for performing the mangal, imparted training in Garhwali folk music at Bhatkhande Mahavidyalaya in Dehradun.

Having performed at leading folk music festivals in the Shiva and Everest climber Bachendri Uttaranchal region and across the country, Basanti Devi Pal. Basanti Devi has performed at the Bisht has been honoured with several awards and honours. Uttarakhan Mahotsav, Kurmachal A regular performer on Akashwani and Doordarshan, she Parishad, Badri-Kedar Mahotsav, and is the recipient of the first ‘Raj Rajeshwari Samman', in at Jaunsar, Puri, Mussoorie, Bareli, honour of outstanding women achievers of Uttarakhand. Ramnagar in Uttarakhand. She has Amongst others awardees of the Raj Rajeshwari Samman also composed songs on the trial and are noted environmentalist and philosopher Vandana Tribulations of the campaign for statehood of Uttarakhand in the Pandavani style. Her audio albums – Uttarakhand Sanskriti Ke Swar and Jagar have been widely acclaimed. Basanti Devi has been honoured by the Akhil Gadhwal Sabha, Roopkund Mahotsav, Uttarakhand Research C e n t r e a n d s e v e r a l o t h e r organizations for her contributions.

Accompanists Surinder Singh Harmonium Ram Saran Riyal Hudka Ranjit Singh Bisht Thali Dhanraj Dholak Rukmesh Nautiyal Basuri Gomti & Khagoti Vocalists Indian culture has a tradition of protecting trees, ponds, water bodies and wild animals. The concept of keeping forest reserves was first developed by Kautilya, an Indian scholar. Goa has a rich tradition of maintaining its sacred groves which are repositories of plant and animal wealth that have been conserved over the years by the locals. They are known by various names such as Devrai, Devran or Dewart. The Velip community has a sacred grove at Morpirla which protects the source of a mountain stream called Paikacho Vhal, a stream named after the forest spirit Paik. To reach it, one has to remove leather sandals, climb a steep gradient, enter a long tunnel of bushes, crawl on all fours as the tunnel gets narrower and narrower and then come out to witness a cascading spring emerging out of the heart of a dense forest. In the 1970s, an organized resistance to the destruction of forests spread throughout India and came to be known as the Chipko movement. The name of the movement comes from the word 'embrace', as the villagers hugged the trees, and prevented the contractors' from felling them. The original ’Chipko movement’ was started around 260 years back in the early part of the 18th century in Rajasthan by Bishnoi community of Rajasthan. A large group of them from several villages, led by a lady called Amrita Devi, laid down their lives in an effort to protect the trees from being felled on the orders of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. Bisnois of Rajasthan have a tradition of protecting wildlife including Black Buck and Khejri trees since 1451 or so. There is a saying amongst the bishnois "Sir santhe rooke rahe to bhi sasto jaan" - if a tree is saved from felling at the cost of one’s head, it is considered a good deed. Though the Bishnois are staunch Hindus they often do not cremate their dead but bury them, as they are not permitted to use wood for the cremation. It is for this environmental awareness and commitment that they stand apart from other communities in India.