Dancing with Devtas: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal, North IndiaIn the Central Himalayan region of Garhwal, the gods (devtas) enjoy dancing. Musicians - whether ritual specialists or musical specialists - are therefore an indispensable part of most entertainment and religious events. In shamanistic ceremonies, their incantations, songs and drumming 'make' the gods possess their mediums. In other contexts, such as dramatic theatrical renditions of stories of specific deities, actors 'dance' the role of their character having become possessed by the spirit of their character. Through the powerful sounds of their drumming, musicians cause the gods to dance. Music, and more particularly musical sound, is perceived in Garhwal as a powerful force. Andrew Alter examines music and musical practice in Garhwal from an analytical perspective that explores the nexus between musical sounds and performance events. He provides insight into performance practice, vocal techniques, notions of repertoire classification, instruments, ensembles, performance venues, and dance practice. However, music is not viewed simply as a system of organized sounds such as drum strokes, pitch iterations or repertoire items. Rather, in Garhwal, the music is viewed as a system of knowledge and as a system of beliefs in which meaning and spirituality become articulated through potent sound iterations. Alter makes a significant contribution to the discipline of ethnomusicology through a detailed documentation of musical practice in the context of ritual events. The book offers a traditionally thorough historical-ethnographic study of a region with the aim of integrating the local field-based case studies of musical practices within the broader Garhwali context. The work contains invaluable oral data, which has been carefully transliterated as well as translated. Alter blends a carefully detailed analysis of drumming in conjunction with the complex ritual and social contexts of this sophisticated and semantically rich musical practice. |
Contents
Land of the Gods | |
Caste Groups and Instrumentalists | |
Performance Genres and Dance Practice | |
Musical Instruments in Garhwal | |
Drumming Associated with Pāñḍavalīlā | |
dilemmas of transcription | |
Music in the Context of Wedding Celebrations | |
The Pawārās of Kirthipal and Kunjepal | |
Devanagari Text and Transliteration | |
Aural Sources | |
Bibliography | |
Discography of Selected Commercially Released Cassettes | |
The Ocean of Drumming | |
Other editions - View all
Dancing with Devtās: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal ... Andrew Alter No preview available - 2008 |
Dancing with Devtās: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal ... Andrew Alter No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
accentual pattern accompaniment Almora amongst Audio Example auspicious bājā bājā played Bajgi musicians Baṛhai Bhag Chand Bhatt bhaun Bimalawati brāt bride brother Budha Budha Villor Budna Cassette caste group celebrations centimetres ceremony Chandola Chapter chauñwārā context cycle Dabral damauñ dance-song dancers Das’s dauñr deity Delhi devtās dhol Dhol Sāgar dhol-damauñ dholki Draupadi drum drumhead drummers epic Ethnomusicology festivals Garhwal Garhwali language gāthā genre Gīt groom's Himalayas Hindi Hindu hurki ibid India instruments jāgar Kakhwari Khetrapal Kumaon loud Mahābhārata mashak metric musical events musical practice nagāṛā Naugaon Nautiyal Nepal Nonetheless numerous Oral Pāñḍavalīlā Pandavas pawāṛā performance pitch players possession Puran Rajput refer region repertoire items rhythm rhythmic rim stroke ritual Rudraprayag district Sagar segments Shabd shown in Transcription Silla singing songs specific stick stroke story structure Sulṭā sung supernatural syllables term thālī Thati Silla Kot throughout tradition unpitched recitation village Villor vocal delivery styles wedding की के में है