Dark clouds gathering, thunder and lightning, and the pitter-patter of raindrops on earth—a common sight in Ranchi these days. Now imagine if all these elements of the season’s first showers are captured in tribal music and song.
This very magic will ring in music-lovers’ ears on Wednesday at the Munda Sabha’s Mundari song competition, where 23 performers will showcase the 19 ragas of Mundari music. According to Sabha officials, the event will be attended by former chief minister Arjun Munda, Doordarshan director Dr Krishnadev Kalpit and other cultural luminaries who will witness the full gamut of this tribal art form. The 19 ‘ragas’ or styles include Jadur, Ore Jadur, Nir Jadur, Japi, Chitid, Racha, Gena, Karam, Khemta, Ore Jarga, Jatra, Jaali, Jarga, Buru, Burhi Karam, lahasua, Baroya etc.
These songs have been an important vehicle of transmitting Mundari culture over the years by word-of-mouth, along with myths, dances, poems and lore. They reflect the principles of goodness, generosity, honesty, love for nature, harmony and other core values that constitute the Mundari cultural identity. Hence the songs’ themes are drawn from their own milieu. “Mundari songs reflect the Munda people’s trials, travails, joys and sorrows. They deal with nature, forests and respect for its bounty. Some are also moral, aimed at correcting misdemeanours or warning against transgressions,” says Dr Giridhari Ram Gaunjhu, former head of RU’s Department of Tribal and Regional languages.
Being an oral tradition, it is impossible to definitively date individual songs, genres or even musical styles in Mundari music. However, tribal musicologists have discerned some elements of interaction with other local music forms especially ‘Sadaan’. “The musical convergence produced by early Mundari-Sadani interaction involved a gradual evolution of common musical practices, genres and stylistic traits.” says ethnomusicologist Carol M. Babiracki, in her paper on the Mundas.
However, despite some resemblances in tune, text structure, subject and movement patterns of the Munda Karam songs, the traditional songs of the remaining three seasons--spring, winter and the hunt -- are uniquely Mundari in performance, style and context. “All Mundari song performances are characterized by occasional diaphonic singing in parallel; and women respond antiphonally to men in the Akhara,” says Babiracki.
Probably its most distinctive aspect is its rhythmic organization. “Mundas drum, sing and dance slightly behind the beat, unlike other musicians who anticipate the beat. They also subdivide the beat (taal) of their songs and dances into unique asymmetrical parts. Thus, Jadur, the song of spring is sung to a 20-beat taal,” explains Gaunjhu.
Another feature of Mundari song performances is that drum-beat patterns, dance patterns and phrases of the song are normally of different lengths and continually out of phase with one another. “The texts lack intentional rhyme, a musical distinction between verse and refrain and do not carry the poet’s name,” says Gaunjhu.
Interestingly, each of the 19 forms has a particular month, season and tempo of performance. Thus, the medium-paced Jadur is sung during Spring to mark Sarhul; Chitid in the early monsoon months; Jarga in the post-monsoon month of Bhado, the fast-paced Japi in summer to celebrate success in hunting; the slow, devotional tunes of Khemta in autumn and Karam in the monsoon season. Any rendition is always begun by the men in full-throated baritones, and the women repeat every verse after them in soft, dulcet voices. However, men are forbidden from singing and playing instruments in Burhi Karam, while women are forbidden from performing the martial Paika.
“Performance times are divided into Pahil Sanja or dusk and early evening, Adhratia or midnight and Dhir Sanja or daybreak. Slower forms like Khemta are performed at dusk, while high-tempo and active forms like Jarga, Jadur are performed at midnight; and medium–paced forms like Gena are sung at daybreak,” reveals Gaunjhu.
And Mundari lore mentions a unique punishment for breaking these rules “One who sings the wrong song at the wrong time will be possessed by severe, incurable itching in his body!” quips Gaunjhu, smiling.