Biraha

Last updated

Biraha (sometimes known as Birha) is an ethnic Bhojpuri folk genre of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand in India. Its place in folk songs is as important as that of Dwipadi in Sanskrit, Gatha in Prakrit and Barwai in Hindi. It is composed of two episodes. When one side says their point, the other side answers in the same verse. There is no limit to the number of quantities. The volume varies with the tune of the song. It indicates the intense longing of the spouse and the pain of love or feeling of separation from him. Separation is a king, a body that does not know separation, it is a living corpse. Outside India, this genre can be found in the former colonies of where Indian indentured laborers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand emigrated to, such as Fiji, Guyana, Mauritius, South Africa, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Contents

History

Khari Birha

The modern Biraha has evolved nearly 150 years ago, from its older form which is called Khari Birha (Pure Biraha). These were used to written in the form of two rhymed lines used to performed without any musical instruments. [1]

Rām kī laṛaiyā ke nā païbe rawanawā, jekarī bagal me hanumān

Sonā kē laṃkā toharī mātī me milaīhen, tūṛ dihen toharo gumān

Ravan, you can not succeed in fighting Ram, who has Hanuman at his side

Your golden Lanka will be mixed in the soil (destroyed), your pride will be broken

Khari Biraha to Biraha

Bihari Lal Yadav is universally recognised as the founder of Biraha. Bihari made several modifications in khari Bihari, instead of Couplet, consisting of two line he allowed unlimited numbers of rhymed lines in his Biraha. He also added a variation of Khartal as a musical instrument which became the identifying element of this genre. He introduced this genre in cities like Benaras by performing it in temples. As Biraha became a famous genre, Bihari Lal acquired a number of "Chelas" (disciples). These disciples later acquired their own disciples and these led to formation of several lineages which were called akhārṛā. These Akharas played a major role in organising social and performance aspects of the tradition. All the written text of Biraha were the property of that particular Akhara, so one had to take the membership of those Akharas in order to become a Biraha singer. [1] Over the years different Akharas did some more modifications are created other variants. The three main varieties were: ṭeri, antarā and Uṛān.

Types and Structure

Biraha are mainly of two types viz. Short Biraha and Long Biraha. The short Biraha consists of two lines and called Khari Biraha. Each line is further divided in to two parts, hence the whole Biraha has four parts, that is why it is called Charkadiya (trans.: of four parts). The last word of both the lines must rhyme or the rhyme scheme should be AA. Each line should have 26 akshars (Syllable), with 16 syllables in the 1st part of each line and 10 syllables in the 2nd part of each line. However According George Abraham Grierson the 2nd part of 1st and 2nd line should have 11 and 12 syllables respectively. The last two syllables of first part of both line should be iambic (in order of 1-2) however the that of 2nd part should be in order of 2-1. [2] In some Birahas 18 and 11 syllables are also observed in the 1st and 2nd part of the 2nd line. [3]

Notable Biraha singers

Notable Works

Related Research Articles

Bihari is a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal. The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhojpuri language</span> Indo-Aryan language native to India and Nepal

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal. It is chiefly spoken in western Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and northwestern Jharkhand. It is an eastern Indo Aryan language and as of 2000 is spoken by about 5% of India's population. It is sociolinguistically considered to be one of the seven main Hindi dialects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awadhi language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in Northern India

Awadhi, also known as Audhi (औधी), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name Awadh is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, which is regarded as the homeland of the Hindu god Rama. It was, along with Braj Bhasha, used widely as a literary vehicle before being displaced by Hindustani in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagpuri language</span> Eastern Indo-Aryan language

Nagpuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. It is primarily spoken in the west and central Chota Nagpur plateau region. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Bhojpuri.

Anti-Bihari sentiment refers to discrimination against the migrant people of the of Bihar. Bihar had slower economic growth than the rest of India in the 1990s which led to Biharis migrating to other parts of India in search of opportunities. Bihari migrant workers have been subject to a growing degree of hatred by the locals of those states because of their stereotyping as criminals. Moreover, the Biharis have been victimized due to the growing anti-Hindi imposition sentiment in non-Hindi states owing to the Central government agencies excluding regional languages in many national exams and services.

The Bhojpuri Film Awards are an awards ceremony recognizing the best of Bhojpuri cinema. The awards have been presented annually since 2005.

Bihari culture refers to the culture of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari culture includes Mithila culture, Bhojpuri Culture and the culture of Magadha.

The Muslim Gaddi are a Muslim community found mainly in northern India. After the independence in 1947, the Gaddi of the states of Haryana and Delhi migrated to Pakistan and are now found in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. In Pakistan and North India, some community members have started to refer to themselves as Ghazi in a way to reconstruct identity.

Vietnamese poetry originated in the form of folk poetry and proverbs. Vietnamese poetic structures include Lục bát, Song thất lục bát, and various styles shared with Classical Chinese poetry forms, such as are found in Tang poetry; examples include verse forms with "seven syllables each line for eight lines," "seven syllables each line for four lines", and "five syllables each line for eight lines." More recently there have been new poetry and free poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhikhari Thakur</span> Bhojpuri playwright and Author

Bhikari Thakur was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writer in Bhojpuri language and most popular folk writer of Purvanchal and Bihar. He is often called the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri" and "Rai Bahadur". His works consist of more than a dozen plays, Monologues, Poems, Bhajans which appeared in print as nearly three dozen books. His noteworthy works are Bidesiya, Gabarghichor, Beti Bechwa and Bhai Birodh, Gabarghichor is often compared with Bertolt Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He is also known as the father of the naach folk theatre tradition. He is also credited as the first person to cast male actors in female roles.

Most of the languages of Bihar, the third most populous state of India, belong to the Bihari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are Bhojpuri, spoken in the west of the state, Maithili in the north, and Magahi in the south. Of these, only Maithili has official recognition under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The official language of Bihar is Hindi, with Urdu serving as a second official language in 15 districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh Lal Yadav</span> Indian actor, singer and politician

Dinesh Lal Yadav, popularly known as Nirahua meaning thereby one who keeps the honour of Sindur is an Indian actor, singer, producer and politician associated with Bhojpuri-language films. He is among the most successful Bhojpuri actors, with successive five box office successes released in 2015. He owns the production house Nirahua Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Dinesh Lal Yadav was a contestant on Bigg Boss 6 in 2012.

The Bhojpuri people or Bhojpuriyas are a group from the Indian subcontinent who speak the Bhojpuri-language and inhabit the Bhojpuri-Purvanchal region. This area is now divided between the western part of the Indian state of Bihar, the eastern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, northwestern Jharkhand, along with some neighbouring districts in the Madhya Pradesh and Madhesh of Nepal. A significant diaspora population of Bhojpuris can be found in Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Guyana,Jamaica, Suriname, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius.

<i>Muqaddar</i> (2017 film) Bhojpuri Film

Muqaddar is a 2017 Indian Bhojpuri-language action-romance-musical drama film written and directed by Sekhar Sharma and produced by Wasim S. Khan. The film stars Khesari Lal Yadav and Kajal Raghwani are in lead roles, while Shubhi Sharma, Shamim Khan, Awadhesh Mishra, Baleshwar Singh, C P Bhatt, Prakash Jais, Ayaz Khan, J Neelam, Nagesh Mishra, Hemant Samrat, Abhay Rai, Nasir Khan and Santosh Verma are in supporting roles.

<i>Nirahua Hindustani 2</i> Bhojpuri Film

Nirahua Hindustani 2 is a 2017 Indian Bhojpuri-language action drama film written and directed by Manjul Thakur and produced by Rahul Khan under banner of "Rahul Khan Production". The film features Dinesh Lal Yadav, Amrapali Dubey and Sanchita Banerjee in lead roles while Sanjay Pandey, Ayaz Khan, Kiran Yadav, Ashish Shendre, Prakash Jais, Santosh Verma, Sanjay Mahanand and Samarth Chaturvedi in supporting roles. It is a sequel of 2014 film Nirahua Hindustani. It holds the records of "Most Viewed Bhojpuri Film" on YouTube with 324 millions views.

<i>Baap Ji</i> Indian Bhojpuri film

Baap Ji is an upcoming Indian Bhojpuri-language action comedy drama film directed by Dev Pandey and produced by Ramjit Jaiswal under his production house "Govinda & Sagar Films Entertainment". The stars Khesari Lal Yadav in the lead role and Ritu Singh in the opposite role. While Manoj Singh Tiger, C P Bhatt, Brijesh Tripathi, Saheb Lal Dhari, Abhay Rai, Prakash Jais, Sanjay Verma, Ritu Pandey and others in supporting roles. Kajal Raghwani make a special appearance in a song.

Bihari Lal Yadav (1857–1926), also referred to as Guru Bihari, was a Bhojpuri writer, poet and singer. He is also known as the founder of the modern Biraha folk genre, this older genre is called Khari Birha. He is also credited to invent a musical instrument, which was a version of Khartal and introducing it in Bihaha. He wrote Biraha and popularized it in the cities like Benaras and also taught it to his disciples.

Krishnaut or Kishnaut or Vrishnivanshi Ahir or Krishnaut Yaduvanshi is a clan of the Hindu Yadav (Ahir) caste found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and other parts of the Indian state. The term Krishnaut denotes their descent from Lord Krishna.

The Majhraut or Majraut is a clan of Yaduvanshi Ahir that inhabits the Indian state of Bihar and Jharkhand. They are believed to be descended from the Yadav king Madhu who ruled Mathura.

References

  1. 1 2 Freitag, Sandria B. (1992). Culture and Power in Banaras: Community, Performance, and Environment, 1800-1980. University of California. pp. 95–98. ISBN   9780520080942.
  2. ↑ Upadhyaya, Krishnadev (1960). Bhojpuri Lok Sahitya Ka Adhyayan. p. 210.
  3. ↑ Shandilya, Rajeshwari (2001). Bhojpuri Lokgeetan me geeti tatva. Patna: Bhojpuri Sansthan. p. 189.
  4. ↑ ""वो 'झरेला' भोजपुरी गायक, जिसका गाना बॉलीवुड चुराता है"". Jansatta .
  5. ↑ "70 वां गणतंत्र दिवसः लोक गायकी के सरताज हीरालाल को जीवन की सांझ में मिला पद्न पुरस्कार". Patrika .
  6. ↑ "Hiralal Yadav, Padma Shri awardee Bhojpuri folk singer passes away at 93". India TV .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.