Music of Bihar

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Bihar, a state of India, has produced musicians like Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan and dhrupad singers like the Malliks (Darbhanga Gharana) and the Mishras (Bettiah Gharana) along with poets like Pandit Dhareekshan Mishra, Bhikhari Thakur, the shakespeare of Bhojpuri and Vidyapati Thakur who contributed to Maithili Music. The classical music in Bihar is a form of the Hindustani classical music. [1]

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The region's folk songs are associated with the various events in the life of an ordinary person. The historical ballads dealing with the heroic deeds of the freedom fighter Kunwar Singh have also been immortalized through folk songs in the plain tracts of Bihar. Religiosity is the pivot around which the music and amusements of the village folk of Bihar revolve. There are songs like sohar - performed during childbirth, sumangali - associated with wedding, ropnigeet - performed during the season of sowing paddy, katnigeet - performed during the paddy harvesting season.

The influence of Bihari music is seen in regions such as Mauritius, South Africa and the Caribbean, where many Bihari indentured labourers were taken during the nineteenth century as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh where many Bihari Muslims migrated to after the partition of India.

There is a great tradition of folk songs started by Bhikhari Thakur, an artist from the Bhojpur region. In the field Bhojpuri Music and Songs, there are notable works done by Mahendar Misir, Radhamohan Chaubey 'Anjan', Pandit Dhareekshan Mishra, Laxman Pathak Pradeep, and Sharda Sinha. Other wandering folk singers include the Kathaks, who travelled in groups and performed accompanied by dholak, sarangi, tamburu and majira. Other musician classes included Roshan Chouki, Bhajaniya, Kirtaniya, Pamaria and Bhakliya.

'Harkirtan' are famous religious folk songs. 'Astajam' are also famous religious folk songs in which 'Hare-Rama, Hare-Krishna' is sung regularly for twenty four hours at Hindu religious places.

In Bihar there is Caste Bhatt (Brahma Bhatt) whose tradition is singing and music. Although with the passage of time they have left there profession. Some small groups also sings Sohar songs at the birth time. Some transgender people (Kinners) also sing for livelihood money.

Famous singers and musicians from Bihar

Musician

Singers

Music directors

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismillah Khan</span> Indian musician (1916–2006)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhikhari Thakur</span> Founder of Bhojpuri Song

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maithili music</span> Music of the Mithila region

Maithili Music is one of the most ancient types of music in the Indian subcontinent. It originated from Mithila, a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothills of the Himalayas in the north. It comprises certain parts of Bihar and Jharkhand of India and adjoining districts of the eastern Terai of Nepal. No one knows exactly when Maithili Music came into existence, probably due to the length of its history, but its age indicates that it might have helped other music develop and flourish in India and Nepal.It is believed that many new types of music forms have been sprouted from Maithili music as it is believed to be the oldest form of music is South Asia. Maithili music are played during a variety of ritual occasions, and it is believed that some of the most melodic music among them. The music was generally based on the daily life of a common man which made it relatable to the audience and hence accepted on mass. Although Maithili music is usually played by classical instruments, it has been modernized and now uses various modern instruments. Some significant contributors to this music style are Maha Kavi Vidyapati Thakur, Udit Narayan Jha, Sharda Sinha, Kunj Bihari Mishra, Haridwar Prasad Khandelwal, Dr. Shanti Jain, Rajni Pallavi, Poonam Mishra, Ranjana Jha, Moni 'Vaidehi' and many more.

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Chandan Tiwari is an Indian folk singer from Bihar. She is known as folk singer and sings in Bhojpuri, Nagpuri, Awadhi and Hindi. She was awarded Sangeet Natak Academy-Bismillah Khan Samman. She was honoured by Bhojpuri Kokila in Kolkata. BAG Films-News 24 awarded her best traditional folk singer. She appeared in India Today Magazine in cover story for her contributions to Indian folk music. She has been singing in various forms of folks like Purabi Sohar, Pachra Gandhi song, River Song, Chhath Song Kajri and Thumri.

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Maithili Thakur is an Indian playback singer trained in Indian classical music and Folk Music. She has sung original songs, covers, and traditional folk music prominently in Hindi, Bengali, Maithili, Urdu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, English and more Indic languages.

References

  1. Sharma 2007, p. 33-45.

Bibliography