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Epic of Pabuji

from Rajasthan: A Musical Journey by Rajrang

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Drawing on a single episode from Rajasthan’s most loved and widely disseminated oral epic of Pabuji, the three excerpts represented here exemplify three distinct performance traditions of the epic, which are shaped around the rhythimic and musical dynamics of three instruments: the ravanhattha, the mata, and the gujari. All three excerpts focus on the meeting of the brigand-hero Pabuji and his four companions with Deval, a woman from the Charan (bard) community who rears horses and cows. Pabu bargains hard for a magical mare called Kesar Kalami, which has been kept hidden in an underground cave by Deval. After initial reluctance to part with the mare, Deval finally relents, but on condition that Pabu will protect her cows and sacrifice himself, if necessary, in the eventuality of her animals being stolen. This is precisely what materializes in the course of this folk epic, in which Pabuji (an avatar of Lakshmana from the Ramayana) is transformed into a bhomiya, a martyr who lays down his life for the protection of cattle and is subsequently deified.

The gujari, also called nareli, is rather like the ravanhattha, except that it has a shorter body, two main strings, 5 sympathetic strings, and a semi-circular bow tied with a large number of ghungroos (bells). Indeed, the insistent jangling rhythm of the ghungroo, accompanying the bowing movement of the instrument, contributes to the dance element of the gujari version of the Pabu performance tradition. Here too there is the visual background of the parh, but more important is the vigorous dance of the female impersonator, who balances thalis (brass plates) in his hand, while the main singer (also male) provides the melody and rhythm of the gujari. This rendering of Pabu is less devotional than the mata version and is performed by professional singers/dancers.

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from Rajasthan: A Musical Journey, released July 8, 2013

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Rajrang by Rupayan Jodhpur, India

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