Panchai/Naumati Baja

Tal (Rhythmic Cycle)

The most popular tals of the Damai ensembles are called Khyali (8-beat cycles) and Jhyaure (6-beat cycles).

Listen to examples of each instrument’s part, played in Khyali rag, Khyali tal:

Damaha [listen]
Dolakhi [listen]
Tyamko [listen]
Jhyali [listen]
Sahanai [listen]
Narsingha [listen]

Rags

Musicians of Panchai/Naumati bajas talk of the "6 rags and 36 raginis," using the terminology of South Asian classical music theory. However, they readily acknowledge that their rags are quite different from those of shastriya sangeet. The concept of a "rag" describes a grouping of pitches somewhere between a scale and a tune; while the classical sense of rag is closer to a scale, the Damai usage of the word often describes something closer to a tune. The traditional ensembles played rags associated with times of day, with different seasons, and with different occasions; while some of these customs remain, many have been forgotten. While names of rags are common among Damai ensembles throughout Nepal, the tunes used in different places may actually be quite different. For example, the rag known as Asare, specific to the monsoon month of Asar, could be a completely different tune when played by a group from western Nepal and a group from central Nepal. Rags are also often named according to the sahanai technique used in their performance. In this system, the tonic note (Sa) of Chha-swore Rag (Six-note Rag) is played by closing all six holes of the sahanai. The tonic (Sa) of Dui-swore Rag (Two-note Rag), is the pitch that sounds when the first two holes of the sahanai are closed. Playing all the other notes suddha (natural, i.e. with holes fully open or closed, not using half holes), the placement of the tonic note determines different sequences of half and whole steps and thus different modal qualities to the rag. Practices of melodic patterns within these rags, however, differ among ensembles. One rag is specific to the Nagara Bana temple ensemble: the rag known as Rasa. What constitutes Rasa differs among ensembles, but it uniformly includes the sahanai melody, nagara beat, and fanfares of various instruments, often the karnal.

These Naumati Baja musical examples were performed by the Naumati Baja ensemble of Salle village in Dhading district of central Nepal. The performers, pictured below, include:

Sahanai: Subha Pariyar and Kancha Pariyar
Dolakhi: Ram Saran Pariyar
Tyamko: Ramesh Pariyar
Jhyali: Manoj Pariyar [pictured below with damaha on left]
Damaha: Bidul Pariyar [pictured in photo above] and Ramesh Pariyar
Narsingha: Ram Bahadur Pariyar and Bajra Pariyar

Hudke Dance

Nepali folklorist Motiraj Bam, of far western Nepal, describes the typical Hudke performance of a ghata or Bharat, an epic song on the theme of historical brave heroes, as such:

The Hudke Dance is a Damai tradition popular in far western Nepal. In the performance of this dance, an expert parangat maude (actor) sings epic ballads about brave heroes of historical and Puranic legend while playing the hudko drum with strong, enthusiastic and sometimes light strokes, and dancing with spins and twirls. The songs that are performed in this way are known as "Bharat," and their performances last for many hours. On their legs dancers wear a long skirt known as khangar with white suruwal, and and on their heads a white turban; and around their waist a red or many-colored cloth wrap called pheta bound and decorated with a red and white phurka. Wearing this costume, the hudke dancer holds the hudko in hand, sounding the syllables "tau, tau," or "dang, dang". Beginning the Bharat, he holds the hudko to his ear and begins to sing while walking around the performance area. In addition to the hudke, four or five people act as assistants in covering the song, standing and singing at the side of the performance area. These assistants are known as "sware," and their role includes responding to the hudke's lines. For example, before the hudke begins the Bharat, he sings an aradhana song to call the audience, gods and goddesses, the earth, thani thakura, and all present to his side. The hudke sings a line, and the sware respond with the drawn-out syllable "Ha...."

Bam, Motiraj. Karnalika Paikelaharuko Bharat. Paper presented at Royal Nepal Academy, June 12, 2005. Trans. Anna Stirr.

A hudke performance at the Royal Nepal Academy.

In Nepal, folklorists such as Jumla district's Motiraj Bam have completed some documentation of the Damai musical traditions in the country's far western regions, focusing on the Hudke ballads or ghata as folk literature. Across the border in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Kumaon-Garwhal, there has been a more entrepreneurial approach to promoting these traditions, which are practiced throughout the western Himalayan foothills. The musical examples available here are from the CD released on Beat of India by the hudke Jhusia Damai of Dunga Toli village, Pithoragarh district, Uttar Pradesh. Sung in Nepali, they address topics from Puranic heroes to the British Raj. He is accompanied on Hudko and vocals by Janak Ram, and on vocals by his wife and daughter-in-law Saraswati Devi and Kalawati Devi. The genres presented here include Jhoda, Ghata (Bharat), Rituraina and Bhair. The entire songs can be purchased online from Beat of India.