Assam is indeed a home to diverse cultures and ethnic groups, all of which contribute significantly to its musical repertoire. Kamrupiya Lokageet, Goalporiya Lokageet and Ojapali, and ethnic folk music like Jhumur and Bharigaan are some forms in which the Assamese music is well known. An astonishing fact is that a ceremony or festival is performed which is regarded as being helpful in driving away the mosquitoes. Called as Mohauhau or Mahkheda, young boys go from door to door and sing and dance, striking the ground with bamboo sticks and taking leaps and turns; this is usually done on a full moon night in November.Yet another festival is Bihu which is a connotation of three different largely secular festivals of Assam, Rongali Bihu, Kongali Bihu and Bhogali Bihu The first one also called the Bohag Bihu is the one that is celebrated on the onset of the Assamese New Year and the onset of spring.Yet another festival involving groups of boys and young men who are led by older men moving from door to door thereby singing and dancing in the front or back courtyard and collecting subscriptions to be spent on repairing the village Namghar (community centre) is called Husari is a form of Rongali Bihugeet. The unique feature in this is that the music is indeed faltering or disjointed and the dance begins with the singing of hymns led by a comparatively elder person. This festival is indeed more famous for its religious grandeur thereby giving clear indications of the origin of the Bihu festival in some ancient fertility cult. A number of musical instruments are used for the Assamese folk music such as Wind instruments (Susir) including the flute, the Ciphung bahi of the Bodos, the kali, the pepa, the singa and the gagana, stringed instruments (tala) such as tokari, the been and the serja or serenda. It is indeed worth mentioning that the Tokari, played like an ektara or a sitar, is widely used by folk singers and also by wandering minstrels who sing mystic songs like Deh Bicarar Geets. the dhol, nagara, daba, khol, mridanga, jaidhol etc are some of the significant ones among the percussion instruments of Assam wherein the khol is the principal tala instrument for Vaishnava music, Jaidhol in wedding ceremonies, Khanjari, small and light and a combination of drum and cymbals, also belongs to this group. A common drum is used mainly in Bihu dance which is the dhol and another a simple instrument of a piece of bamboo-tube split from one side, is beaten to keep time measurement in Bihu song and dance called the Taka.
Trends write-up
It is worth mentioning that a basic characteristic of the ethnic music of Assam is its descending scale- this style is shared by ethnic music of the hill people surrounding the state of Assam, and by the music of countries like Thailand, Myanmar and China. It is this style that distinguishes it from the raga-based or folk music from the rest of India. These tunes are structured in a pyramid, in contrast to the music of rest of India which is meend-based.
Major Artists
Rudra Baruah ,Jayanta Hazarika ,Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala ,Kalaguru Bishnu Rabha,Dr. Bhupen Hazarika,Anima Choudhury ,Nirmalendu Choudhury ,Utpalendu Choudhury,Parvati Prasad Baruva,Khagen Mahanta ,Zubeen Garg,Jitul Sonowal,Angaraag Mahanta.
Trivia/ Quotes
• It is an interesting feature that in Assam, the Bihu drummer often utters his bols and follows their reproduction on his drum; he then dances in such a way that he appears to have no bones in his body at all.
• It is indeed a matter of pride that besides the rich variety of folk music, the Assamese people also have Bhakti music in the form of Borgeet and Zikir
