MUSI3045:

Week 6 – South Asia Regional

Dr. Andre J. Elias
ajpelias@hkbu.edu.hk
Regional Music in India
Main Points:
Of the thousands of languages and cultural groups, India is very difficult to describe
as a single idea.
The two largest religious groups are Hinduism and Islam, but Christianity, Judiasm,
Buddhism, and many tribal/animist spiritualities exist.
Hinduism is a very adaptable religion and in many ways has subsumed/incorporated
all of the folk tradition into what is called the “big tent”. One important cultural
aspect of Hinduism is the caste system. This is a division of labor built into the
culture that creates a hierarchy, largely defined by 4 groups – brahmins, ksatriyas,
vaishyas, shudras and outside these four are called dalits.
Two epics are commonly depicted in Indian popular culture, the Mahabharata and
the Ramayana.
Islam is also incredibly diverse, although musical expression can be an issue of
controversy amongst the more conservative sects. One sect focused on musical
devotion is the sufi whose tradition has flourished in India for hundreds of years.
There are many aspects of the classical tradition, including raga and tala, that are
present in the regional musics, but there are also other ways of thinking and doing
music, especially music associated with rituals or rites of passage.
North Eastern India
North Eastern India
South Central India
South Central India
Western India
Western India – Langa Hindu
Western India – Manganiyar – Sufi Islam
Pakistan
A majority Muslim nation, created at the same
time as India (originally as West Pakistan) in 1949
Since partition and the creation of distinct
countries based on religion, Pakistan and India
have had a tense relationship with periodic
conflict often focused on the disputed area of
Kashmir
While conservative Muslim perspectives on music
exist, a very strong tradition of Sufi music
continues
Cosmopolitan cities like Lahore are a hotbed of
musical creativity
The classical music tradition of India is equally
popular here and the same system of raga and
tala
 Qawwali

Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional

music originating from South Asia. Originally
performed at Sufi shrines or dargahs throughout
South Asia, it gained mainstream popularity and
International audience in late 20th century.
Qawwali music received international exposure
through the work of the
late Pakistani singers Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan, Sabri Brothers, and Aziz Mian largely due
to several releases on the Real World label,
followed by live appearances
at WOMAD festivals. 
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – A legendary vocalist known for his powerful, expressive
performances. Singing in Qawwali displays mastery of the bol system – syllables
that represent the scale degrees – Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa
West Bengal & Bangladesh
A unique a very large
group that is part of India
and Bangaldesh is Bengali
culture
In India they are
predominantly Hindu
In Bangladesh they are
predominantly Muslim
Rabindranath Tagore
Nobel Prize Laureate in
literature and national cultural
hero who developed an entire
genre of music called Rabindra
Sangeet, also known as Tagore
Songs “Ekla Cholo Re”
Over 2,000 songs in the corpus,
 - sung by Kishore Kumar
exploring all the different ragas
from Indian classical music
Tagore became a prominent
figure in the independence
movement, revered as a wise
and conscientious supporter
and critic of the nationalist
movement
 Independence, Language and Politics
Kazi Nazrul Islam

Known as the Rebel Poet,

Kazi Nazrul Islam was a
Bengali poet, writer,
musician, and revolutionary
from Bengal.
- He is the national poet of
Bangladesh. Popularly known
as Nazrul, he produced a large “Karar Oi Louho Kopat”
body of poetry and music
with themes that included Famous song by Kazi Nazrul
religious devotion and which was featured in the film
rebellion against oppression. by the same name
- The genre of music is called
Nazrul Giti https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=084omlZPCTo
Sri Lanka
 Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a very interesting history where two cultural
groups have had various conflicts, including a civil war in
the late 20th century. The majority is Buddhist and
Singhalese speaking population. The other large group is
Hindi and Tamil speaking.
Many of the major cultural celebrations center around the
Theravada (older) form of Buddhism.
Sri Lanka is also famous as the Kingdom of Ravana, the
antagonist in the epic Indian story the Ramayana. In the
south, Ravana is not depicted negatively and many modern
productions work to show the story from his perspective
rather than the North Indian hero, Ram.
Sri Lanka – Hewisi Ritual
Sri Lanka – Si Pabbajja Parade
Sri Lanka – Young Monk Initiation
Mid-Term Studying
50 Questions Total
30 Fill-in-the-blank (1 point each)
2 Short answer (4 points each)
6 listening examples with 2 questions (.5 points each)

Focus on larger concepts, interactions between culture, religion,

philosophy, and the musical performances
Certain terminologies will be important but less focus on the
many instrument names.
Think about comparative questions across different cultural areas.
Listen will be taken only from the audio examples!