Music of Himachal Pradesh

The music of Himachal Pradesh a state of India, includes many kinds of folk songs from the area, many of which are sung without accompaniment. Sindhu bairavi

Styles[]

is a type of song that celebrates extramarital romance. It is popular in Mahasu and Sirmaur, and is accompanied by a female dance called jhoomar.

Laman songs from Kullu Valley are another type of love song.

Saṃskāra songs are sung at festivals and celebrations by women of Himachal Pradesh. These songs are based on ragas, which are compositions of Indian classical music, as are the martial .

are religious songs, sung at the bride's house after a wedding and by women at the home of an unmarried girl.

In Chamba-Pangi, wandering musicians play a khanjari (tambourine) and perform, also using string puppets.

Musical instruments[]

Percussion[]

Himachal Pradesh folk music features a wide variety of drums, including , , , , , nagara, , , , , dhol, dolki and hudak. Non-drum percussion instruments include the ghanta and ghariyal (gongs), chimta (tongs), manjira and (cymbals), (bells), thali (platter) and .

Winds[]

Band at the Royal Palace, Sarahan, HP, India

There are also wind instruments like /algoza (twin flutes), , shehnai (oboe), (flute), karnal (straight brass trumpet) and ranasingha (curved brass trumpet).

Strings[]

String instruments include , riwana (a small fretless lute), sarangi (bowed lute), , ruman, ektara and .

Singers[]

Mohit Chauhan's 'morni', Karnail Rana's various folk songs, Dheeraj's love songs and 's 'Naatis' has given great contribution to the music of Himachal Pradesh. New initiatives like and Laman are giving Himachali folk a contemporary sound.