Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

Delivery of the Songs

Although solo singing of religious songs is popular, most of the ceremonial singing is by groups. There are some organised groups of men devoted to singing who come together at particular social and religious occasions either for a fee or for the simple enjoyment of the singing. Women's groups function separately from those of men and are of two types. In the villages there are older women whose repertoire is relied upon by the younger women. The singing is spontaneous, with not much musical ornamentation. Then there are also organised societies either independent or in some way connected with various religious organisations, for example the Lakṣmī Samāj in Paramaribo connected with the central body of Hinduism, the Sanātana Dharma Sabhā of Surinam. The singing by such organised groups often helps to collect funds at social and religious occasions. The members of these organised groups have better training in singing picked up from senior members and their singing is more ornate. In all group singing usually a senior lady leads and others repeat after her.

[p. 5]

Sometimes the singers add words like güiyą̄ or sakhi¹, bahin or bahinī (sister), bhaiyā or bhayavā (brother), joṛā or sanghaṛī (companion) as mutual vocatives to create a feeling of camaraderie and enthusiasm in the company while singing. Similar expressions of enthusiasm, exclamation or address to fellow singers, dismissed by Grierson as ‘unmeaning phrases’ (J.R.A.S. 1884: 199) perhaps because they cannot be exactly translated even though they convey an intensity of shared feeling among the singers, are e, ye, o, ho, re, rī (feminine), are, bhalā, bhale, hą̄, aba, to, na, aur etc. The same purpose is served, but in a devotional way, by adding the name of a God-Incarnate, almost as an exclamation, seeking, as it were, His blessing upon the song or on the sentiment expressed. Some of these expressions are rām, rāmā, rāmjī, rāmjū, he rām, ho rām, siyārām, śyām, hare etc. Entire strophes, whose meaning is not directly connected with the content of the song, are also found as stobhas (vide p. 31).

1 As there is no English word to express the ‘woman friend of a woman’, the word sakhi is retained untranslated throughout.

Tunes

Each category of song is sung in a particular tune and style, and to a certain drumbeat. Even in the tape-recordings from the most untrained village groups the musically trained friends of the author have been able to detect the elements of various melodies, the rāgas, and beats, the tālas.²

2 Some discussion on the topic may be found in D.P. Siṁha ('44: 3, 15 ff.), K. Gandharva (S.P. '51: 311 ff.), K. Upādhyāya ('60: 341, 375-376), V. Prasād ('62: 51-53 intr.).