Indian folk music

Indian folk music is diverse because of India's vast cultural diversity. It has many forms including bhangra, lavani, dandiya and Rajasthani. The arrival of movies and pop music weakened folk music's popularity, but cheaply recordable music has made it easier to find and helped revive the traditions. Folk music ("desi") has been influential on classical music, which is viewed as a higher art form. Instruments and styles have impacted classical ragas. It is also not uncommon for major writers, saints and poets to have large musical libraries and traditions to their name, often sung in "thumri" (semi-classical) style. Most of the folk music of India is dance-oriented.

Bhavageete

Bhavageete (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Most of the poetry sung in this genre pertain to subjects like love, nature, philosophy etc, and the genre itself is not much different from Ghazals, though ghazals are bound to a peculiar metre. This genre is quite popular in many parts of India, notably in Karnataka and Maharashtra. This genre may be called by different names in other languages.
Kannada Bhavageete draws from the poetry of modern, including Kuvempu, D.R. Bendre, Gopalakrishna Adiga , K.S. Narasimhaswamy, G.S. Shivarudrappa, K. S. Nissar Ahmed, N S Lakshminarayana Bhatta etc. Notable Bhavageete performers include P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy, C. Aswath, Shimoga Subbanna, Archana Udupa, Raju Ananthaswamy etc.

Bhangra

"Main article: Bhangra"

Bhangra is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has become a pop sensation in the United Kingdom. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Punjab called by the same name, "bhangra".

Lavani

"Main article: Lavani"

Lavani is a popular folk form of Maharashtra. Traditionally, the songs are sung by female artists, but male artists may occasionally sing Lavanis. The dance format associated with Lavani is known as Tamasha.

Dandiya

"Main article: Dandiya"

Dandiya is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has also been adapted for pop music worldwide. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Dandiya called by the same name, dandiya.

Pandavani

"Main article: Pandavani"

Rajasthani

Rajasthani music has a diverse collection of musician castes, including langas, sapera, bhopa, jogi and [http://www.omenad.net/articles/yaksha.htm manganiyar]

Bauls

The Bauls of Bengal were an order of musicians in 18th, 19th and early 20th century India who played a form of music using a khamak, ektara and dotara. The word Baul comes from Sanskrit "batul" meaning "divinely inspired insanity". They are a group of Hindu mystic minstrels. They are thought to have been influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Sufi sects. Bauls travel in search of the internal ideal, "Maner Manush" ("Man of the Heart").

Garba

"Garba (song), the songs sung in honor of Hindu goddesses during Navratri."

Dollu Kunita

"This is a group dance that is named after the Dollu - the percussion instrument used in the dance. It is performed by the menfolk of the Kuruba community of the North Karnataka area. The group consists of 16 dancers who wear the drum and beat it to different rhythms while also dancing. The beat is controlled and directed by a leader with cymbals who is positioned in the center. Slow and fast rhythms alternate and group weaves varied patterns."

Kolata

"Kolata is the traditional folk dance of the state of Karnataka, located in Southern India on the western coast. Similar to its North Indian counterpart Dandiya Ras, it is performed with coloured sticks and usually involves both men and women dancing together."

Veeragase

"Veeragase is a dance folk form prevalent in the state of Karnataka, India. It is a vigorous dance based on Hindu mythology and involves very intense energy-sapping dance movements. Veeragase is one of the dances demonstrated in the Dasara procession held in Mysore. This dance is performed during festivals and mainly in the Hindu months of Shravana and Karthika."

Dance-oriented folk music popular in Western India, especially during Navaratri.