Jatyavarchi oviMarathi
Two-line couplets improvised by women turning a hand quern — about brothers, in-laws, the village, the deity and the work itself. The metre is set by the stone's rotation, which is why the lines are the length they are.
कब गाया जाता है: At the grindstone, before dawn. More than a hundred thousand of these couplets have been recorded and transcribed from Maharashtra by the Grindmill Songs Project, making it one of the largest single collections of women's oral poetry anywhere.
BharudMarathi
Devotional argument delivered in the voice of a drunkard, a snake-charmer or a possessed woman, so that the audience laughs first and understands afterwards. Written by Eknath at Paithan.
कब गाया जाता है: Kirtan and stage performance.
Gondhal and jogwa songsMarathi
Invocation of the goddess and recitation of her deeds, sung standing, to sambal and tuntune.
कब गाया जाता है: Weddings, and vows to Bhavani or Renuka.
Palna and angaiMarathi
Cradle songs sung at the fifth or twelfth-day naming, addressed to the child by the name being given.
कब गाया जाता है: The naming ceremony and the cradle.
PowadaMarathi
Battle narrative, delivered at speed with a daf, in a metre built for a standing crowd.
कब गाया जाता है: Fairs, public meetings.
Noha and marsiyaDakhni Urdu
The Karbala elegy in the Deccan register. In several Marathwada villages the Muharram taziya procession draws participation from Hindu households as well, a pattern documented across the Deccan.
कब गाया जाता है: Muharram.
Bhim GeetMarathi
Songs on Ambedkar, the conversion and the Buddha, performed by shahirs and jalsa troupes. A large modern folk repertoire with a known origin date and a continuously growing corpus.
कब गाया जाता है: Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din, Ambedkar Jayanti, weddings.
LengiGor Boli (Lambani)
Sowing, seeking a husband, and the road — Banjara songs still carry the vocabulary of a caravan economy that ended a century and a half ago.
कब गाया जाता है: Teej and Holi.