Braj · Upper Indus–Gangetic Plain
Radha and Krishna's teasing, quarrels and reconciliations, sung in the first person and often bawdy. The Holi rasiya of Barsana and Nandgaon are sung competitively between the two towns.
Sung at: Holi, Radhashtami, and village gatherings year-round.
Devotional verse from the Ashtachhap and Haridasi poets, sung congregationally in a dhrupad-derived style.
Sung at: Temple assemblies at Vrindavan.
Colour-play as an erotic metaphor. A genre that left the region entirely — the classical hori-thumri sung in Banaras and Lucknow is this repertoire.
Sung at: The forty days of the Holi cycle.
Swings, rain and separation, sung as the deities are swung in the temples.
Sung at: Sawan.
Girls' songs sung over the making of sanjhi images, addressed to Radha as a young girl.
Sung at: Pitru Paksha, while the stencils are made.
Devotional night-long singing to the goddess and to Krishna, in a repertoire shared with Haryana and Rajasthan.
Sung at: Night vigils.
The folk songs of Braj — what they are about, who sings them and when. (6)