Lakshadweep · Island Realms
Praise of the bride and of the marriage, sung by a lead voice with a clapping chorus of women.
Sung at: Weddings, around the bride. Identical in form and function to the Mappila oppana of the Malabar coast.
Refrains sung to drums while the men's rows move — praise, seafaring, and village rivalry, with each village keeping its own set.
Sung at: Eid, weddings, village receptions at Minicoy.
Praise of the Prophet and of local saints, sung over a frame drum by a seated line of men who move only from the waist.
Sung at: Milad-un-Nabi and saints' commemorations.
Timing songs for the stick dance, whose lines set the tempo the batons have to hit.
Sung at: Weddings and festivals.
Sung by women who beat time on metal water pots while dancing. Shared directly with the Maldives, where the same form is performed under the same name.
Sung at: Women's celebration at Minicoy.
Work and departure songs from the sailing-odam era, when the islands' men crewed trading vessels to Malabar, Sri Lanka and the Gulf. Very little of this repertoire has been recorded and much of it is gone.
Sung at: Voyages and boat launching.
The folk songs of Lakshadweep — what they are about, who sings them and when. (6)