Nimar · Central Highlands & Forest Belt
The formless divine, the worthlessness of caste distinction and of ritual display, and the discipline of the householder — composed in Nimadi in the sixteenth century by a cowherd-turned-saint and never dependent on a text.
Sung at: Night bhajan sessions, death anniversaries, the annual fair at the samadhi. Carried by bhajan mandalis across Khandwa, Khargone and Barwani. The Singaji fair in Bhadrapad is where the parties meet.
Gauri's marriage, her wait, and her return to her mother's house — sung by women in procession to the water where the images are immersed.
Sung at: The eighteen Gangaur days after Holi.
Praise of the river as mother, and the walkers' own songs — largely about distance, feet and hospitality, which is what a three-year walk is actually about.
Sung at: Evening at the ghats; on the walking route.
Courtship, teasing and the market itself, sung over dhol and mandal in a circle that runs for hours without a fixed end.
Sung at: The week of markets before Holi.
The full wedding cycle — arrival, teasing of the groom's party, the turmeric rite and the departure — sung by women of both households in alternation.
Sung at: Weddings.
Krishna and the gopis, and the seasonal licence to sing what cannot be said the rest of the year.
Sung at: Phalgun, up to Holi.
The same Kabir repertoire the plateau sings, in the valley's own vocabulary — evidence that the scarp divides the dialect and not the religion.
Sung at: Night sittings and satsang.
The folk songs of Nimar — what they are about, who sings them and when. (7)