Gīgīpada (Gigipada, Gīgī Pada) singers of the Holeya community (left to right): Yerappa Basavappa Sutagaji, of Kalma Galli (voice and taal or jhāñjh cymbals); Ramachandra Ramappa Dhavale, of Tigadi Galli (voice and daf); and Basappa Gagappa Talwar, of Talwar Galli (voice and tuṇtuṇe). Gigipada singers performed Kannada songs, created by Hulkund Basappa, Purandara Dasa, and Hosur Somappa, at festivals. They sang mystical songs, auspicious songs, and modern songs on sanitation and cleanliness of body and mind.
Two Holeya (Dalit, Pulaya) agricultural women in traditional saris sing back a song, after hearing the song recorded by musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938. The woman on the right wears sacred red and white muttu beads worn only by jogtīs (devadāsīs) (women dedicated to Goddess Renuka/Yellamma). Men wearing white dhotis or navy pants stand behind. The names of four women singing are: Basava Bhimshappa Bharamannavar, Gangavva Shivappa Bharamannavar, Dayamavva Phakirappa Bharamannavar, and Bhimavva Yalapappa.
Eight visible girls (of 18) in bright long skirts and blouses hold hands as they sing and dance in a circle around the image of an elephant (not visible in image), representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi, thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle.
Nine visible girls (of 18) in bright long skirts and blouses hold hands as they sing and dance in a circle around the image of an elephant (lower right corner of image), representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi, thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle.
Members of the Basavanneppa Band at a baraat wedding procession. A band member holds a mini Casio keyboard and stands beside a microphone and amplifier attached to a bicycle. They are in front of an Indian Airlines bus. The location is 35/1 Vardhappa Rd., Belgaum 590004.
Village children observe an interview that is happening off-camera between community leaders and ethnomusicology researchers traveling with Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy.
Two children play in an open area of the village bordered by tile-roof homes, with carts, a tree and adults at work. An open sewer is visible on the right.
Left to right: Reverend Adina, of the Holy Name Cathedral with choir members Mr. Divakar Abnes, Mr. Tejappa Peter (violinist, age 74), Mrs. Makalamma Havalad, Mrs. Hinnamma Ajagrni, age 78; Smt. Jeevubai Goni and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy (behind Smt. Goni). Session at Holy Name Cathedral to playback music recorded by the musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938, and to re-record music performed by the session participants. The participants were brought to the session by the minister, Reverend Adina.
Close-up view of the playing end of a sattakulai multiple-reed aerophone, an earlier version of the longer bari nāgasvaram. Composed of a wooden pipe with ten holes, a brass bell, and a brass staple to attach the reed. Extra reeds hang by strings. Its player Mukkasāmi, age 55, said the sattakulai (cattak kuḻāy) is becoming extinct.
Saraswathi Swaminathan, archivist of the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology, interviews Doreswami, age 80, in Tamil. Doreswami is the grandfather of Mr. K. Bose, the principal of Usilampatty school. The interview was recorded at the Usilampatty Circuit House.
Performance of a dance by the Om Periyaswamy dance troupe at the Tamil Nadu Hotel. Dancer balances a kavadi (small wooden structure with an arch covered with a piece of cloth) on his back while dancing. Blurry photo.
View of a cement statue of a rearing white horse (Kalki ?) with its front hooves resting on the shoulders of a moustached, garlanded statue of female figure (Goddess Kali ?). The rider’s right arm is visible holding stick aloft in his hand. There is a lion statue and two Nandi bull statues at the base of the horse and figure. Two lion statues lie atop the white-and-red-striped walls surrounding the compound. Almost all of the statues are polychrome, with some black statues on lower level of compound. A tall black statue and stele is in front of compound. Paddy fields and a tree are visible in the background; there is a hammer-and-sickle (?) atop a pole. Sheaves of drying grass (?) are hanging from the tree. The numbers “19|3” are visible on a tall pole in front of compound.
View of a cement statue of woman astride rearing white horse, its hooves resting on the heads of two guards holding maces. A third, smaller figure behind them also holds a mace. Three figures stand under the belly of the horse: a male with two right arms, one in an abhaya mudra, and one holding a flame (?) aloft; a female with her left hand near her head; and a young girl with a long braid.
View looking down toward a statue of a rearing white horse, with a cowshed, haystack and green paddy fields visible in background. A bodhi tree with aerial branches and a man in a white turban are in the foreground. Three boys and an elderly man with walking stick walk up the slope toward the man in white turban.
Sixteen visible girls in bright long skirts and blouses stand in a line, some holding hands, with an image of an elephant, representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi (thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle) on the ground in front of them.
A man in white plays a daf; Haranśikārī (Haran Shikari, Haranshikari) ritualist Chandappa Jampana Kattimani dances with his eyes closed as men, women and children gathered around him watch; Gaekwad, driver of the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology research team, stands and guards villagers.
I. P. Kurusāmi, hereditary temple processional musician, plays a nāgasvaram, a long multiple-reed aerophone. Kurusāmi was a member of a Nāiyāndī Mēḷam ensemble (also known as Periya Nayanam, Kaliyappan Mela Cettu, Urumi (Urumbi, Urummi) Mēḷam).
A. K. Ganesan, hereditary temple processional musician, plays tavil barrel-shaped drum. Ganesan was a member of a Nāiyāndī Mēḷam ensemble (also known as Periya Nayanam, Kaliyappan Mela Cettu, Urumbi (Urummi, Uṟumi) Mēḷam).
Venkatacalam Tevar (aka Pillai), professional singer and tep player, singing “Kaman Pāndigai,” a Tamil lavani genre sung in debate form. He has no sisyas as the form is out of fashion.
Two Holeya (Dalit, Pulaya) agricultural women in traditional saris sing back a song, after hearing the song recorded by musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938. The woman on the right wears sacred red and white muttu beads worn only by jogtīs (devadāsīs) (women dedicated to Goddess Renuka/Yellamma). Men wearing white dhotis or navy pants stand behind. The names of four women singing are: Basava Bhimshappa Bharamannavar, Gangavva Shivappa Bharamannavar, Dayamavva Phakirappa Bharamannavar, and Bhimavva Yalapappa.
Gondhal ceremony--Inauguration of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology. Devotional ritual music to Hindu Goddess Amba. Standing behind a mandhab, vocal ensemble musicians with instruments (left to right): Jagannath Tite (tuṇtuṇe), Bhagvan Renake (jālra), and R. H. Garuda (sambal). A flame, incense and objects are on the left.
Jāgran (Vāghyā Muralī)--Inauguration of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology. Behind the mandhab, Mānik Bāī gestures and holds a tuṇtuṇe, and a musician sings and plays jālra, during a Jāgran (Hindu ritual): Vāghyā Muralī Jāgran – Marathi devotional ritual music to Hindu deity Khaṇḍobā Goddess Amba. A flame and objects are on the left.
Partly loaded jeep for a field trip, at the entrance to the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology, on the premises of the American Institute of Indian Studies at Deccan College. The head of the driver, Ram Gaekwad, is visible at the back of the jeep. Umashankar Mantravadi, member of the Bake Restudy team, is on the right.
Kalpana Bandiwdekar, Archive Assistant at the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology (left), and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy at the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology, on the premises of the American Institute of Indian Studies.
At a wedding procession, nine brass players and one clarinetist of the Basavanneppa Band stand alongside an Indian Airlines bus. The Basavanneppa Band includes bass drums (2), side drums (2), snare drums (2), clarinets (3), baritone horns (3), trumpets (4), and tubas (2). The location is 35/1 Vardhappa Rd., Belgaum 590004.
Application of face makeup on Mallakajappa Mallappa Gaddankeri (left) and the younger male actor playing role of Krishna, Mallakajappa Mallappa Gaddankeri, by the troupe leader and actor, Shrimati Mallava Megeri.
Chandappa Jampana Kattimani (mostly off-camera on the left), and other village leaders, one in a green and yellow turban, one in a black fez and one in a red turban, with villagers behind them.
On the day of an enactment of the folk tale about Lord Krishna, his two wives, and the magical pārijāt tree, the Mallava Megeri Krishna Pārijāta Company poses outdoors on a dhurrie carpet, with actors Shrimati Mallava Megeri, troupe leader, holding a doll; Gudusab Nadat Khajidoni; and Mallakajappa Mallappa Gaddankeri (Krishna); and with musicians Krishnaji Varad Tulasigiri (tablā); Hanuman Mastar (harmonium); and Ramanna Sonshi (taal).
Chandappa Jampana Kattimani’s young grandson in red shorts rises while dancing ecstatically with his father’s help. Kattimani smiles and watches. Other Haranśikārī (Haran Shikari, Haranshikari) watch. An altar of three bricks and ashes is in the foreground. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Chandappa Jampana Kattimani bends forward as he chants. His sons and village men, women and children listen. One son looks into camera. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Induced enactment of a Haranśikārī (Haran Shikari, Haranshikari) ritual dance. A man in white plays a daf frame drum, a bearded man dances while holding a sword above his head with both hands. The sword is a Haranśikārī cultural symbol. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Chandappa Jampana Kattimani’s young grandson dances. An elderly woman joins ecstatic dancing. Young men in sarongs and jeans watch. At Gangadhar Nagar.
A man in white plays a daf, a bearded man dances while holding a sword in both hands, and a second man holds sword upright while dancing. Women and children watch. At Gangadhar Nagar.
In an open area in the village, the musicians are, from left: unidentified musician (pambai, drum pair), A. K. Ganesan (tavil), unidentified musician (instrument blocked), unidentified musician (“shrutiputtu” shrutipeti, “tone box”) pumped free-reed aerophone (substitutes for traditional ottu reed pipe), I. P. Kurusāmi (nāgasvaram), unidentified musician (nāgasvaram), unidentified musician (taḷām cymbals), M. Raman is behind a musician (tavil), unidentified (timiri – small membranophone played with two sticks), Karutta Kannan (pambai, single drum), and behind Karutta Kannan, an unidentified musician (pambai, drum pair). Nāiyāndī Mēḷam ensemble (also known as Periya Nayanam, Kaliyappan Mela Cettu, Urumbi (Urummi, Uṟumi) Mēḷam).
I. P. Kurusāmi, hereditary temple processional musician, plays a nāgasvaram, a long multiple-reed aerophone. Kurusāmi was a member of a Nāiyāndī Mēḷam ensemble (also known as Periya Nayanam, Kaliyappan Mela Cettu, Uṟumi (Urumbi, Urummi) Mēḷam).
View of a cement statue of the god Aiyanar, and the temple corner, from a high vantage point behind, with hanging aerial branches of bodhi tree in the foreground. A statue of a woman appears to crawl toward the edge of the temple wall toward Aiyanar.
An Aiyanar temple guardian: Cement statue of god Aiyanar (goddess?) astride a rearing white horse (Kalki), placed on a high pedestal at the corner of a temple wall. His (?) consort or servant Puranai stands beneath the horse with other figures. The slide was taken en route between Madurai and Usilampatty.
During a session to sing Kanarese songs, seven Holeya women and two children sit on fabric on a tile floor. Two hand woven rugs are on the walls behind them. Session to playback and re-record music originally recorded by musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938 (Bake 68.6, 68.7 and .68.8, and 70.1). This is the first playback and re-record session of the 1984 Bake Restudy field trip.
Sixteen visible girls (of 18) in bright long skirts and blouses hold hands as they sing and dance in a circle around the image of an elephant, representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi, thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle. One girl crouches and points to the image.
Agasta Lingam Pillai, leader of a Villupāttu ensemble seated, at the left end of the villu (bow) instrument (also known as Villupattu, Villadichampaatu, and Villisai).
Agasta Lingam Pillai, leader of a Villupāttu ensemble seated, at the left end of the villu (bow) instrument (also known as Villupattu, Villadichampaatu, and Villisai).
Fourteen visible girls in bright long skirts and blouses stand in a line, some holding hands. They all look at another girl who faces two girls on the right, and who stands to the right of an image of an elephant, representing the vahana of Goddess Lakshmi (thus worshiping Shakti, the feminine principle).
Close-up view of the villu (bow) instrument and pot that it rests on used by the Villupāttu ensemble (also known as Villupāttu, Villadichampaatu, and Villisai).
Two clarinets and a trumpet play in the center of a band in formation during a wedding procession as a city bus passes. The Basavanneppa Band includes bass drums (2), side drums (2), snare drums (2), clarinets (3), baritone horns (3), trumpets (4), and tubas (2). The location is 35/1 Vardhappa Rd., Belgaum 590004.
Gangadhar Nagar community leader Chandappa Jampana Kattimani holds a photograph and obituary of the musicologist Arnold Adriaan Bake. He is being interviewed off camera by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, who asks whether he remembers Bake’s visit in 1938.
Gangadhar Nagar community leader Chandappa Jampana Kattimani holds a photograph and obituary of the musicologist Arnold Adriaan Bake. He is being interviewed off camera by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, who asks whether he remembers Bake’s visit in 1938.
Villagers observe an interview that is happening off-camera between community leaders and ethnomusicology researchers travelling with Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy. The researchers' jeep is in the background.
Gopibai Sivlal, a Kanjar Bhāṭ woman, dances in the Rajasthani ghumar style while women sing and clap. She dances to the same songs as were recorded by musicologist A. A. Bake in 1938 (Tefi# 63.12), “Bhat dance with women’s song” and “Kamlivalo” (“Blanket Man”), about Prophet Mohammed. In the left foreground, Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy’s left hand adjusts the microphone. Many women and children watch. At Gangadhar Nagar. This scene was used in the Bake Restudy video. Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy returned in 1991 and they performed the same song with additional historical verses.
Gopibai Sivlal, a Kanjar Bhāṭ woman, dances alone in the Rajasthani ghumar style with arms outstretched holding two crossed sticks, while children, women, and men watch. Ranjit, a bearded drummer, plays ḍholak. Women sing and clap. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Gopibai Sivlal, a Kanjar Bhāṭ woman, dances alone in the Rajasthani ghumar style with arms outstretched holding two crossed sticks above her head, while children, women, and men watch. Ranjit, a bearded drummer, plays ḍholak. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Chandappa Jampana Kattimani raises his right hand as he chants. His sons and village men, women and children listen. HIs young grandson looks into camera. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy asks women, including Gopibai Sivlal, to identify the 1938 recording (made by musicologist A. A. Bake) that they have just heard. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Gopibai Sivlal, Kanjar Bhāṭ woman, covers her head with her sari pallo as she dances in the Rajasthani ghumar style, while women clap and sing. Men and boys watch from the outer circle. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Haranśikārī (Haran Shikari, Haranshikari) community watches as Ranjit, a musician, prepares a ḍholak for a Bhāṭ dance and song at Gangadhar Nagar. At Gangadhar Nagar.
Madurai Minakshi Temple bhajana mandali group devotional singing in front of the candle-lit altar to many deities, represented in framed Tanjore style paintings. Baby Krishna is distinguishable on left side. Probably Meenakshi is in the center. Tiruppati, age 62 and the bhajan group leader, is barely distinguishable on left side, second in the line, after the harmonium player. Others hold lyric books as they sing the songs that A. A. Bake recorded in 1938 (Tefi 7.6, a Tirupaha - Praise of God, 14.1, 14.6, and 14.4, as well as six other items, including newer bhajans and an arati). Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy went to Madurai especially to meet Tiruppati, whom A. A. Bake recorded in 1938.
Seated portrait of Tiruppati, age 62, singing, the blind leader of Madurai Meenakshi Temple bhajan mandali (group devotional, sacred song singers). Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy went to Madurai especially to meet Tiruppati, whom A. A. Bake recorded in 1938.
A. K. Ganesan, hereditary temple processional musician, plays tavil barrel-shaped drum. Ganesan was a member of a Nāiyāndī Mēḷam ensemble (also known as Periya Nayanam, Kaliyappan Mela Cettu, Urumbi (Urummi, Uṟumi) Mēḷam).
View of a cement statue of woman astride a rearing white horse, the hooves resting on the heads of two guards holding maces. A third, smaller figure behind them also holds a mace. Three figures stand under the belly of the horse: a male with two right arms, one in an abhaya mudra, and one holding a flame (?) aloft; a female with her left hand near her head; and a young girl with a long braid.
Village Guardian (?): View of a cement statue of god Aiyanar (blue face, moustache) astride rearing white horse (Kalki ?). His two servants (?), female and male, stand beneath the horse. Statues of two black horses on the lower level of the area rimmed by stone wall.
Gondhal ceremony--Inauguration of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology. Three musicians perform a Jāgran (Hindu ritual): Vāghyā Muralī Jāgran – Marathi devotional ritual music to Hindu deity Khaṇḍobā and Goddess Amba. Standing behind a mandhab, musicians (left to right): Jagannath Tite (tuṇtuṇe), Bhagvan Renake (jālra), and R. H. Garuda (sambal). A flame, incense and objects are on the left.
Venkatacalam Tevar (aka Pillai) professional singer and tep player. Singing “Kaman Pāndigai,” a Tamil lavani genre in debate form, while playing tep (frame drum). Looking downward, his fingers are splayed in both hands. He wears a silver ring on his left index finger. Young boy in the audience smiles.
Minatchi Sundaram Tevar identified some Bake items, including a singer who was his teacher. He was a non-professional musician associated with Vinayakar Temple (Maravar), Terku Madi Viti (Madurai).
Venkatacalam Tevar (also known as Pillai) professional singer and tep player. Singing “Kaman Pāndigai,” a lavani genre sung in debate form, while playing tep (frame drum). With his eyes closed, he gestures with his right hand.
Venkatacalam Tevar (aka Pillai), professional singer and tep player, singing “Kaman Pāndigai,” a Tamil lavani genre sung in debate form. He has no sisyas as the form is out of fashion.