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Dancing with Devtas: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal, North India (Paperback)
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Dancing with Devtas: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal, North India (Paperback)
Series: SOAS Studies in Music
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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In the Central Himalayan region of Garhwal, the gods (devtas) enjoy
dancing. Musicians - whether ritual specialists or musical
specialists - are therefore an indispensable part of most
entertainment and religious events. In shamanistic ceremonies,
their incantations, songs and drumming 'make' the gods possess
their mediums. In other contexts, such as dramatic theatrical
renditions of stories of specific deities, actors 'dance' the role
of their character having become possessed by the spirit of their
character. Through the powerful sounds of their drumming, musicians
cause the gods to dance. Music, and more particularly musical
sound, is perceived in Garhwal as a powerful force. Andrew Alter
examines music and musical practice in Garhwal from an analytical
perspective that explores the nexus between musical sounds and
performance events. He provides insight into performance practice,
vocal techniques, notions of repertoire classification,
instruments, ensembles, performance venues, and dance practice.
However, music is not viewed simply as a system of organized sounds
such as drum strokes, pitch iterations or repertoire items. Rather,
in Garhwal, the music is viewed as a system of knowledge and as a
system of beliefs in which meaning and spirituality become
articulated through potent sound iterations. Alter makes a
significant contribution to the discipline of ethnomusicology
through a detailed documentation of musical practice in the context
of ritual events. The book offers a traditionally thorough
historical-ethnographic study of a region with the aim of
integrating the local field-based case studies of musical practices
within the broader Garhwali context. The work contains invaluable
oral data, which has been carefully transliterated as well as
translated. Alter blends a carefully detailed analysis of drumming
in conjunction with the complex ritual and social contexts of this
sophisticated and semantically rich musical practice.
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