Rajasthani folk musicians battle heat, landlessness to save ancient art

In a noisy roadside restaurant along the Delhi-Haridwar highway, Subhash Nayak sits quietly in a corner, playing his Ravanhatta. The fading notes of the ancient instrument struggle to rise above the hum of passing vehicles and chatter of diners.

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Dressed in a bright turban and a satin-print waistcoat, Subhash is among the last of the Bhopas -- traditional priest-singers of Rajasthan — who still play the Ravanhatta, a bowed string instrument believed to have been created by the demon king Ravana to worship Lord Shiva.

But today, he mostly plays Bollywood songs. "Folk music is my first choice, but people prefer Bollywood songs. They help me earn my bread," he says. Every summer, Subhash and his wife leave their home in Khabarpura village in Rajasthan’s Churu district, where temperatures easily cross 45 degrees Celsius, and travel to Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and other towns in Uttar Pradesh to survive.

The reason, their 700-year-old art, Pabuji ki Phad, a spellbinding musical performance where Bhopas sing heroic tales of the folk deity Pabuji, is slowly fading away.

The heart of this struggle lies in the intersection of two pressing issues: landlessness and climate change.

According to Jitendra Sharma from Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, in Rajasthan, Pabuji is believed to be an incarnation of Lakshman. His story is painted on a cloth scroll called a Phad and folk singers called Bhopas travel from village to village singing and narrating his tale.

The Koli community weaves the cloth, while Brahmins paint the pictures. The Raikas, a pastoral community known for extensive camel herding, worship Pabuji because they believe he protects their animals. The Rajputs respect him, as Pabuji himself was a Rathore Rajput.