Music of Bihar

Bihar is a state of India. The classical form of the Indian music is already quite well known and the classical music in Bihar is but a form the Hindustani Classical Music. Hence we talk about the folk culture of Bihar which is rather distinctive.

Bihar is one of the few Indian states which has a rich subaltern culture. The region's folk songs are associated with the various events during the life time of an ordinary person. There are songs like sohar - performed during childbirth, sumangali - associated with wedding, ropnigeet - performed during the season of sowing paddy, katnigeet - performed during the paddy harvesting season, purbi, chaita, hori, bidesia, ghato, birha, kajari, irni/ birni, pachra, jhumar, jatsari, aalah, nirgun, and samdaun.

These folk songs have an echo in the songs of far off places like Mauritius and Caribbean where a large of Bihari indentured labourers were taken as coolies during the nineteenth century.

There is a great tradition of folk songs started by Bhikhari Thakur, the redoubtable artist from the Bhojpur region.

Other wandering folk singers include the Kathaks, who travelled in groups and performed accompanied by dholak, sarangi, tamburu and majira. Other musician classes included Roshan Chouki, Bhajaniya, Kirtaniya, Pamaria and Bhakliya.