Dancing with Devtas: Drums, Power and Possession in the Music of Garhwal, North India

by Andrew Alter

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.

302 pages, Hardcover

First published May 22, 2008

About the author

Andrew Alter is Associate Professor in Music Studies at Macquarie University, Australia.

He has contributed to a diverse range of sub-disciplines in Popular Music Studies and Ethnomusicology. His primary research is focused on traditional and popular music in India and Indonesia as well as World Music practice in Australia. His performance interests span an eclectic mix of world music and experimental genres. Currently he leads the Macquarie University gamelan ensemble and is a member of Suara Jaya, a Balinese Gamelan ensemble based in Sydney.

As an ethnomusicologist, Andrew has published widely in the discipline’s leading journals and reference tools. He is a member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, the Australian Musicological Society, the South Asian Studies Association of Australia, the Society for Ethnomusicology and the International Council for Traditional Music.

Reviews

[Prabhat Gusain · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Garhwali context, musical sacrality is most obviously heard in the strokes and repertoire items of drummers. Their knowledge occupies a unique place in spiritual events throughout the region. The mere fact that people frequently refer to their knowledge as an ocean of drumming (Dhol Sagar) and thereby link their sounds to pan-Hindu notions of sonic power is evidence of the centrality of drumming to the region's musical culture. Drums communicate with the supernatural and are used to induce dancing and possession. Drums themselves are symbolic of the spiritual power they invoke. Nada', the 'pervading sound that animates the universe' (Rowell 1992: 45), is available to them in their drum strokes. Garhwali drummers tap into this 'primordial sound' to animate not only the universe, but also the dancers and deities who move into and within the natural world.