From wandering minstrels to musicians: Abhang’s growing popularity

Warkari is a tradition within the bhakti cult of Maharashtra. Central to the ‘Warkari Sampraday’ is the annual pilgrimage or the ‘wari’ to the temple of Vitthal in Pandharpur that stands on the banks of river Chandrabhaga. This is a tradition that goes back to the 13th century. The yatra is carried out by warkaris from Alandi to Pandharpur. It witnesses the participation of lakhs of devotees, especially during Ashadi Ekadashi.

The warkari movement was founded on egalitarian credos and took cues from the Bhakti movement, which was a reaction against religious orthodoxy. It also triumphed over barriers of class, caste and gender. The saints who founded the movement themselves hailed from different castes. Dnyaneshwar was a Brahmin, Tukaram belonged to the farming community, Namdev was a tailor, Gora was a potter and Choka Mela was a Dalit. But the privileged class did not seek to create their hegemony in the movement.

The devotional composition or ‘abhanga’ (a-bhang means that which cannot be destroyed) of these saints is an elaborated, regularised form of the popular Marathi ‘ovi’ meter, with rhyming lines. It was originally sung to the accompaniment of the ektaari and chipli, that the warkaris still use during the  wari. Today abhang concerts feature harmonium, tabla, pakhawaj and tanpura. Though the singing follows raag and taal, singers have the liberty to deviate from them to usher in the devotional mood.

Based on devotional poetry, abhang offers scope for improvisation in the form of alaap, taan and sargam, its simple and hummable tunes drawn from the folk music of Maharashtra. The concept of Vitthal as ‘mauli’ (the mother) and the ideology of gender equality established the democratic substratum of this movement conclusively.

Personal connect

In the abhangs of Janabai one can discern traces of incipient feminism. Vitthal transforms into a friend, helping her perform household chores. ‘Jani sweeps the floor / The Lord collects the dirt, carries it upon his head and casts it away’ are the lines from one of her abhangs.

Bahinabai’s abhangs unveil the turbulence in her marriage, while Muktabai in her abhangs consoles her perturbed brother Dnyaneshwar, who challenges the supremacy of priests but is jeered by the privileged class. Soyarabai, the wife of Choka Mela, in a spirit of self-effacement refers to herself only as ‘Chokyachi Mahari’ and does not even mention her name, even as she radically outlines a Utopian vision in her abhang ‘Avgha rang ek zhala’, in which distinctions such as self and the other, as well as other hierarchies are eliminated, all the colours merging to become the colour of Lord Sriranga.

The wandering minstrels during their long trek to Pandharpur sing these abhangs and chant ‘gajars’ such as ‘Jnanoba Mauli Tukaram’, ‘Pandurang Mauli’, ‘Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari’ to feel invigorated.

Now, ‘Warkari Sampraday’ is being resurrected on a pan-Indian platform with classical vocalists presenting these abhangs at ‘Bolava Vitthal’, a one-of-its-kind annual festival dedicated to this genre. Conducted across the country, it has been instrumental in the transformation of the abhang into a style of music, whose appeal cuts across linguistic and geographical barriers.

Rousing notes

“It turns music into a mystical experience,” says Shashi Vyas, founder of the Mumbai-based Pancham Nishad, who conceptualised the festival. “You can see many in the audience in a meditative mode, especially when the incantatory verses are sung. For me, ‘Bolava Vitthal’ is not just a rare concept, it is more about making our rich folk and devotional music part of the mainstream. I believe they are as sacred as the classical.”

The rousing songs have also found a place in the classical music repertoire. Carnatic vocalists Aruna Sairam, Bombay Jayashri and Ranjani-Gayatri invariably render them as tukkadas towards the end of their concerts, apart from performing full-fledged abhang concerts. Young Hindustani singers such as Jayateerth Mevundi, Anand Bhate, Sawani Shinde, Mahesh Kale, Devaki Pandit and Rahul Deshpande never miss an opportunity to sing abhangs.

Pt Bhimsen Joshi’s pioneering efforts in popularising abhangvani or sant vani is notable. Kishori Amonkar had also conceptualised an abhang series with a more esoteric and complex title, ‘Tochi nadu suswar zhala’. Kumar Gandharva, Jeetendra Abhisheki, Lata Mangeshkar and Sudhir Phadke brought in their own distinct style to abhang singing.

“If there is one musical idiom that can serve as a bridge to unite all under one over-arching sentiment, it is indisputably the pluralist legacy of our bhakti music,” says Shashi Vyas.

The Bengaluru-based writer is a trained musician.

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