The ancient city of Banaras (now Varanasi) has evolved over the centuries, owning its distinct customs, and rich folk traditions. The city celebrates Holi with fervour with its unique folk music tradition of Hori songs.

Born and brought up in Banaras, Indian classical vocalist Padma Shri Dr Soma Ghosh recently presented and spoke about the Hori songs of Banaras in a delightful musical show called Barsat Rang held at NCPA, Mumbai.

Ghosh began her initial training in classical music with her mother Archana Chakraborty, a poetess and a classical vocalist of Banaras Gharana, who developed the poetic essence of her gayaki. Ghosh had the privilege of learning the intricacies of Banaras Gharana from legendary exponent Bageshwari Devi, which helped her enrich her versatility as a vocalist that spans across genres — from semi-classical music to ghazals. She could not be more blessed to have been appreciated for her gayaki from Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan saheb, who later adopted her as her daughter.

Shedding insights into the Hori songs Ghosh explains, “After the chills of winters, there blossoms the spring season with the blessings of Maa Saraswati bestowing upon us the wisdom, knowledge and love on the occasion of Basant Panchami. While the cuckoo bird flocks around the new blossoms, the forlorn in love Radha misses her beloved Krishna, who is far away. She sings Hori songs to call him to come and celebrate the festive season. That’s when the Hori singing begins in Banaras, marking the festival of colours. Holi is celebrated at a time of the year when the fields are in full bloom and people are expecting a good harvest. This gives people a good reason to rejoice, make merry and submerge themselves in the spirit of Holi.”

The tradition of playing with colours on Holi draws its roots from the tradition of Radha and Krishna. It is said that young Krishna was jealous of Radha’s fair complexion since he was dark. He narrated his woe to his mother, Yashoda, who teasingly asked him to colour Radha’s face. In a mischievous mood, Krishna applied colour to Radha’s face. Thus, began the tradition of applying colour to one’s beloved, which is followed till date.

“The Hori compositions represent the eternal romance of Radha and Krishna, which depict their sweet banters when Krishna teases Radha and plays pranks on her, and when she gets angry, he appeases her,” Ghosh explains. “There are different moods of Hori, which depict the raas-leela between Radha and Krishna. In one of the compositions, Radha cries when Krishna leaves her, saying, Beete awadhi saiyan ghar nahi aaye. When Krishna gets to know her pain, he comes running to play Hori with her. But an angry Radha retaliates and says, Hori khelan nahi jane dekho aye anokhe khilaiya. Krishna appeases her with the composition Maan ja sakhi, while Radha complains to her sakhis (playmates) about Krishna saying: Aeri sakhi main to gayi thi paiyan bharan, cheen japat mori mataki phori.”

Adding further she says, “Radha doesn’t leave Krishna and with her sakhis she adorns him as a maiden and sings Rang daroongi nand ke lalan pe, nari banaye nachaye chori hoon, daph mridang ke talan pe. Now, Krishna gets angry and Radha appeases him singing, Kaun jatan piya ko manaun, piya to manat nahi. Eventually, when they reconcile, they sing together, Aaj Biraj main hori re rasiya. Finally, the two are immersed in eternal love, and Radha sings, Piya tore rang main rangaile mohe. Thus, these compositions represent different shades of romance, love, and harmony that the festival of Holi teaches mankind.”

There is a spiritual side to the Hori of Banaras. “It is the Masan Holi where the aghoris smear ash from the lit funeral pyre over their bodies, embodied as Lord Shiva. This Hori is devoid of love, colours, Radha-Krishna, but has the depiction of Shiva, with ghosts and spirits as his mates. It’s played with the ashes of the dead, used as abir and gulaal, while the snake spits the garal (poison). It is depicted as pichkari in compositions like Khele masane main hori Digambar, bhoot pisach ki tori lekar khele masane main Hori, and another composition Hori Khele Bambola.

Interestingly, Hori has both classical as well as semi-classical connections. When it is sung as a classical piece, it is a sequel to the Dhrupad form, which is called Dhamaar, a musical genre which has 14 beats. The excitement of Hori is depicted skillfully in the Dhamaar recitals with the use of tempo variations such as Dugun, Tigun, and Chaugun, that is double, triple, and quadruple beats.

Hori, when sung in the semi-classical repertoire, incorporates the elements of thumri, which is sung in lighter taals such as the 14 beats Deepchandi, 16 beats Teentaal, seven beats Rupak, 12 beats Ektal or the 10 beats Jhaptaal. Most of the Hori’s are sung in raga Kafi along with many other ragas like Mishra Kafi, Khamaj, Shahana Kanhara, Sarang, and Pilu, which are Sringar Rasa Pradhan and depict love and passion.

Holi is celebrated with different folk rituals in Banaras and Braj Bhoomi. In Banaras, there is a tradition of Akhad ki Hori where men drink thandai with bhang, get on the streets on the eve of the festival, use swear words for their loved ones, while women stay indoors during this time. On the other hand, the women in Barsana and Nandgaon beat the men with lathis during Lathmar Holi. As per a legend, Lord Krishna, who was a resident of Nandgaon was considered the son-in-law of Barsana, where Radha lived. He came with his mates to play Holi with Radha and her sakhis, while they greeted them with sticks and drove them out of Barsana.

Every festival celebrated in Banaras has a musical connection. “Banaras celebrates festivals with a distinct musical form, which has a specific reason to celebrate, and it’s important to understand what it wants to convey. The gayaki of Banaras has an abhinaya ang, and that’s why earlier, the thumri performers were also taught dance to enhance the emotional quotient of their musicality,” Ghosh concludes.