Garba-Rasa : A Folk Music and Dance

Contents: Introduction. Acknowledgement. 1. Etiology and geneses of Garba. 2. Antiquity and beginning of rasa. 3. Development of rasa through the ages. 4. Rasa in present days. 5. Origin and development of Garaba. 6. Rasa-Garaba in sculptures and paintings. 7. Rasa-Garaba in relation to religious and social changes. Appendix: 1. The folk art of Gujarat. 2. Note on folk-songs. 3. The resume of Garabas. Bibliography.

"This book deals with the most important and the popular subject about the prized cultural heritage of Gujarat, mainly its folk art forms, with special reference to the Garaba-rasa.

It examines Garaba-Rasa from the prehistoric to the present and from cultural, literary and archaeological points of view. But it is not merely an academic study; it includes the musical and performative aspects of the genre. The approach undertaken here is both multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary. The study is the result of extensive field work and archival research.

This book illustrates the distinguished aspect of Gujarat's Rasa-Garaba. The famous folk art of Garaba is basically associated with the worship of Mother Goddess, a sentimental phenomena. It is a symbolic representation of Mother Goddess worship as a supernatural power of fertility, creativity, and universality, under the impact of Shakti cult Garaba was developed and under the impact of Vaishnavism, or Krishna cult, Rasa was developed.

The book encompasses a wide range of fields cutting across each other. Although, it is a part of the larger discipline of ethnoarchaeology with the physical and the cultural environmental study, it can be allied with such subjects as ethno-musicology, indology, sociology, cultural anthropology, art, history, linguistics, literature, music and dance.

The book can be useful to the scholars interested in specialized disciplines mentioned above and the common people who are brought up in the traditions of folk art, music and dance of Gujarat. Though scholarly and richly allusive to literature and ancient scriptures, it is written in a simple and lucid style which can be easily intelligible to the common masses interested in knowing the rich cultural heritage of Gujarat.

The book also includes some most popular sample Garabas which are written, composed and rendered by the author and some folk songs collected from rural and tribal areas as rare collection and rendered by the author, who has a life-long interest in these songs.

Since the book deals with a popular topic in a scholarly way, it can be useful to the various organisations and institutions like school, colleges, universities, cultural and educational institutions, libraries, museums, Akashwani (AIR), tourism departments, department of culture, centres for youth activities and services, Doordarshan and Sangit, Nritya, Nataka Academies and even to the personal collection, not only in Gujarat but in India and abroad, and not only for Gujaratis, but for Indians in general and the foreigners.

Let the young generation have the exposure of the original fervour, flavour and fragrance of the songs of the soil and of Garaba-Rasa, the folk music and dance and let it be enjoyed by all. Let us be proud of our great cultural heritage of Gujarat." (jacket)