- By Braj Khandelwal
The traditional Braj Samaj Gayan and folk music is being practiced at Shri Radharman Temple, Shri Bhatt ji temple, Shri Radhaballabh temple, and Tatiasthan in Vrindavan to name a few. It is also practiced in Nand Mahal of Nandgaon and Laadli ji temple in Barsana during special occasion.
2024.10.13 (Vrindavan Today News): Braj mandal, which once reverberated with the sweet tunes of Shri Krishna’s flute and classical music of ancient temples, is now filled with noise and din. This change can be clearly seen at holy places like Vrindavan, Mathura, Govardhan and Barsana.
Traditional Braj folk songs and classical music have now been replaced by deafening and vulgar folk songs. The double meaning dialogues and dances present in these music not only entertain the audience but also distort the culture which is losing its purity. Temples are now dominated by loud devotional songs played on pre-recorded music, which disturb the pilgrims and weaken the spirituality.
Local music acharyas and educationists have expressed deep concern against this noise pollution. They say that this cultural pollution is affecting the spiritual peace of Braj mandal. In such a situation, it is necessary that we create awareness in this direction and try to revive traditional music and art. This is not just a matter of music, but also a question of protection of our cultural heritage. We have to unite against this noise pollution, so that the peace and beauty of Braj Mandal is not affected.
There was a time when nature used to be delighted by the sweet tunes of traditional instruments, the gurgling music of Kalindi, Samaj Gayan in temples, bhajans of Ashta Chaap poets were sung, today everywhere one can hear ear-splitting and extremely vulgar folk songs, Rasiya, double meaning dialogues on decks.
Temples once known for Haveli music used to reverberate with sweet and divine tunes, whereas today you only get to hear loud noisy devotional songs on CDs by unknown artists, which are played at full volume in hundreds of shops, which sell religious items to pilgrims visiting temples associated with Krishna-Radha Katha.
The markets along the lanes of the Banke Bihari temple in the heart of Vrindavan are full of vendors selling pre-recorded pen drives, videos, CDs, etc. “The high voltage noise from these shops round the clock has taken the level of stupidity to new heights,” says a musicologist. You can no longer listen to sacred and ancient classical music or divine bhajans, which have a soothing and healing effect on both body and mind. It is noise coming from big sound boxes. You cannot hear anything and inside the house you cannot meditate or do your daily chores without getting distracted. Elderly people are the worst affected. Women and children get easily irritated and lose their temper due to the high decibel level.”
“It has become impossible to tolerate such noise pollution now,” said a local educationist. A Goswami deeply regretted that “this current music marketing is affecting the spiritual peace of Vrindavan so much and is totally against the Brij folk music traditions that something needs to be done urgently to stop the negative trend,” he also said that a proper music university should be established in Vrindavan to nurture and promote the great musical traditions of Swami Hari Das.
This noise is not just in Vrindavan, Govardhan, Mathura, Barsana, everywhere you will find shops selling music material. “According to a rough estimate, at least hundreds of counters are open in Braj Mandal from where one can buy Braj music. These include singing related to Holi, Devi Jagran, Parikrama, Yatra, festivals. Now we also have local studios that record, market and record dance music based programmes. And there are many untrained musicians and singers who take a lot of inspiration from Bollywood music and add their own lyrics and include special sound effects like echo or jhankar and electronic beats. There are dozens of songs doing brisk business this festive season. DJ bhajans are in demand as these folk songs are full of double meaning words and at times sex. In fact, while the local music industry is flourishing, the quality of the output is a matter of concern. There are also a good number of YouTubers and reel makers who are promoting this new trend. The story tellers of Vrindavan have also set up their own music and dance troupes. This is the golden period for the promotion and propagation of Braj culture.
Before the invasion of this modern age music, there were groups of musicians and bhajan singers in the temples of Braj who were adept at Braj folk songs based on classical ragas like Pilu, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant and Maand with traditional rhythm.
Vrindavan, situated on the banks of the holy Yamuna, was the centre of Dhrupad singing. The Bhagavata Purana states that Lalita Sakhi sang in the Dhrupad style during the famous “Raas”-dance. Since then this tradition of the ancient form of worship of Lord Krishna has been maintained in the temples of Vrindavan. Dhrupad is a special North Indian style of classical music belonging to the Braj mandal. It was enriched and elevated to divine heights by the famous Swami Haridas of Vrindavan, the guru of the world famous Tansen.
But today it is only ear-splitting noise that disrupts concentration. A Vaishnav saint says, “This also includes the movement of hundreds of vehicles from Delhi and nearby areas, who in a hurry to have darshan, on the way, hear some Kirtan music, folk singing and so on.
