BHAJANS   (the booklet) 
Popular devotional songs

The term bhajan refers to a religious musical genre originally sung by devotees.  Its appearance around the VIII century coincides with the emergence of the bhakti philosophy (doctrine of devotion and love).  Still very widespread in Northern India, this religious music is often performed in Hindu temples as well as at home when celebrating certain deities or for specific requests such as the arrival of the monsoon, protection against illnesses, etc.  During full moon (poornima), for example, bhajans will be performed to celebrate Vishnu (SateNarayan). 

The genre bhajan appears in numerous musical forms according to the different regions, but is always meant for singing and accompanied by at least one pair of small cymbals typical of the cult (manjirâ) and in the Thar desert, by a string instrument (tambûrâ). Elsewhere, the latter is replaced by one of a variety of drums (tabla, dolak ...). In its classical as well as popular versions, the bhajans follows a râg (a coded musical emotion).  They generally start with a greeting to the deity who is addressed.  The first few lines are repeated in the refrain throughout the song which ends with the name of the poet who has composed it.  If today the professional singers include one or other bhajan in their repertoire (Pandit Bhimshen Joshi, Shoba Gurtu, Lakshmi Shankar,…) this genre of religious and popular music whose rules are dictated by tradition and local specifications stays above all the domain of devotional expression of non-professional musicians.  Thus, to the west of Rajasthan, it is generally the communities of Meghwals or of Bhils, sometimes joined by professional musicians of other communities (Manghaniyars,....) who interpret the bhajans, called vaani in local dialect.




The interpreters and the social context
Mahesha Ram and his companions, from the Meghwal community, come from a village called Janra, situated 50 km from the small town of Jaisalmer and 25 km from the village of Khuri.  Janra, despite its isolation, is famous in the region for its old temple where the local goddess Malan, a reincarnation of the goddess Durga (the Inaccessible) is venerated every year during the festival of the month of Bhadna (in August, the 13^th and 14^th day after the full moon). The temple attracts numerous pilgrims who come to sacrifice up to about sixty goats. The maintenance of the temple as well as the offices is entrusted to the members of the warrior-caste, the Jaga Rajputs, and not, as one would suppose, to the priests of the caste of Brahmins.

The complexity of the social net and the service relations between these different components should prompt us to qualify certain schematic and incorrect notions about the Indian society, traditional or modern.

In the heart of the Thar desert, where traditions are still firmly rooted and isolated from the progress and evolution of modern society, the Mahesa Ram group of Janra, thus called on the occasion of the realization of this disc, is exclusively composed of members of the jati (subdivision of the varna, the caste) of the Meghwals, the community that works with leather traditionally (Chamâr : shoemakers, tanners,…). 
This community of “untouchables” at the lowest rung of the social ladder has turned over to stonework about 20 years ago.  Recently certain members even practice other professions or have jobs in the administration, which represents an undisputed rise in social improvement, as much for individuals as for the group as such.

But whatever the individual or collective social mutations in their community and the complex rules which govern them, the Meghwals, through their ancestral contract with the other communities, continue to interpret their bhajans in the spirit of religious and popular tradition.