 Bihugeets are one of the most important components of Assamese folk music. These reflect a kind of pagan devotion to nature which is manifested in popular festivals that are associated with the change of seasons. These popular festivals, which mark the advent of spring and autumn, are called Bihus. The Bihu-songs are the ones which accompany these festivities. Bihu songs, spontaneous in passion and thought, are composed mostly in couplets. Each couplet usually conveys one particular emotion. Most of these songs are romantic. They are youthful songs addressing the emotions, joy and pain of youth. They are characterised by sweetness, lucidity and tender shades of suggestion. The Bihu songs convey not only the mood of light amorous flirtation, but also every mood that is reflected in human behavior.
Some of the Bihu songs are apparently symbolic and there is in them a certain level of submerged meaning. In such poems, an image is used on "twin-levels", the understanding of which serves as a clue to submerged meanings; this is worked out through the interaction of the two levels. There are Bihu songs in which the red Riha, i.e., a girl's breast-cloth, or the bamboo tree is used as a symbol of ripeness for young girls; all this is connected in a symbolic way with the "procreative urge" of the earth or of woman. The Sindoor or vermilion put in the parting of a girl's hair is a sex-symbol; the vermilion-mark is a blood substitute. This mark on the forehead as also in the parting of a girl's hair symbolises the fact of her maturity and the capacity to receive and hold. As with other folk songs, improvisation continues to be a part of the composition. There are instances of insertions even of common English words that have gone as current usage into the language. However, this has not in any way affected the popular structure of the song. This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com |
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