Jari, the term, means lamentation in general sense. The historical incident covered by the Muharram festival of the Muslims, constitutes the subject matter of this type of folk song. It is a long narrative sung by a leader known as boyati. He is accompanied by refrainers in the performance and is supported by a few musical instruments like dug-dugi and khanjani at places. The leader takes a chowrie in hand and starts singing various invocations first. Portions of songs are sometimes distributed between boyati and other participants.
The song develops on heroic contents first. The incident of fight between Ezid of Damascus and Enam Hussin is depicted in details. Heroic dance is performed at some places. Pathos, dealt in the episode of Kasem and Sakina where Sakina after her marriage gives farewell to Kasem for joining the war, happens to be the most popular part for Jari listeners. The narrative portions are presented in usual monotonous musical recitation attracting listeners to spoken-word portions.
This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com