Music of Assam:

TEJORE KOMOLAPOTI

Composed by Sri Sri Madhav Deva

Available in Audio Cassette

 
“Tejore Komolapoti porobhate nindo

teri sando mukho pekho uthore gobindo

 Rojonee biduro dixo dhowoli borono

Timir feria baaj  robir kiron

 Xotopotro bikoxit bhromor urai

Brojo bodhu dodhi mothe tuwa guno gaa

 Daam xudame dake teri loiaa naam

Hero dekho uthia aaxil boluram

 Nondo gel baathane, guwal gel paal

Xurobhi saarite laage uthore Gopal

 Khir lobonu loiu xinga bet benu

Xokale meliyo botxo hambalwe dhenu

 Trijogot  poti hori rakhuwal paila

“O’ Krishna relinquish your morning’s sleep

Let us see your moon-like face, wake up Krishna.

The night has gone into the distance and on every side is the while tight

The gloom has been rivaled by the sunlight, which now reigns

A thousand petals have unfurled and the bumble bees gear up.

The daughter-in-low of Braj is churning the curd and singing your praise.

Daam & Xudam are calling your name

Look, look, Boloram is up and about

Nanda has left for the cattle camp and the cowherd are gone to feed the cows.

Surabhi (the divine cow) needs to be taken for grazing, get up O Gopal

Take fresh milk, cream, as well as horn, stick and flute.

The cows are whining, open up the enclosures and let the calves out.

Says Krishna’s mother oh, what meditation to have

Begotten the Lord of Heaven and Earth as a cowherd.”

Among percussion instruments, the important ones are the dhol, nagara, daba, khol, mridanga, jaidhol etc. The dhol, the common drum, is used in Bihu dance. Taka, a simple instrument of a piece of bamboo-tube split from one side, is beaten to keep time  measurement in Bihu song and dance. Others are generally used in religious functions, the khol being the principal tala instrument for Vaishnava music. Jaidhol is also used in wedding ceremonies. Khanjari, small and light and  a combination of drum and cymbals, also belongs to this class. 

 Wind instruments (Susir) used for Assamese folk music are the flute, the Ciphung bahi of the Bodos, the kali, the pepa, the singa and the gagana. The Ciphung is a long bamboo flute played at Bodo festivals. Kali, like its more developed version the sehnai, is played in wedding ceremonies. The singa, from sing (horn) is made of a buffalo horn with a little bamboo pipe thrust into it, some hill-folk use an ox-horn also. Pepa, inseparable from the Bihu festival, is in fact only a reed-pipe which is usually connected to a buffalo-horn. Gagana is a small, split-bamboo instrument, very finely cut and delicate. It is played by young women by holding it between the teeth, striking with the right forefinger, allowing the wind to pass as and when necessary.