In this episode, we are going to hear the music of Bastar, which is based on the sounds of the jungle. Bastar is one of the biggest tribal belts of India famous for its greenery, ancient culture and also infamous for Naxal problems. The band named after its region Bastar preserves hundreds of years of old music traditions of tribal people. The band is also promoting peace in the Naxal affected region.

The band founded by veteran theatre artist and Padam Shri Awardee Anoop Ranjan Pandey. As the band was originated in Naxal dominated area, the founder had to face a lot of struggle to form a team and take the band to national and international platforms.

The tribes have preserved their music for thousands of years and the music is still pure and unchanged. They discovered this music from their encounters in the jungle. Bastar Band’s journey started with documentation of the varied music found in the area. The founder of the band Anoop traveled across the Bastar region to explore the music and collected a number of songs and indigenous instruments. He then formed a team of tribal people from across the region.

It was not easy to form a band in the Naxal affected region due to in conducive circumstances. The objective of the Bastar Band is to bring peace in the area and they go by the cry ‘Banduk chhodo-Dhol pakdo’ meaning ( Quit guns and pick up drums). The presentations of Bastar Band have been widely acclaimed throughout the world. The band had gained a lot of popularity after performing at the opening ceremony of commonwealth games hosted in India in the year 2010.

So this was the forth episode of folk trails. Leave your views about the episode in the comment section.

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