# Dhol Sagar

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dhol_Sagar
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dhol_Sagar.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhol_Sagar
> Source revision: 1343690988
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Ancient Indian treatise on the art of playing the dhol and damau}}
{{italic title}}
150px|thumb|A figurine of a ''dholi''.
'''''Dhol Sagar''''' ([Garhwali](/source/Garhwali_language); literally "ocean of drumming") is an ancient Indian treatise on the art of playing the [dhol damau](/source/dhol_damau), the folk instruments of the [Garhwal region](/source/Garhwal_division) of [Uttarakhand](/source/Uttarakhand).<ref name="EBHR">{{cite journal |last1=Alter |first1=Andrew |title=Dhol Sagar: Aspects of Drum Knowledge amongst Musicians in Garhwal, North India |journal=European Bulletin of Himalayan Research |date=2003 |volume=24 |pages=63–76}}</ref> It does not exist in a complete printed form, as it was transmitted orally (through [percussive](/source/percussive) verses and [vocable](/source/vocable) syllables) or empirically within the traditional drumming families.{{sfn|Alter|2014|loc=[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/mountainous-sound-spaces/drum-strokes-syllables-and-rhythmic-patterns/0F12A9EAA8A3802BDDBF91CB78032CDE Drum Strokes, Syllables and Rhythmic Patterns]}} It is believed to have mythical origins and its existence has only been confirmed by local scholars and practitioners.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Fiol, Stefan|title = Reviewed work: Mountainous Sound Spaces: Listening to History and Music in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, Andrew Alter|year=2015|journal=The World of Music|volume=4|issue=1|pages=123–125|jstor = 43561476}}</ref>

The treatise contains [shlokas](/source/shlokas) in [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit_language) or [Garhwali](/source/Garhwali_language), and specific rhythm patterns for occasions like christening, wedding ceremonies, religious festivals, [shamanic rituals](/source/shamanic_rituals), ritual dramas like ''[Pandav Lila](/source/Pandav_Lila)'', death rites etc. The players of ''Dhol Sagar'' traditionally belonged to particular musical caste groups such as ''auji'', ''bajgi'', ''das'' or ''dholi''.<ref>{{harvnb|Alter|2014|pp=80–96}}</ref> Either due to urban migration among the youth in the drumming families, the growing popularity of [brass bands](/source/brass_bands) and [DJs](/source/DJs) in villages, or the drummers' desire to disassociate themselves from a practice that was historically tied to their specific "low-[caste](/source/caste)", the unwritten ancient knowledge of ''Dhol Sagar'' faces the threat of being lost.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1400151972&disposition=inline |title=Utter, Hans Frederick. Performance and Identity in Jaunsari Puja Drumming. Ohio State University |access-date=2020-07-18 |archive-date=2016-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820032413/https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1400151972&disposition=inline |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many traditional drummers have either given up the practice or have been driven out of work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/dhol-damaou-integral-to-hill-ceremonies-184779 |title=Dhol, damaou integral to hill ceremonies|first=Tribune News|last=Service|website=Tribuneindia News Service}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Alter |first=Andrew |date=2014 |title=Mountainous Sound Spaces: Listening to History and Music in the Uttarakhand Himalayas |publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press) |isbn= 9789384463069}}

Category:Drums
Category:Music theory
Category:Indian folk music
Category:Sanskrit texts
Category:Culture of Uttarakhand
Category:History of Garhwal
Category:Indian folk culture

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dhol Sagar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhol_Sagar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhol_Sagar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.