Sangini

Rama Adhikari

Of the few ballad traditions of Nepal that are still alive, Sangini is one. It is a special form of dance undertaken by Nepali women on special occasions, performed to a song that tells some stories of ancient times, or tell personal and domestic tales of modern-day women. 

“Sangini” literally means a woman friend. When the dance is performed, a group ballad that tells a story is sung by women, moving in a circle. Sangini can be sung by a single woman and sometimes in the form of a conversation among various women and thus, it is popular as a folk performance as well.

Sangini songs are occasionally heard in regions to the west of Kathmandu Valley, sometimes even in Bheri Zone. But the song is mainly sung in the hilly regions of the eastern Nepal. It is also heard in some of the parts of India, especially among the Nepalese communities living there.

Sangini is especially sung in candlelight or moonlight, on the night of the Teej festival. The married daughters gather in their mother’s house and sing and dance. On other occasions, when the bridegroom goes away to bring his bride, women gather at night at the boy’s house and sing and dance. The practice has become so integral to the lives of Nepali women that they sing it while at work: grinding millet in the stone grinder, polishing rice in a dhiki, or scrubbing utensils at home.

When women sing Sangini in Teej, they gather under a banyan or peepal tree in a circle. Previously, Sangini used to be sung with a dish full of rice on the dancers” heads, but nowadays, this trend is found only among the women of Koshi and Mechi zones, and in a few places in Assam of India. With circular anklets on their feet, old women too used to dance in olden days. During marriages, they used to sing, weaving stories of the brothers of a woman, even as they made oblique references to the potential gifts they might carry before leaving their father’s home after a long-awaited visit.

Most often, Sangini songs tell legends of ancient kings and queens, especially the episodes concerning their marital lives. With time, Sangini songs too have started taking up common people’s stories, especially of girls and women. One Sangini story, famous in the eastern hills of Nepal tells the story of a king, who married five queens. The story goes like this:

A king had a fertile land he had bought for 12000 rupees. He was worried because there was no irrigation. One day, he called a fortune-teller and told him to read his palm. The fortune-teller suggested that if he killed his eldest wife and offered her blood to the goddess of fertility, there would be rain. The king ordered the same, but nothing of the imagined miracle happened.

The story, therefore, warns people against blind beliefs and superstitious ideas.

Another Sangini story is based on the conversation of an old woman with her son-in-law, who comes to take back his wife who is living with her mother even after her marriage:

The boys tells, he has come in such a wet season, because he needs his wife to help his family during his brother’s marriage. Considering the weather and the distance, the mother declines the request, but the boy insists. So, she ultimately sends her daughter to her husband’s house. By chance, the daughter dies, trapped under a broken rest room on her way home and the son-in-law regrets.

The story suggests that marrying a daughter far off might be painful, and might invite disaster. It also suggests, travelling in adverse seasons is not advisable. Perhaps, the most popular of all the Sangini songs till date is that of King Hari Malla and his bride, Queen Bhav Malli. The story runs like this:

Twenty-year old King Hari Malla married five-year old Bhav Malli. At home he complained with his mother: “Mother, she is too young to be a wife. Do send her back to her father’s house. I will bring her back, when she comes of age.”

Bhava Malli was a born orphan; so she could not be sent to her father’s house. The mother advised King Hari Malla to go for study for twelve years. Hari Malla agreed and went away for study and stayed among saints. He told them that he had no one, and in a sadhu’s guise, started his study. Twelve years passed by and Hari Malla returned. When he reached his estate, Hari Malla found people working in a field. It was his own land being planted. The woman who came and distributed snacks to the workers was none but Bhava Malli, his queen. Still concealing his identity, Hari Malla asked Bhav Malli whose field it was. “It’s King Hari Malla’s field,” Bhav Malli answered. The King stood near the ridge, observing everything. He recognized his Queen. The Queen, amazed at seeing such a handsome yogi, offered him some snacks. But the King said, he had no container to eat from, and so, he asked for her shawl. The Queen declined, thinking that he was being immodest. After distributing the snacks, the Queen went home. But the yogi followed her to her own castle. Coming out of the palanquin, the Queen saw that the yogi had followed her. He asked her for shelter. The Queen declined outright and said, they had no other male member at home, and so, he had better go elsewhere. But the yogi argued that he was an evening-time guest, and should not be denied a shelter. He asked for the fontyard.  When the Queen said there was no place at all, the yogi said, “Allow me in your boudoir.” Thinking that it was a very impertinent demand, the Queen screamed and called her mother-in-law out. The mother-in-law came down, and looked at the yogi. The yogi smiled, and the woman recognised him instantly. She embraced him, and stroked his head and cheeks. Tears of happiness rolled down the cheeks of both. Then the woman told Bhava Malli that he was her husband, and she should quickly come down with water in a golden container and sprinkle over his body. When Bhav Malla did as told, everything settled down, and the family continued to live in peace.

If we go into the depth to find more things about Sangini, we will find that there are a lot of lyrical stories with social significance. Sangini tries to focus on the emotional touch of women, and their agony and grief they are exposed to, after they are married away.

Many parts of the folk ballad Sangini have been lost, and many parts are vanishing day by day. Therefore, there is a need for its conservation. If the conservation is undertaken, Sangini will be a step towards giving life to the field of singing, and it will obviously add a milestone to the field of folk literature. There must be a continuous effort to conserve it, like other cultural values. Only in that case, Sangini will be able to maintain its form, convey its message, and entertain the people in the days to come.

[Rama Adhikari, MA (English) is a critic, journalist and teacher’s trainer. She lives in Bhaktapur with her family.]