Introduction
thirty culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups. Within this immense cultural diversity, the paficai baja is a common feature of village life throughout much of the country and for a large proportion of Nepalese minority groups. It is a mixed ensemble of wind instruments (sahanai, narsinga, karnal), drums (damähä, dholaki, tyämko), and cymbals (jhyäli or jhyamța). The ensemble is found, with regional variation, across the country from east to west, and from the Terai in the south to the mid-altitude dwellers of the Himalayan foothills (pahad), wherever Indo-Nepalese castes have settled. Only amongst the high-altitude dwellers, such as the Sherpas and Tibetan peoples of the northern border is the ensemble not in use. The band was introduced to Nepal possibly as early as the fourteenth century, by Rajputs fleeing from Muslim domination, and other Hindu migrants from North India. The new settlers brought with them agricultural and technological innovations and all the rich traditions of their cultural heritage. The latter included the naubat or naqqara khänä, a raucous ensemble of shawms and kettledrums of Middle Eastern origin, which the Hindus had adopted from their Muslim compatriots, and which, once Nepalized, became the pañcai bājā Pañcai bājā is played exclusively by a caste of professional musicians - the damai - whose name is taken from the large kettledrum which characterizes the band, the damähä. Their supplementary caste occupation is tailoring. Together with other musician and occupational castes, e.g. kami (blacksmiths), särki (tanners and shoemakers), bädi (musicians, tanners and drum-makers), and gäine (itinerant minstrels), the damai have an extremely depressed social status, being the outcasts of society, from whom food and water may not be accepted, and contact with whom demands ritual purification. Despite their untouchability, the damãi are thought to be an auspicious caste (saguni jät), and as both tailors and musicians, they provide indispensable ritual services. In the Kathmandu Valley, the Newär kusle (or jugi) caste of tailor-musicians have some muste groups of a variety of other castes, and providing the main for wedding processions, on clarinet, tr trumpet, euphonium, and anare, tenor and bass drums in place of the old-fashioned traditional instruments. The uses of the palicai bäjä are diverse. It is a fundamental requirement for all Hindu rites of passage such as weddings and the sacred thread investiture ceremony for young high caste boy's, vratabandha It plays for the calendrical cycle of festivals, both agricultural teg hile jatra, bajaune ropal), and sacred (eg. caite and thülo dasais, Krana astami), und leads Civt procesions and festivities of all sorts leg. the birthdays of the royal family, the triumphal procession of the successful candidate in a local (paricayat) election). However. although a large proportion of its repertoire is purely secular entertainment music (eg. folk song tunes, film music), the contexts in which the pañcai bäjä plays are, virtually without exception, sacred or semi-sacred in character, and the ensemble maybe seen to be fulfilling a ritual The dimple commitments of the damai include providing music for the daily püjas (offerings), during blood sacrifices and for other ritual acts on behalf of the presiding deity, Ind fortual processions (jätra) of deities during festivals. The composition of ritual ensembles varies considerably, the minimum requirement being a single fagara (large kettledrum). In Central Nepal, a common nucleus ensemble consists of nagara, rasa (sahanai), and karnal, which may be expanded by the addition of bhenge of natural trumpets, such as dhop banā, bijuli bână (also known as näg-beli bäjä), bheri, sikhår, bang and kähal. This type of ritual music is for divine, rather than human consumption. The question of the function of the ensemble is a complex one. Certainly, in all contexts it appears to have an auspicious role, but it also acts as a signaller (eg. to announce the departure of the bride), and as a status symbol a family's economic standing may be determined by the number of musicians playing for their son's wedding. An aim of this musical ethnography is to define the nature of the auspiciousness of the paficai bäjä. Today, as Central Nepalese village society changes more rapidly than ever before, the pañcai baja is also 'modernizing - utilizing Western band instruments rather than the traditional locally-made ones, playing film and radio music rather than the old folk rägas, and demanding cash payment in remuneration. Traditionally, the auspicious nature of the band renders it a ritual necessity, but there are signs that its functions as an entertainer and a status symbol are becoming the dominant ones, eclipsing its value as a bestower of blessings and a consecrator of ritual space. Therefore, this is also a study in musical and functional change. The study focuses on the contemporary pañcai bājā, but also considers past practices as they exist in the memories of the last generation of musicians, in order to attempt an assessment of whether or not musical change is being accompanied by functional change, and whether the auspicious basis of the pañcai bäjä is being undermined.
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