Songs of the Siddis of Karnataka (Audio CD)

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About The CD Siddis are a population of African ancestry, found in Karnataka among various other parts of India. They have a strong sense of a collective Siddi identity, even as they have religious distinctions among them. Even though they are divided into Hindu, Muslim and Christian religions they are connected by the organizational structure of the community and several cultural practices. One of the main cultural markers that preserve the collective identity of the Siddis is their musical culture. The songs of the Siddis are filled with the sounds of their unique drum instruments such as Dhamaam, Dholki and Ghumaat which resonate with the narratives of their life experiences. Written mostly in Urdu, Marathi, Konkani or a mixture of all these languages, self-referenced as "Siddi bhasha", these songs reflect the Siddi life and imagination.

The first CD brings out varying genres of Siddi music. Phugdi, Dhamaami, Sigmu, Dapp and Dholki are the five major sub-genres of music, categorized either based on the temporal contexts or accompanying musical instruments. These songs bring into rhythm the day to day life of Siddis that inform about their spiritual life, rituals, food culture and social bonding. The second CD contains the songs that are central to the Siddi identity. These songs embody emit understandings that are central to a Siddi identity, that spans several centuries of cultural assimilations in South India's ethnically and religiously diverse milieu.