This document discusses the culture, folklore, and traditions of Rajasthan, India. It covers the various dialects, cuisines, ballads, myths, folktales, legends, musical instruments, dances, dramas, tribes, festivals, deities, art, and efforts to preserve the folklore. The culture is deeply influenced by the state's history, geography, and people. Efforts are being made by various institutes to protect and promote Rajasthan's rich cultural heritage.

2.  Introduction of Rajasthan
 Culture
 Attire
 Languages and Dialects
 Cuisines
 Ballads
 Myths
 Folktales
 Legends
 Music and Musical Instruments

3.  Dances
 Dramas
 Tribes of Rajasthan
 Folklorists of Rajasthan
 Feasts, Fairs and Festivals
 Deities of Rajasthan
 Art and Craft
 Preservation of folklore of Rajasthan.
 Conclusion

5.  Earlier Rajasthan was known as Rajputana.
 Rajasthan is bounded on the west by
Pakistan. On the north by Haryana and
Punjab. On the east by U.P. and M.P. and on
the south by Gujarat.
 Major attractions of Rajasthan is ancient
Forts and Havelis, traditional jewelry, mouth
watering spicy food, proficient dancers,
puppet shows and snake charmers.

6.  The rich cultural heritage of the state is
reflected in its impressive folk music and
dances, different languages and dialects, the
majestic forts, palaces, mansions and
divinely holy places of religious worship, its
multihued fairs and festivals, its tempting
cuisines, and, above all, its inviting and
cheerful people.
 Every nook and corner of Rajasthan delights
and compels visitors to fall in love with it.

7.  Both males and females dress in the
customary dresses fully influenced by
climate, economy, status and the profession.
 The traditional dresses being, 'dhoti',
‘ kurta’, 'angrakha', ‘saafa', ‘ghaghra-choli’,
‘kanchli-kurti’, amongst Hindus; and 'tilak',
'burga', 'achkan' amongst Muslims, which are
fast changing now with 'bushirt', 'salwar' and
'skirts', saris and pants accordingly.

9.  The language of Rajasthan is Rajasthani
which consists of five principal dialects like
Marwari, Dhundhari, Mewari, Mewati and
Hadauti.
 Other major dialects spoken here are,
Shekhawati, Bagri, Ahirwati and Wagdi.
 Hindi is also widely spoken here.

11.  Rajasthani cooking was influenced by both the
war-like lifestyles of its inhabitants and the
availability of ingredients in this arid region.
 Famous dishes include ‘Bajre ki roti’ (millet
bread) and ‘Lashun ki chutney’ (hot garlic
paste), ‘Mawa Kachori’ from jodhpur, ‘Alwar ka
mawa’, ‘Malpauas’ from pushkar and ‘Rassgollas’
from Bikaner.
 ‘Bikaneri Bhujia’, ‘Mirchi Bada’ and ‘Pyaaj ki
kachori’ are the famous snacks.
 Sweet dishes include, ‘Churma’, ‘Gujia’, ‘seero’
(halwa), ‘Imarti’, ‘Ghevar’, ‘Feeni’, ‘Besan
Chakki’, ‘Balusahi’ and Palang Torh.

13.  Ballads in Rajasthan are of various kinds. Whilst some
of these are heroic or romantic, others are
mythological or historical in character.
 Pabuji ka Pawada is a heroic gatha or ballad. The
Bhopas are the singers of these Pawada. They also
keep a phad or a picture-curtain to illustrate the
contents of this song.
 On the other hand, Bagadawat is a romantic ballad
and is about the battles of 24 Bagadawat brothers.
 Nihalde Sultan and Dhola-Maruni are also some
romantic ballads.
 Amba Ras, Draupad Puran, Narasiji ro Mahero are
some of the mythological and historical ballads of
Rajasthan.

15.  A myth Is a story that usually explains
something about the world and involves God
and supernatural things. Rajasthan has
preserved many such myths in its boom.
 The most famous among them are, myth
behind Bhangarh Fort, Sambhar Lake, Mt.
Abu etc.

17.  Folktale is a general term for different
varieties of traditional narrative. Land of
Rajasthan is filled with many such tales.
 Some of the famous tales are the tale of,
‘The wishing tree’, the tale of pannadai- ‘A
great sacrifice’, ‘When goddess Lakshmi
begged’, ‘Justice by parables’, ‘Destiny’ etc.

19.  Legends are the stories that arise from
historical figures or events. Rajasthan is
blessed with many such figures.
 Some of them are, Prithviraj Chauhan,
Maharana Pratap, Maharaj Surajmal, Rana
Sanga, Rana Kumbha, Maharani Padmini,
Mira bai and many more.

21.  Rajasthani music is very famous not only in India
but also in the world. Music and dance are
deeply ingrained in Rajasthani culture.
 Folk tunes of Rajasthan are very popular. Mand,
Des, Peepli, Nihalde, are typically sung and
accompanied by Rawanhattha.
 An inseparable part of folk music, Folk
Instruments add the ever so important rhythm
and melody to the folk dances and the vocal
performance.
 String instruments like Sarangi, Rawanhatha,
Kamaycha and Bhapang add haunting melody to
the music. Percussion instrument like Dholak,
Nagara, Chang and Dhap add the rhythmic beat
to joyous music.

23.  The Thar Desert of Rajasthan comes alive
when its dancers take the center stage.
Rajasthan has great variety of dances, which
are simple expressions of celebration and
festivity.
 Ghumar and Jhumar are the main dances of
Rajasthan. Apart from Ghumar and Jhumar,
The Kuchhi Ghodi, Terahtali, Kalbelia, Gair,
Bhavai, Drum Dance, The Fire Dance are also
important dances of Rajasthan.

25.  Rajasthan's spectacular visual folk arts
include ‘RAS’, ‘ZOOMAR’, ‘GAVRI’, ‘BHAVAI’,
‘SWANG’, ‘KHAYAL’ and ‘KATHPUTLI’.
 The most famous of all these are, Gavri and
Swang. Gavri is a folk idea which signifies a
drama where mythology entertainment and
the cult worship of trance collude.
 Swang incorporates suitable theatrics and
mimicry accompanied by song and dialogue.
It is dialogue-oriented rather than
movement-oriented.

27.  Tribes of Rajasthan constitute 12% of the
total population. The main tribal
communities of Rajasthan are Bhil tribe and
Meena tribe.
 Other important tribes are, ‘Bishnois’,
‘Sahariyas’, ‘Garasias’, ‘Gadiya Lohars’ and
‘Gujars’.

29.  Late Mr. Komal Kothari, commonly known as
Komalda, was an Indian folklorist and from
Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A pioneer in the study of
Indian folklore, he is most known for his work on
the folklore of Rajasthan and its links to Music of
Rajasthan and its instruments.
 Besides, Colonel James Tod, a member of British
Army had also studied folklore of Rajasthan and
mentioned it in his book ‘Annals and Antiquities
of Rajasthan’.
 Other renowned folklorists of Rajasthan are,
Dr. Mahendra Bhanawat and Dr. Satyendra.

30.  Rajasthan, the history laced land of
evergreen myths and legends of yore, is also
the site of numerous colorful fairs and
festival.
 Some important fairs and festivals of
Rajasthan are Gangaur, Teej, Desert Festival,
Jaisalmer, Elephant Festival, Jaipur, Marwar
Festival, Jodhpur, Camel Festival, Bikaner,
Nagaur Fair, Nagaur, Baneshwar Fair,
Baneshwar.

32.  Rajasthan is a land of God fearing people.
We can find a number of folk deities here.
 The most famous are, ‘Baba Hariram’,
‘Bhuwal Mata’, ‘Devnarayan’, ‘Eloji’,
Pabuji’, ‘Khetlaji’, ‘Gogaji’, ‘Ramdevji’,
‘Veer-Tejaji’, ‘Nandini Mata’ and ‘Sati
Mata’.

34.  Rajasthan is famous for textiles, semi-precious
stones and handicrafts, and for its traditional
and colorful art. Rajasthani furniture has
intricate carvings and bright colours. Block
prints, tie and dye prints, Bagaru prints,
Sanganer prints and Zari embroidery are major
export products from Rajasthan. The blue
pottery of Jaipur is particularly noted

36.  There are a number of institutes and art
centres in Rajasthan which provide
protection and preseve folk art and culture
of Rajasthan.
 Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute is an
organisation established by Government of
Rajasthan to promote Rajasthani culture and
heritage and to accumulate and maintain the
old Rajasthani folk art work and folk
literature.

37.  Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) is a multi arts centre
located in Jaipur. It was built by Rajasthan
government with the purpose of preserving
Rajasthani arts and crafts.
 ‘RHYTHMS OF RAJASTHAN’ is an Initiative to
collaborate with the various folk performing artists of
Rajasthan. This project conceived in Jodhpur,
Rajasthan by Nitin Nath Harsh a folklore promoter of
Rajasthan.
 Rupayan was established by Late Komal Kothari and
his friend Vijaydan Detha with the simple idea of
collecting folk tales and folk songs to bring out the
richness of the Rajasthani language.

38.  Rajasthan has artistic and cultural traditions
which reflects the ancient Indian way of life.
There is a rich and varied folk culture.
 The people of Rajasthan live life to the hilt after
hard work in the harsh desert sun and the rocky
terrain.
 Rajasthan has a lot for us, It is ‘A wing of
the golden bird, India’ and the most
‘Colorful Land’, the only thing is that how
we see to it. If we will start admiring and
accepting our tradition and culture, the
faded glory of folklore can again be revived.

39.  A people without the knowledge of their past
history, origin and culture is like a tree
without roots. Marcus Garvey
 A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in
the soul of its people. Mahatma Gandhi
 You don't have to burn books to destroy a
culture. Just get people to stop reading
them. Ray Bradbury
 Folklore is here because I am here, when I
will not be here then there will be a folklore
about me. Manoj Kumar