Bhangra (music)

Bhangra is a lively folk dance which traces its roots to the region of Panjab(land of five rivers) in North India and Pakistan.

The dance originated as an expression of the celebratory mood of the harvest festival called Baisakhi and later graduated to being performed on almost every Panjabi social occasion especially weddings. The exclusively male dancers dress in bright, colourful attire made up primarily of a white shirt, a cloth wrapped around waist (called a kamarkussa) and a turban. A performance is normally accompanied by singing and, most significantly, the beat of the dhol drum, tumbi and an instrument reminiscent of an enlarged pair of tongs called chimta. The accompanying songs are small couplets written in the Panjabi language called bolis. They relate to harvest celebration, love, patriotism or current social issues.

Nowadays the word bhangra is more associated with the independent style of dance pop music derived from the above mentioned musical accompaniment. The dhol's smaller cousin, the dholaki, is sometimes used instead of or in addition to the dhol. Additional percussion, including tabla, is frequently used in bhangra.

Bhangra has always been popular amongst Panjabi people all over the world, but it has enjoyed a resurgence over the last ten years or so. Its raw traditional sound is often supplemented with contemporary musical styles. In its more recent history, bhangra has been fused with disco, reggae, techno, house, rap, ragga and now jungle. In fact these new styles are so successful that modern bhangra is now being re-exported back to India. Most of this tends to come from the UK.

Famous Bhangra artists include (alphabetical by first name):

• Ashok Masti
• Aman Hayer
• Balkar Sidhu
• Bally Sagoo
• Chamkila
• Daler Mehndi
• Gubi Sandhu
• Gurdas Maan
• Gurdeep Samra (known as G Samra)
• Harbhajhan Mann
• Harj Uppal
• Inderjit Singh
• Jasbir Jassi
• Jaspindar Narula
• Jassi Sindhu
• Jazzy B
• Juggy D
• Kuldip Manak
• Lembher Hussainpuri
• Malkit Singh
• Manak-E
• Mehsopuria
• Panjabi MC
• Panjabi Hit Squad
• Preet Brar
• RDB
• Sukhshinder Shinda
• Surinder Shinda
• Surjit Bindrakhia
• Talvin Singh

External links

• Pictures and more information
• Bhangra and other dance styles of Punjab
• Desitunez.com, The Best Desi Portal & Radio Site on the planet...............
• UKBhangra.com, a very popular general fan web-site.
• AmericanBhangra.com, a very popular web-site about American Bhangra.