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Dapha music

Dapha music (Nepal Bhasa: दाफा) is a Newa artform in which singers and musicians perform devotional music, based on classical raga and taal system. The music is performed by a group of musicians

History#

Classic devotional music has been in existence in Nepal for more than a thousand years. The time period between 11th to 17th century saw an increase in literary activity in Kathmandu. The book was written as an appendix to Natya Shastra by the king of Bhaktapur Jagat Jyoti Malla and his minister Vanshamani Ojha. The book elaborates on Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra and Abhinavagupta’s Abhinavabharati. This was followed by Gayanlochan, written during the reign of Jitamitra Malla. Gayanlochan focuses more on introduction to raga (and raginis), their characteristics, and performance. Various treatises on musical instruments used in Dapha such as Taal anukaranam, Mridanga anukaranam, Panchataal baaja etc. have also guided Dapha over centuries.

Performance#

Source: The dapha ensemble consists of percussion instruments consisting of moo dhimay, khin, paschima, nyah khin, jwo nagara, damaru, accompanied by cymbals such as taa, bhusya and kaynpin. The melody is maintained by flutes called basuri. The pieces of music played are called gwaras and the first gwara is always “Nasa dya gwara” or “Dyah lhaaye”, which is a devotional piece dedicated to Nasa dya. The ragas sung are preceded by a short alap. Dapha music moves from Dyah lhaaye (द्यः ल्हाय्), then proceeds to chuma (छुमा), bhatwa (भात्वा), lajah (लज), chali (चाली), gau (गौ), dhocha (धोचा), arati (आरती) and finally ends with dyah lhay (द्या ल्हाय्). The following is a list of musical compositions along with their timings Seasonal variation in dapha music The schedule of different ragas played by Dapha on different times of day are as follows-

Genre family
Nepalese musical genres