Celebrating The Women Who Shaped India's Folk Traditions

🌸Year 1967 – Place – Shikhar Shingnapur, Maharashtra – A Tamasha Tamboo (a folk theatre) was filled with audiences eager to witness the performance of Vithabai Narayangaonkar. Nine months pregnant, Vithabai was overwhelmed by that day’s ticket collection for her Tamasha and could not refuse her brother, who asked her to take a break from continuous performances. She informed her brother, Savala Khude, that she would perform that day and then go on break. As she began dancing the traditional Gavlan (poems depicting the Madhura Bhakti between Krishna and Radha), she went into labor. She left the stage, delivered her son, and soon returned to share the news with her audience, naming her son Kailas after the venue, Shikhar Shingnapur, a village in Satara district which has Lord Shankar’s temple.

🌞The troupe she was leading - Vithabai Narayangaonkar Tamasha, proudly boasts of women’s leadership in the world of folk arts. Vithabai is not the only woman folk artiste who has gone beyond the traditional boundaries of a male-dominated world. While India is still striving to achieve gender equality, the country’s folk traditions have long been offering a hopeful picture. This very theme is aptly captured in the recently launched book in Pune.

Lokrang Nayika🔯, a book written by Dr. Prakash Khandge, featuring the life journeys of ten folk artistes in India, was launched in Pune on 25th February in the hands of Padma Shri Manjamma Jogathi. The book captures captivating stories from the lives of these female folk artistes who grew up in the rustic landscapes of different parts of India yet took their love for their art forms to national and international levels. The Nayikas mentioned in the book are either Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees or Padma Awardees who started their journey from their small towns, dedicatedly worked for their art forms and went on to receive recognition. This book in Marathi language, published by Padmagandha Publication, aptly marks the beginning of the upcoming International Women’s Day on March 8th.

ไThe artistes whose lives are featured in the book include Padma Vibhushan Teejan Bai, a Pandavani artiste from Chhattisgarh; Padma Shri Yamunabai Waikar, a Lavani singer from Maharashtra; Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Padma Shri Sulochana Chavan, a Lavani singer from Maharashtra; Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Vithabai Narayangaonkar; Baul singer Parvati Baul from West Bengal; Gulabbai, the first female Nautanki artiste from Uttar Pradesh; Padma Shri Gulabo Sapera, a Kalbelia artiste from Rajasthan; folk artiste Dhanbai Kara from Gujarat; Lavani danseuse Rajashree Kale Nagarkar from Maharashtra; and Jogappa artiste Padma Shri Manjamma Jogathi from Karnataka.

ﷺThe book sheds light on the essence of womanhood, the struggles these artistes have faced, and their unwavering passion for keeping the tradition of folk arts alive in an ever-changing world.

♈As I write this article as the daughter of Dr. Prakash Khandge, carrying forward his legacy of folk art and research, I am reminded of memories of some of these artistes I have seen in the green room before performances, as well as their mesmerizing presence on stage. These artistes exemplify how an artiste should remain grounded and how art should always be deeply rooted in culture while preserving its purity.

🅘While these artistes hail from different regions of India and represent their respective cultural traditions, they share a common struggle—to preserve their art in its purest form without being overshadowed by the fame they eventually attained.

♏Among them is Yamunabai Waikar, the ‘Queen of Lavani,’ who emerged from the Dombari-Kolhati community, traditionally known for street performances involving rope-walking and fire acts. She broke away from these nomadic traditions to elevate Lavani into a respected stage art, performing on renowned platforms. One of her historic performances saw her singing Thumri-Lavani while Pandit Birju Maharaj danced—a moment that bridged classical and folk traditions. More than an artiste, she redefined her community’s path, guiding them toward the Warkari tradition of Lord Vitthal.

😼Similarly, Sulochana Chavan, known for her melodious Lavani renditions, transformed the perception of the genre—steering it from eroticism to romanticism, making it a respected art form. Her career, spanning multiple regional languages, included performances for film and radio, with Radio Ceylon paying tribute to her legacy annually. Her Lavani was filled with romance, yet her presence exuded the simplicity and depth of devotional music—perfectly captured in the Marathi phrase: "लावणी भुलली अभंगाला" (Lavani, traditionally an entertaining art form, was mesmerized by Abhangs—spiritual poems written by saints in Maharashtra).

🏅These are just glimpses of the inspiring stories documented in Lokrang Nayika. The book not only honors their artistic excellence but also highlights their socio-cultural impact. It is a must-read for those passionate about India's folk heritage and the indomitable spirit of its artistes.

𓆏Another Lavani danseuse from Maharashtra, comparatively younger than the other Nayikas in the book, has consistently fought for a respectful platform for Lavani. She believes that Lavani incorporates all the dance elements mentioned in Bharatmuni’s Natyashastra, which are also followed in Indian classical dance forms. Therefore, she argues that Lavani should be preserved in its purest form and performed on dignified stages. While striving to keep the traditional Sangeet Bari theatre alive in Supe village near Ahmednagar (now Ahilya Devi Nagar), she faced immense opposition due to Lavani’s social status. Despite these challenges and her background in Sangeet Bari theatre, she ensured her son received an education and became an IAS officer. Today, her son and daughter-in-law, Amit Kale and Nandini Maharaj, successfully serve as Deputy Collectors in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

ꦉDiscussing women in Lavani, Dr. Prakash Khandge said, “We talk about women empowerment today, but Lavani dancers have always been empowered, shouldering the responsibility of their entire families. Lavani is one of the rare fields where troupes and Sangeet Bari parties were named after their female leaders, such as Chaya-Maya Khutegaonkar and Reshma-Varsha Paritekar. Therefore, Lavani has always been a domain where women held power in Maharashtra.”

▨Another inspiring story is that of Padma Vibhushan Teejan Bai, who defied all odds to present Pandavani in a male-dominated world. Traditionally, Pandavani was performed by male artistes like Jhaduram Devangan, but Teejan Bai became the only woman to choose this art form. Pandavani has two styles—Kapalik and Vedavati. Teejan Bai hails from the Pardhi tribal community of Chhattisgarh and was a victim of domestic violence. Despite resistance from her family after her early marriage, she bravely continued performing, singing Pandavani from village to village. She inherited the art from her grandfather but faced opposition for performing publicly as a woman. Overcoming these obstacles, she mastered the oral epic Lok Mahabharata, with her famous performances including Subhadra Haran, Draupadi Vastra Haran, and Bhim-Ghatotkach Samvad. Her storytelling often highlighted the struggles of womanhood. She performed at Apna Utsav, where my father had his first interaction with her in the 1980s, which continued throughout his folk research journey.

🐬Similarly, Dhanbai Kara, a folk singer and dancer from the cobbler community in the Kutch region of Gujarat, faced societal barriers. However, unlike many others, she found support from her family, especially her husband, who accompanied her on the dhol during performances. Singing in the Kutchi language, her folk songs primarily highlighted women’s struggles. She gained recognition from the state government and even had the opportunity to perform before Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Dhanbai’s unique style included composing her own folk songs while incorporating influences from traditional Garba dance.

🍌Padma Shri Gulabo Sapera, from the Sapera (snake-charmer) community in Rajasthan, has a remarkable story of survival and success. As an infant, she was buried alive by her family but was rescued by her mother. She later pioneered Kalbelia dance, taking it to international fame. Performing on global stages, she established herself as a key figure in Rajasthani folk dance.

🌸The book also narrates the life of Gulabbai, a trailblazer in Uttar Pradesh’s Nautanki tradition, and Parvati Baul, the only woman to carry forward the Baul singing and dancing tradition of Bengal.

♏At the book launch, Padmashree Manjamma Jogathi, in her interview, described the struggles she faced during her life but left the audience with a simple rule: being grounded is the only way one can treasure their art.

🌱Manjamma said, “Though I belong to the transgender community, we never begged. We would sell four idlis for ₹1 and earn our livelihood. When I received the Padmashree and traveled by air, I bought three idlis worth ₹280, which made me realize that we cannot plan anything. I believe that as an artiste, one should continue to worship the art and follow its path without any expectations. The awards and recognitions will definitely follow. I never dreamt in my life that a Jogathi (Devdasi) would receive the Padmashree and even ignored the call from the Indian Government, thinking it was a wrong number. But later, when I learned about the award being conferred, I was the happiest. Still, I believe that as artistes, keeping traditions alive will only help us navigate as successful artistes.”

ꩲReflecting on the stories in Lokrang Nayika, one sees a tribute to womanhood through the eyes of a folk scholar who believes in preserving both tradition and progressive thought. As these women use folk art as their medium of expression, their lives also embody the very essence of folk traditions—resilient, adaptive, and ever-evolving. As we look at the journey of all the folk artistes mentioned din the book, I believe that they are the brand in itself who proudly leads a team and are taking the folk art forms ahead.

ওWhile describing folk art and womanhood, Dr. Khandge has been saying, “Folk Art is a an expressions of ethos in culture and are transmitted from one generation to another. Despite of folk art being related to culture, still it is also defined as ever changing and elastic in nature. Like Folk arts, women among human are considered to be the reason to keep the generations ahead. Also, like folk arts, women have the identity as adjusting in nature. Folk art as an expression is also free spirited and adjusts to the nature similarly women also know their boundaries but at the same time they are always ready to overcome the challenges with what may come. Folk arts, like classical music or dance is not bonded with rules but is of free spirit maintaining the tradition as it is and same characteristics we can find in all these women folk artistes. Therefore all these folk artistes are the true example of womanhood and also brings and follow the characteristics of folk arts.”