Jagar, from the word jag, means “awake” or “awoken.” Those who sing jagars are Jagariyas. Jagars are akin to ballads and come in many different forms that exist in many parts of India. Their purpose is to wake up deities. The spirits of gods and deities are invoked by singing about them, their deeds and exploits, and by asking for blessings and favors. The Nanda Devi jagar is a religious narrative associated with the Nanda Devi pilgrimage. The pilgrimage of Nanda Devi happens every few decades when the idol of Nanda Devi is carried in a palanquin to her husband Shiva’s abode. This pilgrimage entails a long and arduous journey through a rough terrain and fields of snow. The Hindu goddess Nanda Devi is worshiped in the former Western Himalayan kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon, which together make up the modern Indian state of Uttarakhand. During Nanda Devi’s annual festival, in the Hindu months of Bhadrapad and Shravan, her songs are sung by women throughout the state. The jagar of Nanda Devi is an example of a religious ballad that lasts for several hours and can go on through the night. This extract is the very beginning of a commissioned recording made by William Sax in 1981. The original version is six hours long. The performers are the women of Nauti village, District Chamoli, Garhwal, Uttarakhand. This initial part is a local cosmogony in which female forces and goddesses play the major roles, and are summoned. They are followed by the story of the goddess Nanda, a local version of the myth of the goddess Parvati.

This is a narrative of the Ahir people of Madhya Pradesh. It is performed with a algoza, a fingerhole trumpet. Circular breathing is employed along with the singing. An Ahir Goal geet are sung at weddings and happy occasions by the Ahir community around Jabalpur. This extract is from a narrative that can be sung all night long. It is about a devout woman and her in-laws. Her husband goes away and asks her to “rest with the mother-in-law, play with the sister-in-law, and seek help from the brother-in-law.” As she is expecting a child, she asks her mother-in-law to call the midwife. Instead, the mother-in-law sends her to the forest to collect wood without tying the bundle. Gods send a snake to tie her bundle, and she returns. The child is born but the in-laws do not give her water or milk. The great rivers of India, the Ganga and the Yamuna, turn their course and come to her to provide water, and a cow comes to provide milk. These miracles continue until she is reunited with her husband.