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.

Ngâm vọng is an old song of Ca trù. According to legend, it appeared in the Lê dynasty. There are many explanations about the origin of its lyrics. According to some books, it tells the story of a lake excursion by King Lê Thánh Tông. On his excursion, he met a beautiful woman and wanted to marry her. She suddenly disappeared when she was in a palanquin on the way to the royal palace. After that, the king knew that she was a fairy. Missing her, the king had a temple built. According to other books, the lyrics of Ngâm vọng were the confidence and the wish of beautiful women in the imperial palace. Those wishes were expressed through incoherent sentences; thus, the lyrics do not have a unified content. This song opens with a low singing voice and then a high singing voice gradually comes in.