Kajari

{{Short description|Folk song of eastern Uttar Pradesh}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}

{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}

Kajari is a folk song and dance form from Bhojpuri region of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is of the Hindustani classical music genre, performed during the rainy season usually late June to September when lush greenery reappears and agricultural labor begins again.{{cite journal |last1=Chauhan |first1=Milan |last2=Mishra |first2=Swasti |title=Kajari Folk Songs: Mechanism for Emotional Regulation |journal=Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities |date=2024 |volume=16 |issue=1 |doi=10.21659/rupkatha.v16n1.06g |url=https://rupkatha.com/V16/n1/v16n106g.pdf |access-date=15 January 2025 |issn=0975-2935}} Kajari derives from word kaajar or kohl.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzIt6ZL5lY0C&dq=Bhojpuri+Kajri&pg=PA1028 |title=The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2 |date=2013-02-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-09602-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMRBAAAAYAAJ&q=Bhojpuri+Kajri |title=The Indo-Asian Culture |date=1962 |volume=11 |publisher=Indian Council for Cultural Relations |language=en}} It is primarily sung in Uttar Pradesh and parts of western Bihar.{{Cite journal |date=15 January 2025 |last=Upadhaya |first=Krishna Dev |title=Avadhee Lok Geet: Collection of Avadhi Folklore |url=https://dn790001.ca.archive.org/0/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.479949/2015.479949.avadhi-lok.pdf |journal=Hazari Prasad Dwivedi}}

Kajari fall in the category of folk songs and are set in the semi-classical mold. The tradition of the Kajari originated in Bhojpuri region and maintained and brought into the classical fold by musicians from the Benares gharana school, such as Rasoolan Bai, Sidhdheshwari Devi, and Girija Devi.{{cite journal |last1=Sahai-Achuthan |first1=Nisha |title=Folk Songs of Uttar Pradesh |journal=Ethnomusicology |date=1987 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=395–406 |doi=10.2307/851663 |jstor=851663 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/851663 |issn=0014-1836|url-access=subscription }} Kajari is celebrated as a festival in Mirzapur.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-04 |title=Mirzapur's Kajari Festival: A Tribute to the Melodious Kajali 2023 - Mirzapur Official {{!}} Mirzapur News In Hindi |url=https://mirzapurofficial.in/entertainment/kajari/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=mirzapurofficial.in |language=en-GB}} It is also sung in nearby Awadhi-speaking areas.{{Cite web |last=Nair Pandurangi |first=Pranita |title=Monsoon Music: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar's Kajri — an ode to dark clouds |date=September 28, 2018 |url=https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/monsoon-music-uttar-pradesh-and-bihars-kajri-an-ode-to-dark-clouds-5252641.html/amp}}

Kajari dwell on such themes as the separation of women from their beloved, for it is believed that the gloom cast by the rains intensifies their feeling of loneliness. In these songs are highlighted the moods and pangs of separation of the women, and the rains are said to evoke in them a longing for their beloved. The kaga (crow) is often described as a messenger carrying a message to the Pardeshi Sainya (that is, the lover) in faraway lands.