The skies may rage, but the way this rejuvenates the land and drapes it in green has been a source of joy on the Indian subcontinent since time immemorial. The four months corresponding with the full moon in Ashaadha (roughly mid-June to mid-July) to Kartik (roughly mid-October to mid-November) have been celebrated as Chaturmaas (holy four months) since ancient times. Beginning with Ashadi Ekadashi compositions, Rudra Abhishek Puja, and Rig Veda chanting, the jhoolas (a folk genre dedicated to celebrating swings set up in mango orchards of the Gangetic plains in the month of Shravan), compositions dedicated to Teej, Nag Panchmi, Rishi Panchami soon make way for Janmashtami, Krishna-Chhati, Radha Ashtami, Radha-Chhati, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Dassehra, Diwali, Govardhan Puja, Annakoot, Tulsi Vivah and culminating in Kartik Ekadashi.
While the rainy season has been a rich source of inspiration for the music of this land - Hindustani classical, Carnatic, semi-classical, devotional, light, folk, and film - most compositions tend to evoke the Shravan (often referred to by its colloquial moniker Savan) rather than the first monsoon month of Ashaadha. “North India's sway over India's cultural scene is the first logical reason that comes to mind,” scoffs musicologist and Hindustani vocalist Rakshit Kulkarni with roots in Dharwad, Karnataka. “Generally, the south-west monsoon hits Kerala by the end of May and soon has the western coast and most of peninsular and central India in its grip by mid-June,” the kirana gharana exponent further explains. The rainy season in this region begins with Ashaadha. It is already well past the second half of July when the rain clouds cross the Aravalis to reach the Ganga-Yamuna riverine belts. So, as paddy has already begun to grow in Kerala and Karnataka, this Northern region experiences its first showers following a much harsher, arid summer in which the mercury nearly crosses 50 degree Celsius.
“While rains have inspired poet-composers across the Indian subcontinent," Kulkarni writes, “the North's monopolisation in both the worlds of music and films (whose music captures the national imagination quite unlike any other genre) has ensured North-Indian poet-composers who have internalised the rains of Savan have brought a multitude of such compositions into the repertoire, so the Ashaadha ones tend to take a back seat.”
But let us not forget that one of the most celebrated 4th CE Sanskrit poet-playwrights, Kalidasa, celebrated Ashaadha so beautifully in his iconic, elegiac poem Meghdootam (a demigod/yaksha's message to his lover sent via a cloud). The first verse of Meghadootam depicts the lonely yaksha, exiled far from his Himalayan home Alakapuri, broken-hearted and pining for his beloved. On the first day of the month of Ashaadha (Ashaadhasya prathama divasye), he sees a cloud atop a mountain peak.
Others, such as Benares gharana vocalist Dr Soma Ghosh, point out that, while Ashaadha may not be prominent in bandishes sung by Hindustani classical vocalists, references to the first rainy month abound in the rich repertoires of the devotional, semi-classical, and folk genres. "Whether it is the folk songs of Nepal (paddy plantation songs) or the Banjaras of Rajasathan and the tribals of Chhatisgarh (when the arrival of the monsoon heralds the return of migrant menfolk),” he writes, adding, “the month of Ashaadha is also evoked in Barahmaasas - a semiclassical genre which celebrates the four seasons).”
Kulkarni who hails from closer to the Karnataka-Maharashtra border also adds how Ashaadha also marks a season when thousands of the devotees of Pandharpur’s Lord Vithoba walk to the shrine for darshan. “This has created a rich repertoire of Bhakti compositions several of which evoke Ashaadha,” he explains citing the popular Sant Chokhamela abhang - Abeer Gulaal Udhhalit Rang - which has been immortalised in an energetic composition by the late vocalist-composer maestro Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. Incidentally the way the late maestro’s gave music to Shankar Ramani’s poetry in Randhrat Perili Mee Ashaadha Dard Gaani (Every pore of mine cries out in pain in my Ashaadha song) has also made this a favourite of audiences worldwide.
In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, folk songs on Ashaadha take on a more feminine tone. “The spate of festivals that mark chaturmaas see most married women being invited to spend time in their maternal homes where they are made to feel special as daughters of the house,” says folk singer Pratibha Rao a Kannadiga married into a Telugu family. She breaks into “Ashaadha masa bandit ouva, anna baralila kariyaake (Ashaadha is here, O mother! My brother has not arrived to pick me up).” She explains how our forefathers wisely established the practise of separating married couples during this time period. “Any conception during this time period would mean childbirth during the hottest season, which is not good for either the mother or the child,” she says with a smile, adding, "It also gave women a good break."
In Tamil Nadu, beyond the Cauvery delta, Ashaadha is known as Aadi Maasam and is considered unlucky for weddings, buying a new house, or starting a new business. “But it is also a special month, especially for women,” says Matunga, Mumbai resident Kala Ramnathan. “Married women change the yellow thread in their Mangalsutra or thali on the first day.” This is the Mother Goddess’ month, so there are several compositions evoking Aadi that are specially sung on Fridays, which is considered auspicious to worship Her.”
According to Ramnathan, this month also marks Aadi Pooram, which commemorates the birth of saint-poetess Aandal. “Throughout the month, her 30-verse composition Thiruppavai (in praise of Lord Ranganatha at Srirangam) is sung in Tamil homes.”
So Savan and Bhado might well be reminded that Ashaadha has been there long before!
