Folk Songs of Goa

by Jose Pereira and Micael Martins and Antonio da Costa

Konkani Song, of which Goan Song is the preeminent branch, is a treasury of the traditional music of the Indian subcontinent. It has at least 35 types, monophonic and harmonic, the former prevalent before the Portuguese brought Western music into India, and the later, consequent to the Western impact. It was in Goa that Indian musicians first began to compose in Western musical forms, incorporating into them motifs and nuances of their own immemorial tradition.

Among these 35 types, four were created to accompany social dancing: the Mando, the Mando-dulpod, the Dulpod, and the Deknni. The Mando, the finest creation of Goan Song, is a slow verse-and-refrain composition, in six-four time, dealing with love, tragedy and contemporary events, both social and political. Aryan Books International has published tow volumes on the Mando, entitled, Song of Goa, vol 1: Mandos of Yearning (2000); and vol. 2: Mandos of Union and Lamentation (2003).

While the Mando is an art song, the remaining three types represent Goan folk song. The Mando-dulpod is a slower variety of the Dulpod (or a quicker sort of Mando), also in six-four time, facilitating the transition from the slow rhythm of the Mando to the quicker one of the Dulpod (or a quicker sort of Mando), also in six-four time, facilitating the transition from the slow rhythm of the Mando to the quicker one of the Dulpod. The Dulpod itself, in six-eight time, is typically descriptive of everyday life in traditional Goa, particularly that of the Christians. The Deknni is a song imitating Hindu music in the musical idiom current among the Christians, in two-four or six-eight time, descriptive mostly of Hindu life, with special attention given to the temple dancers. The present volume contains examples of the Mando-dulpod and the Deknni. Hopefully a future volume will be devoted to the Dulpod.

About the Author:

Josh Pereira was born in Bombay in 1931. He received his doctorate in Ancient Indian History and Culture in 1959, and has since taught and done research in Portugal, England, India and the United States. He is Professor Emeritus of Theology at Fordham University in New York, where he taught History of Religions for over thirty years (1970-2000). He has authored 19 books and over 140 articles on theology and on architectural, cultural, philological and literary history.