Rajasthani Folk Music

Rajasthani folk music is the hereditary music of Rajasthan's desert communities in northwestern India, performed by the Manganiyar and Langa musician castes and by court and temple singers. Its signature is the Maand style: soaring, ornamented singing of royal praise, romance, and devotion, carried by the kamanchiya and sarangi bowed lutes, dholak and khartal percussion. Singers such as *Allah Jilai Bai* defined its recorded sound, while contemporary performers including *Mame Khan* and *Lakha Khan* have carried the repertoire to world stages. The music binds Sufi, Hindu, and Jain devotional currents with tales of Rajput heroes and desert life.