Barahmasa

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Last edited January 3, 2026


The month of Ashadha (June–July), folio from a Barahmasa painting (Template:Circa)

Barahmasa (Template:Literal) is a poetic genre popular in the Indian subcontinent[1][2][3] derived primarily from the Indian folk tradition.[4] It is usually themed around a woman longing for her absent lover or husband, describing her own emotional state against the backdrop of passing seasonal and ritual events.[5][6] The progression of months (according to the Hindu lunar calendar) is a fundamental component of the genre, but the number of months is not necessarily barah (Template:Langx, Bhojpuri:𑂫𑂰𑂩𑂯, Template:Langx) or "twelve" as similar poetic forms known as chaumasas, chaymasas and ashtamasas (cycles of four, six, and eight months, respectively) also exist in the same lineage of folk traditions.[7]

Although originally an oral tradition, the genre was incorporated into longer poems, epics and narratives by a number of Indian poets[8] across major Modern Indo-Aryan languages including—Bhojpuri, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Rajasthani languages, Bihari languages, Punjabi etc., and can be found in the folk poetry of the tribal people too.[9]

Origins

Etymology

The word barahmasa derives from the word barah (Template:Langx, Bhojpuri: 𑂫𑂰𑂩𑂯 Template:Langx) meaning "twelve" and masa (Template:Langx, Template:Langx) meaning "month".[10] Similar cognates are employed to denote the same genre in other languages such as baromasi in Bengali.[11]

Literature

bhadon month
An illustration to the month of Bhadon.

Hindi-Urdu

The barahmasas, along with saṭ-ṛtu (‘six seasons’) genre, were incorporated in the Awadhi premakhyans (‘romances’),[12] Rajasthani rasaus ('ballads') such as the Bisaldev-ras of Nalha Kavi[8][13] as well as in the works of the renowned Braj Bhasha poet Keshavadas.[14] A few devotional barahamasa attributed to Tulsidas and Surdas themed mainly around the worship of Rama-Krishna have been found too.[15][10]

The barahmasas first appeared in Hindi and then gradually in Urdu as well. According to Orsini, they were "perhaps the first substantial genre in the boom in commercial publishing in north-India of the 1860s."[16]

Bhojpuri

Barahmasa in Bhojpuri language is a folk song genre which is sung throughout the year. Theme of these songs are based on human nature of love and separation. One of the earliest form of Barahmasa is found in Gorakhnath Baani and Bharathari's writings of 11th century.[17]

Bengali

In Bengali, baromasis were incorporated in the devotional literature known as Mangal-Kavya and Chandravati's adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana wherein Sita recollects her experiences with Rama through a whole year.[11]

Persian

The earliest and the only literary barahmasa in Persian was composed by Sad-i-Salman. The poet, who lived in Lahore, was probably influenced by Indian folk conventions. But its theme is neither a woman's longing nor union of lovers, and begins with the Iranian month of Parvardin.[12]

Gujarati

In early nineteenth century Gujarat, the poet-saint Brahmanand restructured Barahamasas and incorporated theology of Swaminarayan Sampradaya. His compositions fall under larger Krishna-bhakti poetry.[18] Template:Clear

Paintings

The genre was also used by artists & painting schools such as 'Bundi school of painting' to make several miniature paintings depicting different months of the year. There are about 138 Barahmasa painting in National Museum, New Delhi. Most of these paintings were belong to late 18th century to early 19th century.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Hear the Tale of the Famine Year": Famine Policy, Oral Traditions, and the Recalcitrant Voice of the Colonized in Nineteenth-Century India. Oral Tradition({Template:Date).
  2. ↑ Bārahmāsā in Indian literatures. Songs of the twelve months in Indo-Aryan literatures. By Charlotte Vaudeville with a foreword by T. N. Madan. pp. xvi, 139. DelhiMotilal Banarsidass, 1986. (Revised and enlarged English edition, first pub. in French, 1965.) Rs. 70.. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society({Template:Date).
  3. ↑ Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. NYU Press(2016). ISBN 978-1-4798-2683-4
  4. ↑ Essays on North Indian Folk Traditions{{#if:Wadley|, Wadley}. Orient Blackswan(2005). ISBN 978-81-8028-016-0
  5. ↑ Before the divide: Hindi and Urdu literary culture{{#if:Orsini|, Orsini}. Orient BlackSwan(2010). ISBN 978-81-250-3829-0
  6. ↑ South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Taylor & Francis(2003). ISBN 978-0-415-93919-5
  7. ↑ Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia{{#if:Alam|, Alam}. University of California Press(2003). ISBN 978-0-520-92673-8
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Before the divide : Hindi and Urdu literary culture{{#if:Orsini|, Orsini}. Orient BlackSwan(2010). ISBN 978-81-250-3829-0
  9. ↑ Essays on North Indian Folk Traditions{{#if:Wadley|, Wadley}. Orient Blackswan(2005). ISBN 978-81-8028-016-0
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Separation and Longing in Viraha Barahmasa. The Delhi University Journal of the Humanities and the Social Sciences.({Template:Date).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 A Woman's Ramayana: Candrāvatī's Bengali Epic{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2013). ISBN 978-1-135-07125-7
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Studies in early modern Indo-Aryan Languages, Literature, and Culture : research papers, 1992–1994, presented at the Sixth Conference on Devotional Literature in New Indo-Aryan Languages, held at Seattle, University of Washington, 7–9 July 1994{{#if:Pandey|, Pandey}. Manohar Publishers & Distributors(1999). ISBN 81-7304-269-1
  13. ↑ Bārahmāsā in Indian Literatures: Songs of the Twelve Months in Indo-Aryan Literatures{{#if:Vaudeville|, Vaudeville}. Motilal Banarsidass(1986). ISBN 978-81-208-0185-1
  14. ↑ A Study of Bundi School of Painting{{#if:Sodhi|, Sodhi}. Abhinav Publications(1999). ISBN 978-81-7017-347-2
  15. ↑ Bārahmāsā in Indian Literatures: Songs of the Twelve Months in Indo-Aryan Literatures{{#if:Vaudeville|, Vaudeville}. Motilal Banarsidass(1986). ISBN 978-81-208-0185-1
  16. ↑ Before the divide: Hindi and Urdu literary culture{{#if:Orsini|, Orsini}. Orient BlackSwan(2010). ISBN 978-81-250-3829-0
  17. ↑ Purain Paat{{#if:Neeran, Mishra|, Neeran, Mishra}. Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan(2002). ISBN 8171243045
  18. ↑ Swaminarayan Hinduism : tradition, adaptation and identity{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(2016). ISBN 978-0-19-908657-3
  19. ↑ Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kota. Artibus Asiae. Supplementum({Template:Date).
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