When I was learning pakhavaj from Ramakant Pathak in Lucknow back in 1987 I was taught some special bol parans. A bol paran is the generic term for pieces containing semantically meaningful words or phrases (usually a shloka – see below). Like many other people I know, I found these to be quite fascinating compositions. I failed to find out much about them at the time, except that they were said to be old and were often though to be powerful, especially in the sense that some of them functioned as invocations to the gods. For instance, Ganesh is the god of knowledge and of good fortune: two indispensable qualities any performer needs to succeed. Thus, to recite and play a Ganesh bol paran at the start of a concert is considered auspicious. One of the parans I learned was indeed a Ganesh paran.

I referred to this Ganesh paran in my article for the Garland Encyclopedia of Music (South Asia, vol.V, page 120). Unfortunately, there were many mistakes in that article (because the publishing company changed hands halfway through the publishing process, and the new sub-editor failed to implement my proof corrections), including mistakes in both the paran text and the rhythm. Below is how the paran should read.

There are several versions of this paran in circulation, some concluding with a different pakhavaj "piece" played by Ganesh ("dhete dharana ..."). For example, Kishan Maharaj has made very popular a version that ends thus:

To listen to Kishan Maharaj in concert, reciting and demonstrating this Ganesh paran, click below. I am indebted to Vincent Goudard for the audio, which he recorded in Benares in 2002.

NB – there is a slight discrepancy between Kishan Maharaj's initial recitation and his demonstration (at first he misses out a "dhinage").

There are also minor differences in pronunciation between Kishan Maharaj's spoken version and the notation above (e.g., lambodara for lambotara) stemming from his regional accent. The biggest difference lies in the first two words: “gana natha” (Lord of the Ganas) is pronounced either as "gana nama" (which doesn't make much sense) or "ghana nama" (which could mean "great name"). This is a lightly Sanskritized Braj Bhasha shloka that dwells on Ganesh's identity as Lord of the Ganas (the Ganas were the army of Shiva, Ganesh's father), and so this "ghana nama" opening is a touch odd: perhaps a mistake that has stuck, and hence gained legitimacy over the years. (It should be noted that Ramakant Pathak taught the "gana nama" version to me at first.)

A shloka is a couplet, usually in Sanskrit, comprising sixteen syllables per line. Here the text portion is a double shloka. Structurally, each of the four lines of the verse fits cautal comfortably. Kishan Maharaj's version of the pakhavaj "piece" would also fit cautal, but of course he sets his performance on a framwork of tintal (eight cycles of cautal equal six cycles of tintal). However, the first version of the "piece" I gave above will only fit tintal. One could argue that this might well have been purely a pakhavaj paran (in cautal) that was later adapted for tabla whose main performance tal is tintal.

There are dozens of these kinds of parans in Braj Bhasha: ras parans, madanadahana parans, chutput parans, parans to various deities, etc. etc. I have many written down. A good source is Mrdang Ank, though the rhythms are difficult to decipher.

Importantly, there is no fixed interpretation of these Braj Bhasha words as tabla or, indeed, pakhavaj strokes. The point is that each player imitates the shapes and sounds of the phrases, their rhythms, accents, resonances, etc. To think that there is one “correct” interpretation is simply wrong. Furthermore, the pakhavaj bols are not predictable from a tabla perspective.

Generally speaking, it would certainly be good to conduct further study into bol parans. Important initial questions are:

• where do they come from?
• are they new to the repertoire, or is there any evidence to suggest the bol paran was an ancient phenomenon?
• what is their connection to “kathak” dance?
• what is their role in mythologizing Hindustani music?

Personally, I doubt these kinds of parans are very old: I haven't found much evidence for them in antiquity, and they may even be yet another late 19th or early 20th century invention. I suspect some were danced as parans by professional male entertainers (Kathaks), and that they also served the purpose of making the Hindustani tradition appear to be much older and much more strongly connected to the Golden Age of Hinduism than it really was after centuries of Muslim professional domination. With the 19th century discovery and translation of Sanskrit treatises on music dating back several centuries, there came a realization that music had once enjoyed a glorious past. The Muslim period was viewed by the new Hindu bourgeoisie as aberrant and decadent, and with the Hindu nationalist movement came a strong desire to recapture India's former cultural glory and distance it from its insalubrious recent past.

Bol parans deserve to be studied in detail: not only are they fascinating pieces of music, but I suspect they also signify a great deal more than their bols proclaim.