Marginalized music: A case study from Western Orissa/India

This chapter describes the role ganda baja plays in traditional rituals of goddess worship and healing and the role marginalized musicians play in the mediation between indigenous Adivasi society and the hegemonic Hindu values of caste. Ganda Baja is the most famous musical and ritual feature of the Bora Sambar region. It is an instrumental orchestral music, performed exclusively by musicians originating from the marginalized Harijan caste Ganda. In the case of ganda baja, this notion of power stands in a paradoxical relation to the marginalized social position of the village orchestra’s musicians. The music of the ganda baja village orchestras represents local notions of the utterances of different goddesses. Ganda Baja musicians, who have to necessarily be male, belong to a Harijan caste, called 'Ganda' which literally means 'the bad smelling'. Music and dance transmit a local knowledge system and a religious view of the world, expressed in sound, movement and touch.