Rajasthan Culture

Rajasthan, the land of heroes and warriors, has rich traditions in art and culture. The people here have demonstrated their culture and traditions through various dance forms, music and arts. The folk culture that can be seen in the villages of Rajasthan is truly fascinating. Generally, the songs and music of Rajasthan narrate the intricacies of relationships and day-to-day chores. Women sing songs about water. This style of singing is called panihari and might have developed in Rajasthan due to scarcity of water which people have faced for centuries. In some folk songs, love relations or encounter with the lover are narrated. Rajasthani devotional songs are dedicated to various deities. Folk idioms of saints like Surdas, Kabirdas, etc., are also sung. Langas, Mirasis, Manganniyars, and Dholis are the classes in the society who are skilled in music. They also educate their children about their music traditions. They are skilled in classical form of music. The instruments used in their songs generally include: percussion, string, bells, metal dishes and earthen pots. The songs sung by the bards tell stories about battles, heroes like Tejaji, Gogaji, etc., and sometimes about tragedies in the lives of legendary lovers.

The royal state of Rajasthan offers a variety of delicious cuisines to tourists on Rajasthan trip. This place boasts of rich tradition of cuisines and cooking. It is demonstrated by the fact that the palaces of Rajasthan had some of the best cooks of the country. These royal cooks known as ‘Khansamas’ sometimes kept the recipes to their family members only. In the cooking of medieval times, the main focus was given on preparing food items that were perfect to eat without heating and did not perish quickly. The reason was that chieftains had to fight wars at regular intervals of time. Moreover, different styles of cooking developed in Rajasthan depending on food items available in different regions. In desert regions including Jaisalmer, Bikaner, etc., cooking involved minimum use of water and instead using more milk and butter. Some people used mango power in place of tomatoes that were difficult to find in desert. Similarly asafetida was used in those regions where garlic and onions were not available. Pure Ghee (clarified butter) is used in most of the present Rajasthani cuisine. The most famous cuisine of Rajasthan is dal, churma Bati. Moreover, different regions of Rajasthan have their own special dishes, for example, Mawa Kachori in Jodhpur, Mawa in Alwar, Malpuas in Pushkar, etc.