Abhiraj

Abhiraj belongs to the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, and his father was also a Godau singer and dancer. His father started the group and managed it all his life. Upon the demise of his father, the group was on the verge of closing down because nobody was willing to manage it. Abhiraj stepped in not only to continue the group in his father’s memory but also to continue the tradition of his community. Today, his group is the only Godau dancing party in his district.

He is a full-time musician and spends all his time managing his group. He plays the Dholak. They perform on occasions like weddings, birthdays, Jagarans and other gatherings. The songs they perform are traditional and based on stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. He doesn’t encourage his group to perform film songs or other mass entertainment songs and instead sticks to their traditional folk-art forms.

Aside from Godau, he even incorporated Kaharwa into his performances to broaden their appeal. Kaharwa is a related genre that only differs in the instruments used. Kaharwa is more popular among the masses, and hence he has mixed that with Godau to increase the commercial viability of his group. He has identified new talents and taught them music and performing to be a part of a group, like Faujdar, who plays the joker in his group. He has performed with his group in many places across Uttar Pradesh – Allahabad, Khushinagar, Chitrakoot and even performed once in Delhi. 

• Purvanchal
• Uttar Pradesh