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I S Chandani and Group

By February 6, 2020February 13th, 2021Himachal Pradesh

Peej village is located in Kullu Tehsil of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is situated 5km away from Kullu, which is both district & sub-district headquarter of Peej village. This beautiful village is at the top of the valley in Kullu, with a marvellous view of snow-peaked mountains overlooking the field space with a majestic temple in between. The group had selected this place because of their strong belief and sentiments attached to this temple in the hindsight where they have been performing since they were kids. IS Chandini, the group leader is an experienced musicians with a bunch of youngsters who are still in college but are die-hard passionate about their cultural music and dance.

An experienced artist from Lag Valley of Kullu distA troupe of folk artists that is versatile in its own ability to entertain and amaze people with their exceptional musical talents, these artists bring a certain sense of enlightenment to the people of Himachal Pradesh. As a group, they seem to understand and catch each other’s rhythm well enough for anyone to assume that they belong to the same village and community, while the fact of the matter is that they have come from a variety of small villages in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Inder Singh Chandhani, the leader, has the experience of a lifetime of struggle and perseverance only to find solace in the traditional folk music culture of this region. Behind the leading vocals of Inder Singh, a diverse group of instrumentalists adds a magical vibe to the words that he muses. With their expertise in traditional instruments like Karnal, Shehnai, Dhol as well as Nagada, they make the serenity of the culture truly come to life. 

The songs are mostly made for performing their traditional folk dance which is called “Nati”. This dance form is a centuries-old tradition for the natives of the region. They perform this dance at every auspicious occasion or festivals like the International Kullu Dussehra and the new year of Himachal Pradesh known as “Losar”, which has its origins in the Tibetan culture and comes around the month of April. Almost everyone in the state participates in the different forms of this dance. There are at least seven different types of Natis like Kulluvi Nati, Sirmauri Nati, Lahauli Nati, etc. Different types of Natis are performed on different occasions and while most of these Natis begin with a slow tempo, the intensity eventually rises and the music is stopped only hours later when every dancer and musician is exhausted.

While artists like Chaman Lal and Puran Chand began to discover their interest in music as devotees in the temples, the others were just fascinated by the capacity of this art form in shaping the cultural structure of the society. All of these artists come together from different walks of life, with the same goal in mind, which is to improve their livelihoods and to support their community through the prosperity of the local culture and the state of Himachal Pradesh.

rict in Himachal Pradesh, Inder Sindh Chandani identifies himself as a Bajantri from the Thakur community. He is a vocalist and the leader for his group of highly skilled instrumentalists. He started learning music at a young age of 14 and has been singing folk songs for over four decades.

He took major inspiration from famous artists like SD Kashyap and Dharmendra Sharma in order to learn the art and compose his tunes, focusing on traditional folk melodies. Along with his group of instrumentalists he has written and composed various Bhajans (musical prayers) and folk songs about social issues, romance, and patriotism in Pahari as well as Hindi. He believes in keeping his music original and true to the culture of Himachal Pradesh. He also has two children; one posted in the army and the other trained in plumbing.

Inder Singh has performed in all districts of Himachal Pradesh and has expanded his horizons to many other cities in the country. His first performance was in the year 1985 at a party where he sang a farewell song and captivated the audience with phenomenal vocals. He has also displayed incredible versatility when he played at an international event with an orchestra in the year 1990. He aspires to make visible contributions to the folk music community through the means of an institute called Shri Krishna Kala Sansthan for all the artists and promote folk culture across the globe using his talent and resources.

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