Voices of the Thar Desert: Words, Worlds, and Ways of Telling in Rajasthan

This lecture introduces the distinctive cultural and textual world of Rajasthan through three interconnected dimensions: language, literature and narrative practices. Beginning with the linguistic foundations of Rajasthani, it traces the language's emergence and outlines its relationship to Hindi and Gujarati. This situates Rajasthani as one of the earliest vernaculars of the New Indo-Aryan period.

Building on this linguistic backdrop, the lecture examines the development of Rajasthani literature, focusing on the rise of Dingal — the literary form of Rajasthani-Marwari — known for preserving archaic forms and for its close association with the Charans, the hereditary bards of the Rajput ruling class. The central role that the Charans played in shaping the Rajput ethos, maintaining historical memory and creating a unique tradition of heroic and martial poetry is explored through representative examples, including audio-visual materials.

The lecture then turns to narrative practices, focusing on how the literary genre of dingal gīt was presented and performed. These examples demonstrate how Rajasthan’s literary culture blends historiography, performance and oral tradition. By integrating these three elements—linguistic evolution, literary formation and narrative expression—the lecture provides a coherent portrait of the distinct culture of Rajasthan, whose legacy remains influential in the modern era.

Speaker

Aleksandra Turek is an Assistant Professor in the Chair of South Asian Studies at the University of Warsaw in Poland. She has taught Hindi language and literature for the past 25 years, and her principal academic interests focus on early modern Marwari and the literary culture of Rajasthan. She is the author of numerous publications on Rajasthan, including the monograph Three Jewels of the Desert (2012). Among her recent works is the co-authored Triveṇī: Texts of Three Literary Traditions in Early Modern Languages of North India. A Reader (2023), which includes her work on the grammar of early modern Marwari.

Image: Taj mahal, India, People by JungR via Pixabay

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