IN THE 1990s, when Maoist violence was on the rise in Chhattisgarh (then part of Madhya Pradesh), Anup Ranjan Pandey was travelling through Bastar district in search of a special kind of musical drum. Then in his thirties and living in Bilaspur district, Pandey says he always had a passion for collecting traditional musical instruments. The legend of the tribal deity Lingodev popular across the Gondwana region inspired him in this pursuit.
Lingodev is said to have played a significant role in organising the Gond society. It is believed that the deity taught people to sing, dance, make musical instruments and play them. There is a tradition of singing his tales using a special instrument called the dhoosir. Tales associated to him also mention 18 types of musical instruments.
In search of these instruments, Pandey set out for Bastar. "I had a few friends from Bastar and chose the district as the starting point of my search," he says. In his journey, Pandey dis-covered a world of instruments. He observed the tribal customs and traditions, and found that each clan had its own unique rhythms, beats and tunes associated with its deities. Apart from the instruments described in Lingodev’s tales, he came across many others. Pandey also realised that under the shadow of guns, the practice of playing these instruments was waning.
To reconnect this broken rhythm, Pandey first gathered Bastar’s musical instruments with the help of his friends belonging to tribal communities and then began searching for people who could make and play them. Initially, he had planned only to collect the instruments, but he realised that if he merely collected them, they would end up as museum pieces. He felt it was essential to bring instruments back into use. In the process, he met hundreds of people skilled in making and playing these instruments and brought them together into a collective, naming it Koyatur Paad.
In 2007-08, this group began giving dance and music performances using rare or nearly forgotten instruments. Later, it became popularly known as the Bastar Band. These artists are proficient in playing 60-70 of the region’s instruments. Many traditional groups from Bastar joined the band, reviving practices of regular rehearsals and traditional attire. The band’s efforts have rejuvenated 60-65 folk groups, which now perform not only in Chhattisgarh but also in other states and countries, such as Germany, England, Italy, South Africa and Nigeria. A single Bastar Band troupe has 25-30 artists who deliver performances that last one to one-and-a-half hours.
Today, 10,000 to 15,000 artists are associated with Bastar Band. It provides them with a stage to showcase the magic of their art and music, while also uniting artists scattered across the remote areas of Bastar. For Pandey, Bastar Band was a mission to save the drum because he believes that the drum expands life, while the gun brings it to an end. It was also essential to keep youth away from violence and connect them to the creativity of music, he says.
This article was originally published in the September 1-15, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth