Learn the original Chhogala Tara - most popular garba song
Immerse yourself in the beats and lyrics of the original garba written for Shri Krishna by renowned Gujarati lyricist Shri Avinash Vyas
We all have heard the famous film song from Loveyatri. Let's familiarise ourselves with the original folk song that it had been taken from.
The beautiful timeless garba, He Ranglo! was originally written by Shri Avinash Vyas in the 1960s.
About the author it is written in MOVIES aur MUSIC that Shri Avinash Vyas was, ‘an extremely erudite and knowledgeable musician, Vyas was a stalwart of Indian film music. Though he did compose for Hindi films, it was the Gujarati film landscape on which he left his colossal imprint. One of my favourite Hindi songs of Vyas is from Kailashpati (1962), written by Madan Bharti and sung by Lata Mangeshkar - the reverb effect is ethereal. It is based in raag Pahadi.’
Garbas are written like a poem... in the sense that for certain words the poets and authors take poetic liberty. So it doesn’t exactly have to have the same spelling or pronunciation as the actual word. Sometimes if something is in rhyme they add it. For example 'tane barke tari Yashoda ma' which means, your mother Yashoda is calling you. 'Barke' here means 'calling' but there is no exact word like barke. The word ranglo basically means an actor.
There is a traditional Gujarati theatre show called bhavai wherein a male actor called ranglo and a female actor called rangli play host and enact different roles. But in this garba, ranglo is used for may be 'a set up or a preparation' or a form of garba. Now that we have the rudimentary understanding of garba lyrics let's decode the meaning of this beloved composition 'He ranglo! Chhogala thara' without which no garba celebration is complete!
He Ranglo!
He Ranglo! He Ranglo jaamyo kalindi ne ghat
Chhogala tara, o chhabila tara, rangeela tara, rangbheru juve tari vaat.
The set up is ready on the banks of river Kalindi.
(Chhogala - is the one who has tassels in his turban, like the one Shri Krishna had.) So hey turban bearer, lover, one with colourful personality, your fellow mates (friends) are waiting for you.
He haly haly haly
vahi jaay raat vaat maa ne, mathe padse re prabhat
Come soon Krishna, the night is ending soon , it will soon be morning while we keep talking.
He rangrasiya! He rangrasiya taro rahdo mandi ne gaam ne chevade betha
kana tari goplie tare hatu toh kaam badha melya hetha
he tane barke tari Jashoda maat
Chhogala tara, o chhabila tara, rangeela tara, rangbheru juve tari vaat.
Hey rang rasiya (colourful personality), we are waiting out the outskirts of the village, the Gopi’s have left all the household chores and come for you. Your Yashoda ma is calling you.
Do you want to hear the absolute original version of Chhogala Thara as created by Shri Avinash Vyas: Enjoy this electric creation that still has the capacity to give you the chills, make your feet sway to its beats and take you to a distant charming world from decades before.
