Alha-Udal Epic Folk Music Tradition of Bundelkhand Sagar

Sagar is the heart of the Alha tradition — the oral epic of Alha and Udal, the warrior heroes of the 12th-century Chandela kingdom of Mahoba. The Alha epic is performed by wandering bards called Alhait who travel village melas with a harmonium and dholak, singing battles of the Chandela kingdom against Prithviraj Chauhan. The performance is call-and-response with audiences responding at traditional refrains. The language of the epic — Bundeli Hindi — is intelligible to Bagheli and Braj speakers and served as a trans-regional cultural medium. Sagar University maintains an archive of recorded Alha performances covering 52 cantos. The epic is particularly associated with young men; agricultural labourers and construction workers in cities carry the tradition to urban settings where performance at Dussehra draws migrant workers from Bundelkhand.