Jaunsari Harul at Village Timra in two parts

Harul is an age-old traditional and highly popular song form prevalent in Jaunsar Bawar (Dehra Dun Distt), Ranwaee (Uttarkashi Distt), Jaunpur (Tehri Garhwal Distt) of Uttarakhand. This is also very popular in Simour/Shimla and Jubbal Districts of Himachal. There are two types of Harul songs. The first kind, is sung to indoor-sitting audience in which there is a solo dancer. The singers are diveded into two singing teams of three-four persons each, generally of male singers. The instruments used are Dolki and Khanjari and the beats are accordingly different. The Harul songs in the second category are sung out-doors. The unique features include; group singing and dance, male and female particpants forming two separate human chains, any number of persons could join the chains who sing and perform to the tunes of Drum-Dhol, Nagara-Damanon, Ranshingo, Karnai, etc. They are performed on various occassions especially, festivals, marriages, etc.

Here goes one such out-door Jaunsari harul :