Question

short note about powada​

Answer 1

Answer:

Powada is a well-known genre of Marathi literature. It is a genre of ballads, originally sung by the members of the Gondhal (Gondhia) caste, which is a Dalit community. Post-Shivaji, all castes adopted it. The powada ballads were centred on wars. The singers painted a very vivid picture of different battles. This genre must have originated in the times when internecine battles and attacks by invaders were common and it had become a bounden duty of a poet to inspire his patron to fight with all his might. But Mahatma Phule used powada for spreading awareness among the masses. During the Independence struggle, powadas became the songs of national movement and, after Independence, of people’s movements.

In old Marathi, powada means “to glorify”. Those who sing powada are known as shahirs in Marathi. The word “shahir” is as old as the Marathi culture. The shahiri literature is said to have marked the origin of Marathi poetry.