ABSTRACT
The dapha group sits half way up the pyramid on the right-hand side. The king, Pratap Malla, is performing an elaborate and costly ritual, in which his son is being weighed against jewels and silver, which will be presented to the goddess. The intention in all cases is clearly to make the instrument look more elegant, more appropriate to a refined audience, and distinct from processional or ritual contexts. The instruments, court dress and seated or kneeling posture of the musicians identify these vocal groups as indoor, palace ensembles rather than outdoor processional or ritual groups, and their members as high-caste courtiers. The term seems to appear in literature for the first time in 1672, with the meaning ‘a musical band’. Dapha and other devotional music genres are defined as much by their style of performance and instrumentation as by their repertoire of songs.
