The purpose of this research was to determine through an ethnographic case study the music healing practices within a Hindu village in North India. The investigation focused on a healer named Ram Janam Yadav, his healing process, three healing melodies and vocal performance techniques. Thirteen periods of fieldwork were carried out between 1994 and 2004 in Varanasi and Durga Nagar village in the state of Uttar Pradesh over a ten-year period. Techniques of data gathering used to report music in healing culture and processes included observation, interview, audio recording, videotaping, and photography. Four procedural stages in healing are described within the context of an extended musical ghost healing session. The stages are: (1) Invocation and Induction, (2) Diagnosis, (3) Negotiation and Treatment, and (4) Curation and Post-Treatment Care. The music-healing repertoire is performed solo by the healer and consists of three melodic chants called, Pachara, Bir and Preat. The case of Ram Janam Yadav serves as an example of therapeutic effects that occur by combining melodic chant and spiritual healing practices, and may be the launch to further study of music in healing, as therapy across cultures.
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