POPULAR CULTURE AND 1857 93 them suitable to their interests, they proceeded to propagate these memories through their own cultural media. It is worth mentioning that fedual forces have produced many folk singers and created many folk dramas which serve their ideological interests. By interpreting and reconstructing the past in accordance with their respective predicament, they have constructed the feudal version of history.12 But people want to retain the popular memories of 1857 continuously flowing in the folk culture. In the Bhojpuri folk culture, memories of 1857 are available in both oral as well as visual forms. By combining visual texts with oral narratives these are made more powerful. Couple of examples should make the issue clear. DUSADHIBADHAR There is a small piece of land lying between Jagdishpur and Piro which is known as Dusadhi Badhar. A story is attached to this piece of land. The story tells that once Kunwar Singh was passing from this place with his soldiers. Some Ropinharine (females engaged in plantation) were engaged in planting of rice in the muddy fields. It was the Phalgun month. One of those women was Phulia, belonging to Dusadh caste. A women asked her to throw some mud on Kunwar Singh. Phulia replied that since she came from Jagdishpur, Kunwar Singh was like a brother to her. Kunwar Singh was so impressed by her reply that he made her the owner of that piece of land. From then on this Badhar (a small piece of land) is known as Dusadhi Badhar, because Phulia was from Dusadh caste.13 MUDKATAWANALA There is a water drain (Nala) near Shivpur in Balia districts which is called Mudkatiw Nala. A folk narrative is linked with this drain. The tale is that under the leadership of Siddha Singh, from Shivpur who was one of the reliable warrior of Kunwar Singh, the rebels killed one hundred British soliders and dumped their corpses in this drain. Similarly, we can find many such places in Eastern U.P. and Bihar which tell the story of the first war of independence of 1857 and people remember the eventful year whenever they see them. Through such mediums they keep alive the memories of 1857, preserving the values of this great event in history. The Revolt of 1857 took the form of a popular struggle, and so its