PFC RAJASTHAN
Jaisalmer, India
Partner Program
Since 2025
PFCF has partnered with CITTA International to help address the decline of ancestral music and cultural heritages in Northwest India as well as empowering marginalized girls through education and music.
Our first workshops begun in summer 2025 were targeted to build a network of culture bearers who can transmit ancestral customs to youth across multiple villages located in rural areas.
Rajasthan’s Manganiyar community represents one of India’s most treasured yet endangered musical lineages. Manganiyar musicians have preserved centuries-old oral traditions, intricate ragas, and culturally rooted compositions. A distinctive feature of this tradition has been the role of women elders in transmitting music across generations within families and communities.
CITTA and PFCF are developing a curriculum to bring music education into the stunning Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School and continue to develop workshops and community events in the region.
ABOUT Jaisalmer
Though Rajasthan is the third-largest Indian state with a population of 56 million and a male literacy rate of 79%, it ranks the lowest in female literacy. The large majority of Rajasthan’s population lives in rural areas such as Jaisalmer, where female literacy only reaches 35%. To strengthen cultural identity and enrich educational outcomes, PFCf & Citta are integrating Manganiyar musicas an arts-based learning component at the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School. The initiative will introduce students to folk music traditions as part of holistic education, fostering creativity, confidence, cultural pride, and emotional expression.
Recording studio
Artist development
Cultural preservation
OUR PARTNER: CITTA
CITTA is a New York–based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural identity of underprivileged communities, many of which are among the world’s most economically challenged and remote. Through this mission, it supports these communities using a holistic and adaptable approach known as the HEED model (Health, Education, and Economic Development). CITTA works closely with communities facing limited access to healthcare, insufficient educational opportunities, and weak economic development; conditions that can otherwise lead to a continuous cycle of decline.