Chowtal or Chautal or Chawtal, aside from being the name of a "taal"/"tala" or meter in Hindustani classical music, is a form of folksong of North India's Bhojpuri region, sung during the Phagwa or Holi festival.
In chowtal, two rows of singers face each other (semi-circle), with a "dholak" drummer at one end, and sing lines of Hindi text antiphonally.
While the melodies are relatively simple, the song undergoes various modulations of rhythm and tempo, alternating between subdued passages and exciting climaxes.
During 1838–1917, chowtal was one of the Bhojpuri folk music genres transmitted by indentured workers to the Caribbean (primarily Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname), Fiji, Jamaica, Mauritius and South Africa.
In these sites it has flourished vigorously—in spite of the decline of the Bhojpuri language in Trinidad and Guyana.