Songs of the sand dunes

In Rajasthan, you are likely to be serenaded by the strains of the sarangi wherever you go. This augurs well for the traditional instrument, which is seeing a revival of sorts.

Members of the Langa sarangi ensemble

After a long day of sightseeing and photography on the outskirts of Jodhpur, I was in a hurry to return to my hotel when the mellifluous strains of the sarangi floated through the air and made me stop in my tracks. I followed the melody and reached a small rural settlement where a sarangi artiste, sitting on a durrie spread out on the ground beside his cottage, was wielding the bow and singing. I set down my bag and camera and listened intently. The melodious music, the precision bowing and the soulful song...an enchanting combination! At the end of the lyric, he gently placed his sarangi across his knees and had a conversation with us about his art and his instrument.

Travelling through Rajasthan, it is unlikely that you will not be serenaded by the sounds of the sarangi wherever you go — in villages, in cities at folk-music events, and in resorts and hotels where it is sometimes showcased to guests, especially overseas ones. This augurs well for the sarangi, which has recovered much of its importance after, as some experts have said, being sidelined to some extent by the sitar and violin in the early half of the last century.

For the uninitiated, the sarangi is a bowed, string instrument, also called a short-necked fiddle. It is fashioned out of a single piece of wood and goat skin stretched over the resonator. The strings are made of steel mostly, while earlier they used to be made of goat/sheep intestines. The sarangi is used across south Asia in different countries, largely in folk music traditions. In India, the instrument is also part of the Hindustani classical music circuit. However, both are not exactly the same. While the sarangis used for folk music have strings made of steel or goat’s intestines, as mentioned earlier, the instruments classical musicians use largely have plastic strings. In Rajasthan, two main groups nurture the folk traditions of the instrument — the Langa clan and the Manganiyars, both of whom have gained much popularity in recent years, largely due to media exposure.

There are over 100 folk-music sarangi players in Rajasthan, all from the Langa family. The Langas are the only Rajasthani musicians who play the sarangi but there is one Manganiyar member, a Padma Shri awardee, Lakhe Khan who also plays the instrument. Most of the Manganiyars play kamaicha, an instrument which is different from but resembles the sarangi in appearance, we are informed by Yar Mohammad Langa, who is the eighth-generation player of the sarangi and leads the Langa sarangi music group, which performs at festivals around Rajasthan. As with many music traditions, there is no system of notation in folk-music sarangi playing. The student learns by listening and reproduces the same note. The lack of notation does not affect their music negatively in any way, say the artistes. “Yes, we know Indian and Western classical music lay great emphasis on notation. However, our learning in this manner, without any notation, is so reliable and perfect that when a group of players sit together and perform, there is perfect coordination and synchronicity,” the Langa group of artistes exclaim with pride.

The Rajasthan state government and its culture department have been trying to revive and promote the instrument in various ways by showcasing it at their state art and culture festivals and government functions. Social media has helped greatly as well in reviving the magic of the instrument. Most sarangi artistes, however, also hold small-time jobs, and as Mohammed Langa says: “By God’s grace we are not lacking in roti, kapda aur makaan.”