Manganiyar and Langa

At a glance

1. 1Khartal: the Manganiyars' main percussion instrument.
2. 2Gorband: both communities sing it, but to different melodies, because each follows its own instrument.
3. 3Gazi Khan Barna, a Manganiyar khartal player of Barna village in Jaisalmer, received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 (folk music).

Facts

Manganiyars

• They pray to Krishna before a performance, and many of their songs honour Hindu deities.
• They were once musicians of the Rajput courts and went to war with the kings; their songs tell of past rulers and battles.
• Kamaicha: native to western Rajasthan; the body is carved from one piece of mango or rohida wood, the round belly is covered with goatskin, it has 17 strings, and the bow is of khejri wood with horsehair.
• Khartal: four thin wooden plates, two held loosely in each hand, played with dance-like swings.

Langas

• They attend all the ceremonies of their patrons and, at a wedding, lead the procession to the bride's house.
• Sindhi sarangi: a bowed instrument of the Sindh region, carved from one block of wood, with four gut playing strings and 22 sympathetic steel strings.
• They also play the Gujaratan sarangi, the murli (a bagpipe with a gourd) and the surinda, a bowed instrument.

Shared by both

• Both play the dholak, khartal, morchang and harmonium.

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