Queensland Performing Arts Centre had the Manganiyar performing in the March 2018. The Manganiyars are said to have their origins in the Dholi musician caste.
They mostly come from Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur, in the Thar Desert. The Manganiyars say that music is ‘in their blood’.
“They traditionally performed for Kings, however over the years their patrons have shifted from Kings to people who could give them a meal,” their representative told Weekend Notes.
“It was in the 1970s that ethno musicologist the late Komal Kothari discovered them and gave them a new life in contemporary times, and spaces. Their repertoire includes ballads about the Kings and Sufi poems written by various mystics. They have songs for birth, marriage, feasts and more, and even though they are classified as folk musicians, their traditional music is classical, and it clearly indicates the roots of classical music in India. It is the combination of raw folk with the complexity of classical music that makes them so special.”
What Instruments do they Play?
Aside from amazing vocals, instruments include…
Kamaicha – a bowed stringed instrument with skin membrane sounding board.
Dholak – a barrel-drum with drum skins on both ends of the barrel.
Kartal – clappers made from wood.
Morchan – you’d know this one as a ‘jaws harp’.
Alghoza – a sweet-sounding double flute often made of wood.
Venu (Carnatic flute) Pullanguzhal – the flute you associate with snake charmers.