ECHOES IN DARJEELING HILLS: THE JOURNEY OF GANDHARBAS AND HIS SARANGI
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.1476Keywords:
Gandharbas, Sarangi, Nepali Folk Music, MarginalizationAbstract [English]
Gaineys who are Nepali professional musicians belonging to the Gandharba community is a common sight in the hills of Darjeeling as the open borders between Nepal and India facilitate easy commute for better economic opportunities. Moreover, the common lingua franca and similarities in culture further allows the Gandharbas to treat the hills as their second home. An important musical instrument which is synonymous with Gandharba community is sarangi which is also a cultural identity marker for the Nepali community. The influence and impact of the sarangi is felt in the music, literature and culture as well as everyday life of the Indian Nepalis living in Darjeeling as these wandering musicians continue to regale the common people with their songs.
This paper serves to provide an overview of the Gandharbas and the sarangi. While sarangi as an instrument is a quintessential part of Nepali folk music, the Gandharbas who are the keepers of this art as well as makers of this instruments are often relegated into the background as they belong to Nepali Dalit community. Moreover, they are a mobile community who continue to cross and recross borders for economic opportunities. This ensures that the Gandharbas continue to remain in the social periphery and face marginalization be it political, economic or social. Hence, this paper traces the relationship between the Gandharbas and the sarangi in the backdrop of the Darjeeling hills in order to highlight the complex and ironical relation between the maker and the instrument.
References
Darnal, Ramsaran (2005). Nepali Baaja. Ratna Pustak Bhandar.
Gajamer, Anuraag (2022). Music of the Gandharba community of Sikkim and Eastern Nepal: An Ethnomusicological study. Doctoral thesis, Sikkim University.
Gurung, Bhokraj (2014) Dynamics of Interplay between Caste and the Sarangi- A Study on Gandharbas of Nepal Master’s thesis, Leiden University.
Hamro Lok Baaja Ko Parichay. (2015) Mani Printing Press.
History and Evolution of Sarangi. (2024) Project Sarangi https://projectsarangi.com/history-and -evolution-of-sarangi/
Nepali, Kiran (2018, Jan 11) Reinventing our folk music through Sarangi [Video]. Youtube. https//youtu.be/herBgCa_rmo?feature=shared
Nepali, Purna (2004). Gandharba Sangeet Ra Sanskriti. Nepali Sanskriti Sanrakchan Kendra.
Panta, Saroj Rai (2021). Gandharva and their livelihood in Baglung district, Nepal. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology vol 15, 95-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v15i01.41929
Pyasi, Jas Yanzon (2015). Taar Chudeko Sarangi. In Sahitya Kunj: A collection of Short Stories and Poems. (Pp.30-37) Gamma Prakashan.
Subba, T.B. (2003). The Nepalis in Northeast India: Political Aspirations and Ethnicity. In A.C Sinha and T.B Subba (Ed), The Nepalis in Northeast India: A Community in Search of Indian Identity. (Pp. 54-66) Indus Publishing Company.
Subba, Kumar. (1998). Sarangi ko Taarle [Song]. On Golden Hits of Kumar Subba. Music Nepal.
Tamang, Yojak. (2023). Mobile Communities Living at the Edges of the State. In Dilip Kumar Panda (Ed), Converging Perspectives: Exploring Multidisciplinary Landscapes in Language, History, Humanities and Social sciences. (Pp. 40-49) Nectar press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Mandika Sinha
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
