Context

• Considered the repository of the Thar region’s rich history and traditional knowledge, the ballads, folklore and songs of the Langa-Manganiyar heritage artistes are being preserved through an initiative for documentation and digitisation. The project is aimed at saving the rapidly disappearing narrative traditions of these communities.

Who are the Langa-Manganiyar?

• The Langas and Manganiyars are hereditary communities of Muslim musicians residing mostly in western Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Barmer districts and in Pakistan’s Tharparkar and Sanghar districts in Sindh.
• The music of the two marginalised communities, who were supported by wealthy landlords and merchants before Independence, forms a vital part of Thar desert’s cultural landscape.

  

• The performances are in multiple languages and dialects including Marwari, Sindhi, Saraiki, Dhatti and Thareli.
• The romantic tales revolving around legendary lovers such as Umar-Marvi, Heer-Ranjha, Sohni-Mahiwal, Moomal-Rana and Sorath-Rao Khangar have traditionally captivated audiences.
• The Langa’s main traditional instrument is the sindhi sarangi; Manganiyar’s is the kamaicha. Both are bowed stringed instruments with skin membrane sounding boards and many sympathetic strings.
• Both Langas and Manganiyars sing and play the dholak (double-headed barrel-drum), the kartal(wooded clappers), the morchan (jaws harp), and the ubiquitous harmonium.

Social upheaval

• The music of the two marginalised communities, who were supported by wealthy landlords and merchants before Independence, forms a vital part of Thar desert’s cultural landscape.
• Apart from the pandemic, this vital heritage is also facing a threat from changes in patronage and increased urbanisation in these districts.
• The romantic tales revolving around legendary lovers such as Umar-Marvi, Heer-Ranjha, Sohni-Mahiwal, Moomal-Rana and Sorath-Rao Khangar have traditionally captivated audiences.

Source: The Hindu

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