Melodies in the making: How Miraj’s sitarmakers keep Indian classical music alive through

Situated 240 km from Pune, Miraj is simply a erstwhile princely authorities successful Sangli territory that has turned into a hub of artisans who make tanpuras, sitars and different drawstring instruments that signifier the bedrock of Indian classical music. Countless vocalists person begun their philharmonic journeys by matching the archetypal note, ‘sa’, to a tanpura.

Ahmedsahab Aminsaheb Sitarmaker, who lives disconnected a engaged thoroughfare successful Miraj, was liable for giving Gangubai Hangal and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan their tanpuras and sitars. When Bhisem Joshi mesmerised crowds connected stage, the duplicate sitars accompanying him were crafted by Ahmedsahab. A twelvemonth abbreviated of his 100th birthday, Ahmedsahab’s dependable quavers but not his hands.

Ahmedsahab Aminsaheb Sitarmaker (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

On a Friday afternoon, aft offering prayers, Ahmedsahab fixes his proceeding assistance and listens intently to the sitar that helium is tuning. His deft fingers pluck astatine strings, crook knobs and support adjusting until, satisfied, helium looks up. “I person inherited this gharana of making tanpuras and sitars from my forefathers. My lad and my grandson are carrying connected the legacy. There is simply a batch of work successful what we do. When I was learning the trade from my uncle astatine the property of 11, if I made the smallest mistake, 1 dense slap would autumn connected me,” helium says.

A fewer minutes’ locomotion away, adjacent to a store called Fancy Patakhe that sells firecrackers and carnal masks, is the century-old Indian Musical Shop wherever a radical of buyers has travel from different metropolis to banal up connected equipment. Indian Musical Shop is simply a glass-fronted showroom that looks antithetic from the store it utilized to beryllium erstwhile the contiguous owner, Niyaz Ahmed, amended known arsenic Balasaheb Mirajkar, utilized to travel aft schoolhouse to larn the trade from his father. Among the fewer constants are the earthy material, peculiarly a quantity of adust gourd oregon tumba that springiness the instruments their affluent music.

“I americium the 5th generation, which means that, earlier me, 4 generations of my household person been doing this work. My begetter told me, ‘If you privation to marque bully instruments, you indispensable archetypal person sur ka gyaan (knowledge astir notes)’. He enactment a sitar successful my hands. Once I knew 25 ragas, helium told me, ‘Now you tin commencement learning to tune,’” says Balasaheb, 65.

Like the guru-shishya style, the caller procreation of artists sits successful beforehand of the teacher and learns done practice. The instruments from present question to Europe, Japan, Singapore and Australia, among others, wherever Indians person acceptable up academies to thatch classical music.

Instruments of warfare and music

Miraj has been ruled by the Bhamani empire, the Bijapur Sultanate, the Marathas, the Mughals and the British. It is, however, the 700-year-old dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Samsuddin Meerasaheb, whose devotees are “90 per cent Hindus, mostly women”, which is the astir salient landmark of the city.

In the 1800s, the kalash connected the dome of the dargah needed repairs, for which a radical of the champion shikalgars oregon weapon-makers from Bijapur were brought to Miraj. Among them were the brothers Mohinuddin and Faridsaheb, to whom the sitarmaker families of Miraj hint their lineage.

Mohsin Mirajkar plays the sitar successful his ce tury-old store successful Miraj. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

Shikalgars were a assemblage that traditionally made weapons of war, specified arsenic swords and artillery, for the armies of Bijapur sultan Adil Shah. With the transition of time, wars became much blase and the shikalgars recovered themselves with small work. A turning constituent successful their past arrived erstwhile the Patwardhan family, which ruled Miraj, held a philharmonic soiree with an eminent artiste. The musician’s tanpura malfunctioned and cipher could repair it.

“Shrimant Balasaheb Patwardhan II, the king of Miraj, asked the shikalgars to enactment connected the tanpura. The shikalgars said, ‘We person ne'er worked connected philharmonic instruments earlier but fto america spot what tin beryllium done’. Adept astatine each kinds of metallic and woodwork, the hands that made tools that inflicted death, symptom and unit began to absorption connected melody. The visiting instrumentalist was amazed arsenic the repaired tanpura had a amended tonal prime than before,” says Mohsin Mirajkar, the sixth procreation artisan and lad of Balasaheb.

The shikalgars evolved into sitarmakers. Most artistes transportation the surnames Sitarmaker and Mirajkar to this day.

The dargah would grace Miraj with yet different philharmonic impetus successful the signifier of Abdul Karim Khan Saheb, considered the begetter of modern Kirana Gharana. “He came to Miraj aft being diagnosed with an incurable disease. Abdul Karim Khan Saheb was cured and spent the remainder of his beingness successful Miraj. He taught not lone musicians but besides the makers of tanpuras and sitars,” says Asgar Sharik Maslat, the clergyman astatine the dargah. Among Abdul Karim Khan’s disciples was Sawai Gandharva, whose disciple was Bhimsen Joshi, a beloved vocalist of the sitarmakers of Miraj.

Abdul Karim Khan died successful 1937 and rests successful the dargah alongside his woman Banubai, their graves decorated with notations of their favourite ragas.

The confluence of artists, from the precocious Kolkata-based Ustad Rashid Khan to the Pune-based Shrinivas Joshi, and the relation of Muslim artisans successful Indian classical music, springiness Miraj a layered societal fabric.

The sitarmakers besides emphasise that making a sitar oregon a tanpura is simply a corporate effort. “At slightest 5 radical are needed. We beryllium together, each idiosyncratic doing the woodwork, making the dhancha oregon structure, applying the polish, making designs oregon tuning. It is 1 of the reasons that brothers of antithetic generations unrecorded unneurotic successful a associated family. If we spell successful antithetic ways, however volition the enactment get done?” says Inam ul-Haq, a fourth-generation sitar maker.

Songs of innovation

Miraj was erstwhile location to thousands of sitarmakers, of whom lone a fewer twelve families remain. An older procreation tin constituent retired workshops that are either shuttered oregon rented retired wherever euphony utilized to beryllium made. “Young men similar to look elsewhere for their careers,” says 1 sitarmaker. His companion, who is scraping a artifact of wood, disagrees, “A batch of men person realised that, dissimilar different industries, determination is simply a batch of enactment successful making philharmonic instruments. We tin fulfill lone a tiny percent of orders we get and that too, not connected time. Many radical who went distant are coming backmost to this work.”

The sitarmakers accidental that they don’t request selling for their business. “We tin make 25-30 tanpuras and sitars each period but orders are for 100. We person a agelong waiting list. The spread successful request and proviso had brought successful companies who were supplying sitars and tanpuras of dubious prime arsenic Miraj products,” says Mohsin, who is successful his forties and was instrumental successful applying for the GI tag for the Miraj sitar and tanpura.

Mohsin is increasing his hair, Zakir Husain style, and says that helium wanted to larn the tabla arsenic a youngster. He is, today, a trained classical vocalist and represents the caller procreation that is innovating with tradition. He leads the mode to a crushed level centre wherever 20 machines are dispersed implicit a 4,000 sq ft space.

Here, 15-20 artisans are utilizing the machines to bash the enactment that, elsewhere, is being accomplished by hand, specified arsenic hollowing and shaping wood and carving designs. This is the Miraj Musical Instruments Cluster, the lone centre successful India that is moving towards mechanising tanpura and sitar making, frankincense standardising the product, but besides grooming aboriginal artisans and musicians, including women.

“Cutting a artifact of wood by manus tin instrumentality 4 to 5 hours portion a instrumentality tin bash it successful little than an hour. We tin make a tanpura oregon sitar by a week and frankincense summation accumulation portion ensuring that karigars get a decent wage and the euphony goes on,” says Mohsin.

One of his palmy experiments is kept astatine his showroom though helium volition not merchantability it. It is simply a sitar whose dependable committee is ribbed similar a Western guitar. “Listen to the tonal quality,” says Mohsin, sitting down to play. “There has been small oregon nary probe done connected the Miraj tanpura and sitar. We are readying to present probe to recognize however to amended tanpuras. We would besides similar to experimentation with different materials truthful that drawstring instruments go much affordable and faster to produce. It is our imagination to summation the fig of Indian classical musicians and vocalists,” helium adds. Mohsin begins to play his innovative sitar and, arsenic the affluent notes of Raag Charukeshi fills the air, adjacent the postulation extracurricular turns silent.