In 1976, on a hot evening in Chhatangarh village, bordering Jaisalmer, RajasthanEight-year-old Bagga Khan began a rhythmic ritual. The rhythm went like this: every evening he would go to the temple near his house, sit, and listen carefully to the hymns sung in the premises. in music Temple Ram, Krishna, Kabir and Mirabai and Khan stayed in meditation for hours. He wanted to sing like the priest who sang there and decided to become his disciple and immerse himself in the teachings of his guru.
At 53, with a long career of Bhakti, Sufi and Hymn With music behind him, and having performed around the world including France, Australia, Singapore and the US, Khan has continued to create traditional music for his community. Conversations often revolve around their belief in God and how music is a way to reach a higher spiritual consciousness. “When a distressed follower asked Lord Rama for his address, he said only musicians knew where he lived,” says Khan.
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Khan is from the Manganiyar community of Rajasthan who has performed devotional music Rulers first in the state and later aristocratic families under the patronage of their jajman for the past several generations. Before the children in this community pick up a pen or a textbook, they pick up an instrument. This is their profession and their only source of income.
“Whether it is a wedding or a birth or any other auspicious occasion, musicians from my community are called to please the deities… I do not have toys for children in my house. dhol, dholak or similar instrument playing harmonium are abundant, so children pick it up. Even when they cry, they cry in tune,” Khan says over a video call. Dressed in a red turban and a mustache smile, Khan is busy rehearsing for a concert organized by Amaras Records at Sunder Nursery on May 28. After that, he’s going to the Ancient Trance Festival in Germany and the prestigious world of music, art and dance. , WOMAD) festival in the UK in July. Their concert in Delhi will be followed by a concert by Barmer Boys – a Manganiyar group that led the WOMAD festival this year.
“When 10 children sit in a row to read, their knowledge should be one. in my group, if there are five musiciansThey should have one breath, one tune, one tone,” says Khan, who is proud of the oral heritage that is at the heart of Manganiyar’s music. “People in my community don’t even know how to read or write our names, let alone studying music. Everything we sing is in our mind,” he says.
But recently Khan has seen a change in the public’s attitude towards his music. Although they are appreciated wherever they perform, they do not like the new styles that today’s musicians mix with traditional devotional music. “Someone Like Me Loves Bhajans and Devotion” concert In its purest form, fusion and not with all the tools in the world,” he says.
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