Sursingar, Karakattam, and others: Arts and artists Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned in Mann ki Baat

These are some of the names that the Prime Minister mentioned:

Sursingar and Joydeep Mukherjee

Modi mentioned the Sursingar, a stringed musical instrument that is similar to the sarod, but which is older and produces deeper notes. The instrument is made of wood and has a gourd attached to a hollow wooden handle with a metal fingerboard. The strings of the instrument, usually four in number and made of brass or bronze, are plucked with a metal pick.

The Sursingar can be played either holding it vertically in front of the musician and supported by his left shoulder like the Veena, or holding it parallel to the ground like the Sarod, or like the Sitar, which is held at an angle of 50-60 degrees to the ground. The Sursingar (along with the Rudra Veena and the Surbahar) usually accompanies Dhrupad, the genre of Hindustani vocal music which has a low, deep, and thoughtful pitch.

With very few artisans now making the Sursingar, the instrument is rarely used in performances. Kolkata-based multi-instrumentalist Joydeep Mukherjee is credited with reviving the Sursingar, along with another “lost” stringed instrument, the Radhika Mohanaveena, named after its creator, Radhika Mohana Maitra. Mukherjee played both instruments in a concert in Delhi in March last year, media reports from the time said.

“Joydeep ji is among the youth honoured with the Ustad Bismillah Khan Award. It had become rare to hear tunes of this instrument since the late 50s and 60s. But Joydeep is persevering towards making the Sursingar popular once again,” the Prime Minister said, according to the official English translation of his Mann ki Baat address.

Mandolin and Uppalapu Nagamani

The Prime Minister also mentioned the Mandolin, another stringed instrument, usually with eight strings that are plucked with a pick, similar to a lute. The Mandolin is a moderately sized instrument, smaller than the Veena, Sitar, or guitar, and was developed in Europe in the 18th century as an evolution of the older Mandora (Mandola).

According to the Brittanica entry on the Mandolin, the instrument’s modern form and proportions were strongly influenced by its maker Pasquale Vinaccia of Naples (1806-82), and in the 20th century, it was built in a family of sizes from soprano to contrabass. Well known Mandolin compositions include a concerto by Vivaldi, the serenade in Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, and parts of Stravinsky’s ballet Agon.

The Mandolin has long been part of the Indian film music tradition, having been used by several great composers including Shankar Jaikishan, Ilaiyaraja and A R Rahman. Hits like Tujhe dekha to ye jaana sanam (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge), Tum bin jaaun kahaan (Pyar ka Mausam), Lehron pe leher (Chhabili), and Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire) have prominent Mandolin pieces, and Shah Rukh Khan memorably carried a red mandolin in DDLJ.

The greatest exponent of the Mandolin in Indian classical music was the late Uppalapu Srinivas, often known as ‘Mandolin’ Srinivas who, however, used the electric instrument rather than the acoustic one. A great classical Mandolin player before him was Sajjad Hussain; and Bollywood’s greatest was Kishore Desai who played the instrument for countless numbers. India’s best known Mandolinists today are Snehashish Mozumder, Pradipto Sengupta, and N S Prasad.

On Uppalapu Nagamani, winner of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2021 for Carnatic Instrumental, Prime Minister Modi said: “The efforts of sister Uppalapu Nagamani ji are also very inspiring…”.

Karakattam and V Durga Devi

Karakattam is an ancient folk dance of Tamil Nadu in which performers in colourful saris dance with a pot (karakam) on their head to invoke Mariamman, the goddess of rain. The dance form became well known with the success of the Tamil film Karakattakkaran (1989), but has been criticised by purists for becoming allegedly low-brow and vulgar of late. V Durga Devi of Salem is a well known Karakattam dancer. The PM said, “This list doesn’t just pertain to music artistes: V Durga Devi ji has won this award for Karakattam, an ancient dance form. The Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai tweeted about Durga Devi, along with her pictures on Sunday.

Our Hon PM today congratulated Karagattam dancer V. Durga Devi avl of Salem for winning the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award- an award to identify and encourage outstanding young talents in performing arts. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/abKWqTX9kw

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 26, 2023

Modi also mentioned Raj Kumar Nayak, who he said had “organised the Perini Odissi, which lasted for 101 days in 31 districts of Telangana”, and whom people now refer to as “Perini Rajkumar”. Perini Natyam, the PM said, is a dance dedicated to Lord Shiva that was “quite popular during the Kakatiya dynasty”.

He spoke of Saikhom Surchandra Singh, “known for his mastery in making Meitei Pung instrument (which) has connections with Manipur”; and Pooran Singh, “a Divyang Artist who is popularising various music forms such as Rajula-Malushahi, Nyuli, Hudka Bol, Jagar”.

“Due to the limitation of time, I may not be able to talk about all the awardees here, but I am sure that you will definitely read about them. I hope that all these artists will continue to inspire everyone at the grassroots towards making performing arts more popular,” the PM said.