Phone : +91 9680689010
Group : Sakur Khan Manganiyar Group
Sakur Khan had always aspired to be a musician and was mostly tutored at home. Like all other members of Manganiyaar community, his family has been singing for the royal families since generations. Satto Khan’s inspiration has been his uncle, Nazeer Khan and he wants this art to pervade into the future generations. Satto Khan belongs to the Alamkhana Gharana of the Manganiyaars. He has been singing since the age of 8. Simple, humble and not very talkative, Satto Khan explains about his music with a sense of calm, and with a composed articulated manner.
As he talks about the Alamkhana history, Sakur Khan explains, that there are four sub-castes even amongst Manganiyaars, namely, “Bhand”: Jesters in the royal courts, “Nagarchi”: People who play the ‘Nagada’, a sort of large drum, ‘Dagga’ people who played the dholak, and ‘Chandani’. His group has performed many times in the royal courts and the songs are customized for the Maharajas. Unlike other groups who combine classical and folk raagas, his group is only into pure folk music, and follow the traditional system of 6 main Raagas, and 30 raaginis. (wives of raagas, as per mythology). At times, singing styles like Dadra is improvised on the spot.
This 36-year-old also teaches in Gunsaar organization, set up for the musical training of the Manganiyaar community. One of his main principles has been to always lend a helping hand to others, as he believes that God watches over all of us. Sakur khan is a song composer too, and through his songs, he pays a tribute to women and their “Shringaar”, which literally means ornamentation or the way the women deck up themselves to please their husbands. One can almost feel the pain of these women who dutifully abide by their husbands’ whims and fancies, yet, their love for them is unending, and their devotion towards them never dies, just like the music of Jaisalmer.
- Barmer
- Rajasthan