Honouring Centenarian
Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ragi
for his unprecedented contribution to Gurbani Kirtan and Indian classical music

Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ragi, the doyen of Gurbani Kirtan and a living legend, is the11th generation exponent of this precious heritage. He started training at an early age under his illustrious father, Bhai Sahib Bhai Jwala Singh, who besides acquiring the musical heritage from his father Bhai Deva Singh, gained further training from two famous ragis of the nineteenth century, Bhai Sarda Singh and Bhai Vasava Singh, also reverently called Baba Rangi Ram. Baba Vasava Singh also taught non-Gurbani dhurpade to his father including original masterpieces composed by several maestros such as Nayaks of Khandar-bani, Swami Haridas, Mian Tansen and these were passed down to him and his younger brother.  Apart from rigorous swar-sadhana and correct rendition of most intricate shabad reets (old compositions – kritis), Bhai Gurcharan Singh, also was a master percussionist having studied from the legendary Ustad Bhai Arjan Singh ‘Tarangar’. Bhai Gurcharan also studied from the legendary vocalists Ustad Batan Singh of Mehli (Kapurthala) and Bhai Dal Singh of Lasada who were very close friends of his illustrious father.

Bhai Gurcharan Singh belongs to a rare category of ragis of the Sikh tradition who are fully conversant and apt in singing all the ragas, lores and variants of the music such as chant, varaan, padtal and dhurpade contained in the Gurubani, first compiled by the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, in AD 1604. He is affiliated with three taksals or sampradas namely Amritsar, Sekhwan and Girwadi and has received immense recognition from across the globe. He has been conferred many awards including the Shiromani Ragi Award for the year 2007-08 by the Punjab Government, the Shiromani Sahitkar Award by Punjab Languages Department and is a Senior Fellow of the Punjabi University, Patiala. He has lived in Delhi since 1952 and, along with his brother Bhai Avtar Singh Ragi, served as the Head Ragi at Gurdwara Sisganj Sahib for 38 years.

Bhai Gurcharan Singh and his younger brother, Bhai Avtar Singh Ragi (d. 2006), made one of the most important contributions to the world of musicology when they painstakingly put together 497 notations of the original shabad-reets dating back to the times of the Gurus. This path breaking research was eventually brought out by the Punjabi University in two volumes titled Gurbani Sangeet: Pracheen Reet Ratnavali (1977) and has since acquired a near iconic status and bears eloquent testimony to the musical genius of the great Gurus. Bhai Gurcharan Singh also continues to write and has 10 books to his credit. In continuation of his earlier work, he zealously devoted himself to further compile notations of another 200 compositions, which had remained undocumented. By April 2008, he had finished deciphering the notations of 215 compositions in 50 ragas at the ripe age of 94. The Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, in collaboration with the Anād Foundation, New Delhi, is in the process of publishing this seminal work, edited by his grandnephew, Bhai Baldeep Singh. For his resolute contribution to the fields of Gurbani Sangeet and Indian classical music, Bhai Gurcharan Singh was conferred with the coveted Tagore Ratna Fellowship by the National Sangeet Natak Akademi in the year 2013.

– Bhai Baldeep Singh

Design by Kamleshwar Singh

Dhadhi Des Raj Lachkani in musical conversation with
the Anād Foundation team

Village Lachkani, Patiala District
June 13, 2015

Bhai Baldeep Singh of the Anād Foundation dug into the depths of Punjab to map a profound balladeer, and we, his team, had the privilege to accompany him on this mission. One of the finest exponents of the Balladeer tradition, Dhadhi Des Raj Lachkani has shown his musical prowess in mastering instruments like the Toombi and Sarangi from an early age. He has taught under NZCC’s Guru-Shishya Parampara in the past years, and has been training his sons, grandsons and other disciples in the traditional Dhadhi kala, the art of Indian Balladeering, as Bhai Baldeep Singh calls it.

On the pleasant afternoon of Saturday, June 13, 2015, we reached village Lachkani in Patiala District, Punjab, to document Dhadhi Des Raj Lachkani. Our welcome by the musical Maestro, with joined hands and a bowed head was a fine display of his humility and simplicity. Meeting us at the entry to the pind, he led us to his memory beholden ancestral house built on a little mound towards the South-West of the village. The house was a typical rural setting, with a courtyard surrounded by rooms, and a shed for cattle and their fodder. Cots and manjian, traditional jute woven beds, riddled the courtyard, seating other family members who welcomed us into their home. After a brief discussion over refreshments and BBS’s insistence upon hearing him sing over the sound of the Sarangi, we set out for the village temple.

The temple was a lonely structure at the centre of a huge open space, accompanied only by the Banyan tree to the left of its entrance. An old metal nagara, traditional war-drums which are also played during celebrations, lying next to the front door of the temple grabbed BBS’s attention. Upon his request, Dhadhi Des Raj played the nagara, the round backed pair of drums, when stricken, called several locals to the yard to bear witness to this event. Des Raj Lachkani’s ancestors had been playing this percussion instrument for their Jajman’s, village patrons, in the temple for several years. He played fascinating 4-beat patterns and traditional tihais which he picked up from watching his father play. Upon being asked whether he had any formal training in the art of playing the nagara, he mentioned that he just learnt by watching his father. He then capped it all by playing the unique Mirza beat pattern on the drum.

After the stint with the Naghara, he began tuning his Sarangi. After a splendid rendition on the nagara, he awakened the strings with his bow. His fingers and the bow intermingled with the strings, breaking the silence of the yard with resonant music. The beautiful sound of the Sarangi, was coupled with the bells on the end of the bow, concocting a divine symphony. Engrossed in his own art, Des Raj ji played the music of his ancestors and sang of the lores of Bhagat Puran and Mirza, serenading the locals and us alike.

The performance happened under the Banyan tree, with everyone seated around him, as he rotated with high spirits and closed eyes, belting out poems like Heer by Waris Shah in musical compositions. He sang three compositions for us, and enchanted the evening sky. We left the place with his music echoing in our hearts.

Written by – Nippun Bhalla
Photo by – Parminder Singh