Unique Sarangi player’s quest for refinement

Ruwini Jayawardana

MUSIC: To the ear of the Western violin player Indian music and perhaps the Indian Sarangi in particular, is one of the most exotic and mysterious of sounds.

It is a strange and ancient relative of the European violin which is both highly expressive and extremely difficult to play. Its name means “a hundred colours”, indicating the range, depth and subtlety of its voice. It is said that the instrument expresses “the very soul of Indian feeling and thought”.

The Sarangi is one of the most important bowed Indian classical music instruments. It comes in many varieties and is suitable both for solo playing and group performances.

The Sarangi is about 2 feet long and is carved out of a single piece of wood. A bridge is tied on the belly in the middle. The sides of the sarangi are pinched to facilitate bowing.

Four tuning pegs are fixed to the hollow head, one on each side. Most of the Sarangis have three gut playing strings, played with the cuticle of the index and the major of the left hand. But in some type a fourth string made out of brass is used for drone. overall the musical instrument consists of forty strings.

This Hindustani musical instrument is played with a horse hair bow, which is held in the right hand. The finger of the left hand is used for stopping the strings. The most notable aspect is that strings are stopped with the sides of finger nails and not by the balls of fingers. Among the current masters of the instrument are Pandit Ram Narayan and Ustad Sultan Khan.

W. Indrapala de Silva is the only Sri Lankan artist to play the Sarangi today. Hailing from Bandaragala Estate, Weuda in the Kurunegala district, Indrapala had grown up amidst a musical environment.

His father had been managing the Dodanthalawa Estate and young Indrapala had the benefit of being able to enjoy weekly dinner parties where music and singing had played a main role. Visits to the village temple and listening to the chanting of the priests had also enhanced his love for the art.

Around the age of 18 years, Indrapala took up a role in serving the 2CLI marching band that was mobilised for the Queen of England’s visit in 1953. He played the bugle and the fife. The turning point in his life came when he met Sangeet Visharad Somadasa Elvitigala who was performing on the sarangi at an exhibition held at the Heywood College, now known as the College of Fine Arts. That was when he made up his mind to take up music.

Indrapala applied and was accepted at Heywood. He began his early training under Dr. Lionel Edirisinghe. It was during his years as a senior prefect at the College of Fine Arts that Indrapala had the privilege of meeting India’s legendary music maestro, Ravi Shankar.

The youngster mastered the tambour under him and even occupied Shankar at his recital! Years later he organised several concerts for Ravi Shankar in Sri Lanka, making way for the Sri Lankans to have a taste of true Indian classical music.

It took many years of studying the Sarangi, first under Pandith Ram Narayan, where he mastered the method of controlling the metal strings, and later under Ustad Sultan Khan to learn to control the fingering techniques. In other words Indrapala had learnt the sarangi under two of the greatest experts in the field.

“The very sound of the Sarangi is vocal. It resembles the voice of a woman and has the unique ability to go along with any type of music, be it Eastern or Western. It resembles the beauty and rhythm of the Indian soul,” Indrapala explained.

“This instrument was originally known as the Ravana Hatta and is believed to have been performed in the court of King Ravana. Therefore it is an instrument which Sri Lanka can claim as its own.”

After a five-year period of teaching music at the Vidyartha College, Kandy, Indrapala was selected by the Ministry of Education to teach music at a Pre-service Teacher Training programme conducted by the English Specialist Teachers College, Peradeniya.

He also worked as a music teacher at Nugawela Central College and co-operated to carry out improvements to the Cultural Hall of the Kandy Buddhist Centre. He also received an Italian scholarship in Music and Fine Arts and followed a course at the University of Bologna.

Not limiting his talents to music, Indrapala had also taken part in Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s play, Hastakan Mantrane. He took up the role of King Udayana.

Today, Indrapala has imparted a part of his knowledge to those of the younger generation. Viraj Vijayanayake and Senali Sachindra Illankoon are two of his students who practise the sarangi under Indrapala’s guidance.

“I am grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of India for their support,”observed de Silva.

“I wish to return to India for a six months’ practice session on performing Arts related to the techniques of sarangi under a great maestro.”

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