Meghalayan folk band Mookhuri enchants audiences with rural tunes in Delhi's Sundar Nursery

It was an enchanting night at New Delhi’s Sundar Nursery on February 10 as folk music from the Indian states of Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and Gujarat resounded with Mookhuri, Manganiyar, and The Tapi project musicians belting out rural sounds and melodies for music lovers. Called Amarass Nights at Sundar Nursery as part of Village Square’s Village Vibe event, audiences tapped into raw sounds that often go unexplored.

WION spoke to Mookhuri band members about the inspiration behind their music, modernising traditional songs for contemporary audiences, and more.

Mookhuri bringing Meghalayan folk music to fore

Focusing on Khasi-Jaintia traditions, Mookhuri members explained that they started this band in the year 2014 to make people aware of traditional and folk music. The band members explained, “These days more importance is given to Western music vs our folk music. We wanted to change that. This is why we came up with this band.”

“In Meghalaya, especially in the Khasi and Jaintia communities, we believe that music begins from the hearth, where the three stones lie. Mookhuri means the three stones that are found in every traditional kitchen – the one that balances pots and pans for cooking. While thinking of the name, we thought it would connect with everyone. Back in the olden days, music never started directly on the stage or in front of the public, it began from the kitchen when a father would sing to his children or a mother would hum for herself,” they said.

While they sing in their traditional language, they don’t think it dissuades music lovers from humming with them since music is “more about expression or emotion.”

Also, it has never crossed their minds to contemporise their traditional songs for the newer audience who might find it hard to relate. “We don’t plan on fusing or modernising traditional music because we believe in authenticity. We also believe that folk music itself is pure and beautiful. We feel like we don’t need to modernise it,” they said on whether they would ever fusionise their music.

Mookhuri performed in the heart of Delhi as part of Village Square’s mission of highlighting rural India's stories and indigenous culture. On their collaboration with the project, the band said, “We love the theme of Village Square as they want to promote, bring to life, or bring to the wider crowd, musicians like us who don’t get a platform and who are not very popular. A platform like Village Square is very important because by performing here people get to know that such tribal music also exists.

A night dedicated to folk music of India

Mookhuri entertained audiences with songs steeped in the cultural traditions of the Khasi-Jaintia community. The four-member band named after the three-stone stove in Meghalaya's kitchens introduced them to the sounds of manjira (small hand cymbals), the four-stringed instrument duitara, and percussion instruments like kabom and ksing shynrang. The Tapi Project played songs where funk, trip-hop, jazz, and folk sounds melded seamlessly to take audiences on a journey unlike any other. Rajasthani musicians Ghewar and Firoze, sons of the late Padma Shri recipient Sakar Khan, played kamaicha and the dholak respectively, and brought with them a vast repertoire of traditional folk music of the Manganiyar community.

These artists were part of a series of concerts organised by Amarrass Nights at Village Square’s third annual Village Vibe photo exhibition. The month-long exhibition will conclude on March 9 which will offer a comprehensive glimpse into India's rural culture and also provide an opportunity for visitors to savour traditional rural delicacies and join heritage walks as well as photography workshops.