Dulal Manki

Dulal Manki is a singer and musician from the tea garden communities of Assam, celebrated as the “Jhumair Samrat”, the emperor of Jhumair. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Assam ^[1].

The music of the tea gardens

Jhumair is a folk song and dance form shared by communities in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, and much loved among the tea garden people of Assam ^[2]. It is performed across the state during the Karam festival ^[2].

Early start

Manki was born on 12 August 1964 ^[2]. He began singing professionally on All India Radio, Dibrugarh, in 1976, when he was just 12, on Chah Bonuwar Asar, a programme for tea garden workers ^[2]. He studied at Doomdooma College and took a Bachelor of Music from the Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow, before teaching vocal music at a music college in Tinsukia ^[2].

Albums, films and stages

He has worked on albums and films in the tea tribe languages, Assamese, Hindi and Bengali, and sang playback in films such as Priyanjon and Srimanta Sankardev ^[2]. On MTV’s Coke Studio he performed with Angaraag “Papon” Mahanta, a song watched more than 1.5 million times online ^[2]. He has given live concerts in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and elsewhere ^[2].

Honours

He was named best playback singer for Srimanta Sankardev in 2010, and received the Dr Upen Kakoti Silpi award in 2014 and an award from the Assam Sahitya Sabha in 2019 ^[2]. After completing a guru–shishya programme with the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata, he was given the title “Guru of Jhumair” in 2014 ^[2]. He is chief trustee of Gandhar, a cultural trust for the tea tribe community ^[2].