Mangala Kanti Roy
A sarinda player from Jalpaiguri, famed for his bird calls and still performing past 100, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
Mangala Kanti Roy is a folk musician from north Bengal and a master of the sarinda, a bowed string instrument. He is known as the “Morag Dadu of the North” for the bird calls he can produce [2]. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from West Bengal [1].
An orphan and a fiddle
Roy was born on 1 January 1921 in the village of Gadhayar Kuthi, in the Dhupguri area of Jalpaiguri district, where he went to primary school [2]. He lost his parents as a child and was taken in by neighbours [2]. More than books, the sarinda caught his heart: he heard the ballad singer Tolmohan Roy playing it, wanted to learn from him, and bought the instrument from him [2]. He went on to make sarinda music his life’s work [2].
Still playing past a hundred
At ninety he was invited to perform at Pragati Maidan in Delhi, where he won over his audience [2]. At the time of the award he was 102 and still giving performances, and keen to teach anyone who wanted to learn the instrument, whatever their caste or creed [2].
In 2017 the West Bengal government gave him the Banga Ratna, and he has also received the state’s Shilpi Samman [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2023: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2023: citation for Mangala Kanti Roy — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
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