Risingbor Kurkalang
A Khasi folk musician from East Khasi Hills who handcrafts and plays traditional Khasi instruments, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
Risingbor Kurkalang is a master maker of traditional Khasi musical instruments and an accomplished folk musician. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from Meghalaya [1].
Learning from his grandfather
Kurkalang was born on 19 November 1978 into a farming family at Laitkyrhong village in East Khasi Hills district [2]. Inspired by his grandfather, he grew to love traditional music, and began making the different Khasi instruments and learning to play them all [2]. In 2001 he started making instruments for sale, the first person from his village to do so [2]. Every instrument is made by hand, with close attention to both its sound and its shape [2].
A group of traditional musicians from his village took him along to record for All India Radio and Doordarshan programmes on traditional music, which gave his career a lift [2]. Since then he has travelled widely in Meghalaya and across India to perform and to promote Khasi folk music and dance [2].
On wider stages
He took part in the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Vadya Darshan instrument exhibition in 2002 and in an international art camp at Sohra in 2006 [2]. He composed and played the song Mei Mariang on Sai-thain ki Sur, an album by a Khasi–Welsh collective released on Naxos World in 2021, and in 2022 performed with the Welsh musician Gareth Bonello at the Rajasthan International Folk Festival in Jodhpur [2].
In 2021 he received INTACH’s Martand Singh Memorial Award in the handicraft category [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 Risingbor Kurkalang — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
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