Noted singer from tea-tribes' community Dulal Manki awarded Padma Shri Award

A CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA: Noted singer from tea-tribes' community Jhumoir Samrat Dulal Manki was awarded Padma Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. He was given this award in recognition of his immense contributions toward folk music especially those that belong to tea-tribes community of Assam.

Earlier he was awarded the Jhumoir Guru title by Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Santiniketan, Kolkata as a 'Guru-Sishya parampara' and was awarded cash award of Rs 1.37 lakh.

A general artiste of AIR, Dibrugarh, Dulal Manki is a resident of Barhapjan Kecheruguri village near Doomdooma and was born at Dhoedaam TE. His father Mathur Chandra Manki was an employee of that garden and according to Manki, he owes a lot to his father as the source of a major chunk of his Jhumoir songs belonging to him (father). Significantly, the first Jhumoir song 'Seet Phurailo Dhani Basanta Bohilore' that Dulal Manki sang for the Asian Broadcasting Union in 1981 at the behest of AIR, Dibrugarh was composed by his father.

He is also associated with Sangeet Natak Academy and organized many cultural workshops on its behalf before. On November 19, he will perform in Bikaner in Rajasthan to showcase the rich tea culture of Assam.

Although he sings both classical and modern songs, yet his thirst area is folk music especially Jhumoir, the folk song of the tea- tribes community of Assam.

Talking to this correspondent after receiving the coveted award Dulal Manki expressed his happiness by saying, "I felt very proud to receive this recognition from the President of India in presence of the dignitaries like the Vice President and Prime Minister. I have been working on music since my childhood. But, I never expected such great recognition. Now I will work with much more dedication and inspiration on traditional music."

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