BraydenBeeby640 at 06:25, 6 February 2026

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{{Short description|Indian tribal musician (1951–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = 
| image = Darshanam Mogilaiah at Ugadi Celebrations in Ravindra Bharathi (08.04.2016).jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Mogilaiah in 2016

| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{birth date text|1951}}
| birth_place = Ausalikunta, [[Nagarkurnool district]], [[Hyderabad State (1948–1956)|Hyderabad State]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] (2022)
}}

'''Darshanam Mogilaiah''' (1951), also known as '''Kinnera Mogulaiah''', is an Indian artist from the state of [[Telangana]] and is one of the few surviving performers of a tribal musical instrument known by the name Kinnera.<ref name="Scroll">{{cite web |last1=Aruna Chandaraju |title=Fading sounds: An Indian musical instrument with a rich history is on the cusp of extinction |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/905049/fading-sounds-an-indian-musical-instrument-with-a-rich-history-is-on-the-cusp-of-extinction |website=Scroll.in |access-date=18 March 2022}}</ref> The kinnera is a stringed instrument much like a [[veena]] whose origin can be traced back to as early as the 4th century [[Common Era|CE]]. The instrument is indigenous to the [[nomadic tribe]]s and the [[Dalit]] communities in the [[Deccan Plateau]] such as the Dakkali, [[Madiga]] and the [[Chenchu]]. There are kinneras with different numbers of stairs or steps. Mogilaiah's forefathers were pioneers in making and playing kinneras having different numbers of stairs. His father had made a nine-stair kinnera. Mogilaiah is the first person to create a 12-stair kinnera and is the only artist who made and plays the 12-step kinnera.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Charan Teja |title=Telangana's last 12-step Kinnera player Mogulaiah wants govt to save dying art form |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/telanganas-last-12-step-kinnera-player-mogulaiah-wants-govt-save-dying-art-form-155991 |website=The News Minute |access-date=18 March 2022}}</ref> In 2022, the Govt. of India honoured him with the [[Padma Shri]] award for his contributions as a kinnera musician.<ref name="PadmaShri2022" />

== Life and work ==
Darshanam Mogilaiah hailed from a [[Madiga]] (Dalit) family in the Ausalikunta village of [[Lingal]] mandal in [[Nagarkurnool district]] of Telangana along the stretches of [[Nallamala Hills]]. He has had not much formal education and has had no steady job with an assured income. He has seen much hardships and his life had been very difficult eking out a living doing odd jobs like a daily wager in construction sites. He had worked as a laborer for 14 years in Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. He had also worked at a construction site in Mumbai.<ref name="IE">{{cite web |last1=Rahul V Pisharody |title='Happy that people recognise my artform now': Padma Shri winner and folk singer Darshanam Mogulaiah |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/happy-that-people-recognise-my-artform-now-padma-shri-winner-and-folk-singer-darshanam-mogulaiah-7749982/ |website=The New Indian Express |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref>

In a sense, Mogilaiah reinvented the kinnera. Kinnera is a two-stringed instrument made using indigenous materials like [[bamboo]], dried outer shell of round [[bottle gourd]], [[honeycomb]], bull horn, [[bead]]s, mirrors and [[peacock]] feathers. His ancestors made the kinnera with seven, eight or nine stairs. He was the first to make a kinnera with 12 stairs. His forefathers used women's hair, horse-tail hair and even animal nerves as the strings. He replaced the nerves with metal strings. Mogilaiah learned the art of playing kinnera from his father Yellaiah. He had started traveling with his father from the age of eight. Now, Mogilaiah has been singing folk tales of local heroes for over five decades, heroes who all helped the poor like Pandugolla Sayanna, Endavetla Pakiraiah and Miya Saab, all of whom helped the poor.<ref name="IE" />

Mogilaiah's forefathers are believed to have played the kinnera in the court of the [[Wanaparthy Samsthanam|Raja of Wanaparthy]] about 400 years ago. Wanaparthy Samsthanam or Raja of Wanaparthy was a vassal of the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was one of the three important Samsthanams, the other two being [[Gadwal Samsthanam]] and Jatprole Samsthanam. He has sung a part of the title song of the 2022 [[Telugu language]] action drama film, ''[[Bheemla Nayak]]'' directed by [[Saagar K Chandra]] and starring [[Pawan Kalyan]].<ref = name="IE"/>

Mogilaiah's second son Mahender accompanied his father for the kinnera performances in cultural programs held in different parts of the country. Mahendar later learnt to play kinnera and took his father's legacy forward.<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/padma-shri-folk-artist-darshanam-mogilaiah-passes-away-at-73/articleshow/116464654.cms Padma Shri folk artist Darshanam Mogilaiah passes away at 73]</ref>

==Recognition==
*In the year 2022, the Government of India conferred the [[Padma Shri]] award, the third highest award in the Padma series of awards, on Darshanam Mogulaiah for his distinguished service in the field of art.<ref name="PadmaShri2022">{{cite web |title=Padma Awards 2022 |url=https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/padmaawardees2022.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125143803/https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/padmaawardees2022.pdf |archive-date=25 January 2022 |url-status=live|website=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India |access-date=11 February 2022}}</ref> The award is in recognition of his service as a "Tribal Kinnera player and folk singer from [[Nagarkurnool]], last one to have mastered the 12 steps on the instrument."<ref name="PadmaShri2022Images">{{cite web |title=Padma Awards 2022 |url=https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/AwardeeTickets2022.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129172910/https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/AwardeeTickets2022.aspx |archive-date=29 January 2022 |url-status=live|website=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India |access-date=11 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Other prizes and recognitions ===
*Ugadi Puraskaram, the highest State honor in Telangana State (2015)<ref name="Scroll"/>
*Darshanam Mogulaiah had an honored mention in the textbook for Social Studies for the Class VIII students of Telangana State. The textbook was first published by Telangana State Govt. in the year 2013.<ref>{{cite book |title=Social Studies CLASS VIII |date=2013 |publisher=Telangana State Govt |location=[[Hyderabad]] |page=243 |url=https://scert.telangana.gov.in/pdf/publication/ebooks2019/8th%20social%20em.pdf |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Padma Shri award recipients (2020–2029)#Padma Shri Award recipients in the year 2022|Padma Shri Award recipients in the year 2022]]

==External links==
* {{IMDb name| 12971799}}
* [[:te:దర్శనం మొగులయ్య|Darshanam Mogiliahah on Telugu Wikipedia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogilaiah, Darshanam}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Musicians from Telangana]]
[[Category:Artists from Telangana]]
[[Category:People from Nagarkurnool district]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Darshanam Mogilaiah - Revision history

BraydenBeeby640 at 06:25, 6 February 2026