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Tutari instrument sound6/12/2023 ![]() ![]() Played in the past to welcome kings, now the Thackerays, Pawars and Ranes have taken their place. This year has been especially hectic – first the general elections in April and then Vidhan Sabha,” explains 75-year-old Prabhakar Bhosale, fourth generation tutari player in his family. We may get a call any time of the day, sometimes at a two-hour notice when we have to get dressed in mauli (traditional Maharashtrian kurta-pyjama) pheta (headgear) and kolhapuris (shoes) and rush. Kings and royal regalia may have slipped into history, but the bellow of the tutari continues to be a sonic symbol of Maharashtra that resounds to this day especially at rallies and political functions during elections that are no less than a battle of modern times. What Manish calls a communication device is in reality an ancient wind horn called the sringa known more commonly as the tutari in local lingo, a bugle like instrument played to herald the arrival of kings, palkhis and auspicious beginnings signal the beginning of a battle between two warring kingdoms or as a public address system. ![]() ![]() “Yeh purane zamaney ka mobile phone hai (This is a mobile phone from yesteryears),” grins Manish Gurav, as he pulls out a crescent shaped tube out of a red bag, puckers his lips against its narrower end, and blows into it before the contraption begins to let out a series of groaning metallic sounds.
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