“The items that I made in Dhading were eventually marketed in the Valley, and besides, the insurgency was also taking its toll in the village, which affected the business. But wherever we go, there seems to be no relief,” says Babu, hinting at the continuous bandas and strikes.[break]
Like Babu, there are about a dozen of percussion instrument makers and sellers, both retailers and wholesalers, in the lane that stretches from Pyaphal Tole near Hanuman Dhoka to Chettrapati in the capital. They mostly belong to the Kulus, a Newar caste group. While some of them have moved from Dhading to the city, a few of such instrument makers’ ancestors in this lane also come from Patan or are from Bhurungkhel in Kathmandu.
“Because it’s one of the main routes that connect the tourist areas of Thamel to Basantpur Durbar Square, they must’ve selected this area and opened their stores, targeting the tourists,” reasons Ram Prasad Kadel of the 15-year-old Music Museum of Nepal.
“Before, the instrument makers also traveled to other parts of the country, like Okhaldhunga, but with the facilities available in Kathmandu, they’ve now centralized here.”
Very little has been written and researched regarding the skilled crafts of making folk musical instruments, or of the playing techniques, writes Kadel in his book “Musical Instruments of Nepal.” A few research works can be found on the traditional musicians and instruments, and the research also mentions the Kulu people as the traditional drum-makers of the Newar nation, who produce leather musical instruments. But there are no concrete information on the crafts and the craftsmen.
Deepak Kulu, 52, whom Kadel terms as one of the finest musical instrument makers of the lane, concurs.
According to Deepak, who has been giving continuity to his ancestral craft for the past 25 years, the skills of making such instruments are gradually dying. He laments, “With the decrease in the number of skilled manpower, such stores on this lane have also started shutting down.”
However, the story is not completely in a sorry state. The makers and sellers say that the business of such instruments is good and are satisfied with it “but there are challenges on the production side” states Saroj Kulu, a wholesaler at Chettrapati. Most of the sellers and makers agree.
Saroj, whose father is from Patan and who made musical instruments, informs that apart from this particular lane, such instruments are also produced in Tangal, Sat Bahal, and Saugal of Patan. He, however, wholesales the instruments and has discontinued his traditional profession.
“There’s a shortage of raw materials, like skin and wood,” informs Babu Kazi. And this reason, according to Kadel, is also one of the factors that have altered the traditional methods of making musical instruments.
While the wooden bodies of such hand drums are mostly produced in Dhading, which are later painted, stringed, and tuned in Kathmandu, the hides are imported from different places like Rasuwa, Dhading, and Dhunche.
“At times, we also import skin from India,” says Deepak.
“Traditionally, nine types of skins were used to make different kinds of hand drums. But at present, only four/five of them are used,” informs Kadel. Usually, hide of dead animals like ox, cow and goat are skinned so that they can be used to produce the instruments.
“The new generation of people has stopped skinning the carcass because the work is related to the caste system and is considered ‘polluted’,” reasons Kadel. According to him, only the old generation is in the skinning profession despite Kadel and his Museum’s endeavors. “The cost of a layer of skin has skyrocketed to Rs 2,000 from Rs 200.”
Apart from the most raised issues, Deepak and Kadel highlight that handmade drums have also been misused. Smuggling narcotics by stuffing them in handmade drums like madal now and then make headlines.
“Recently, I was interrogated by the police on one such incident,” shares Deepak. He has been asked to regularly be in touch with the nearby police station for any suspicious activities.
Though the Kulus are self-employed in their stores, the crafts of making musical instruments have also provided opportunities in Kathmandu for job hunters from the outlying districts. Cutting skin to make strings for madal, Bikash Tamang, 22, informs that he has been working for Music Craft Seller in Pyaphal for seven years now.
Bijay Kumari Kulu, who runs a similar instrument shop, thinks that making such instruments is more about skills and zeal to learn the methods rather than due to one’s caste or class.
“It was my brother who introduced me to this profession. But at present, he’s working in Qatar,” Bikash informs.
With the knowledge to make almost all kinds of instruments that involves leather, Bikash earns Rs. 120 per instrument and around Rs 15,000 monthly. In near future, the man plans to open a store of his own.
That determination, among other things, seems to assure the continuity of the manufacturing and marketing of handmade folk percussion instruments in Nepal.
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