SRINAGAR: In a modest workshop filled with the fragrance of seasoned wood, 78-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Zaz continues a craft his family has preserved for eight generations <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">&mdash;&nbsp;the making of the Kashmiri santoor. Surrounded by tools that have outlived artisans, he works slowly, each strike and polish echoing centuries of tradition, crafting the musical instrument. &quot;Seven generations have worked and I am the eighth; I have no guarantee anyone after me will do this work,&quot; Zaz said softly, speaking in Kashmiri. Once, several of his family members shared this craft in the heart of Indian-Occupied Kashmir&#39;s main city, Srinagar.&nbsp;Today, he is the last in the city to make the instruments by hand. &quot;If I tell anyone to make something, they won&#39;t know what to do or how to make it,&quot; said Zaz, who produces around eight to 10 instruments every year, selling for around 50,000 rupees ($565) each. &quot;It is not as simple as just picking some wood <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">&mdash;&nbsp;one needs to find the right kind of wood.&quot; The santoor, a hundred-stringed zither-like instrument played with hammers, has long been central to Kashmir&#39;s musical identity, giving the Muslim-majority region its cultural distinctiveness.&nbsp;Mystical music&nbsp;Historically, the santoor formed the backbone of &quot;sufiana musiqi&quot;, Kashmir&#39;s mystical music tradition, with its hypnotic and reverberating sound bringing tranquillity. &quot;Musicians used to come from Iran to Kashmir; they used to play santoor and other instruments,&quot; said Muzaffar Bhat, a music professor at a government college in Anantnag. &quot;They used to sing in Persian ... we adapted the santoor from them and assimilated it into our music.&quot; The instrument received a new life in the 20th century. In the 1950s, celebrated Indian musician Shivkumar Sharma <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">&mdash;&nbsp;born in Jammu and Kashmir in 1938 <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">&mdash;&nbsp;used the santoor to play classical music. &quot;Due to that, this became popularized in the classical circles throughout India,&quot; Bhat said. Suddenly, the santoor was no longer confined to Kashmiri sufiana gatherings <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">&mdash;&nbsp; it had become a celebrated voice in Indian classical music. Yet tradition faced challenges as Western instruments and global music trends began to overshadow local sounds. &quot;A lot of our traditional Kashmiri instruments became sidelined,&quot; said Bhat. For craftsmen like Zaz, this meant fewer patrons, fewer students, and the slow decline of a centuries-old family profession. Zaz sells his instruments in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, but also receives orders from Europe and the Middle East. But there is hope. A revival, however modest, is taking root. &quot;Since the last few years, a new trend has started,&quot; Bhat said. &quot;Our youngsters have started to learn our traditional instruments.&quot;

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In Srinagar, 78-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Zaz, the last traditional santoor maker, preserves Kashmir’s fading musical heritage as younger generations slowly begin reviving interest in the region’s centuries-old instruments and mystical traditions.

Articles tagged with "Mystical Traditions"

Strings of identity: Kashmir's fading music endures