President of India Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday conferred Padma Shri to Risingbor Kurkalang from Meghalaya in field of Art during a Civil Investiture Ceremony.
Risingbor Kurkalang is widely recognised as a master craftsman in traditional instrument making and is an accomplished folk musician as well.
Born on November 19, 1978 into a family of farmers at Laitkyrhong village, East Khasi Hills district, Risingbor developed a passion for traditional music and drew inspiration from his grandfather.
He began making different traditional instruments and mastered playing all of them. He started to manufacture the traditional music instruments for sale in the year 2001. He is the first person from his village who manufactured these instruments.
Risingbor was invited by a group of traditional musicians in 1990 at his village to record at All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra under their programs dedicated to traditional music.
This boosted his career as a musician and a music craftsman. He has travelled extensively around the state and the country to showcase his talent as a musician and music craftsman as well as a champion in preserving the Khasi traditional folk music and dance. His instruments are all handmade and with a sense of understanding for the quality of sound and form.
Risingbor participated in several exhibitions and workshops including the workshop on traditional music/traditional musical instrument making organised by the Government of Meghalaya.
He participated in the Vadya Darshan organized by the Sangeet NatakAkademi, New Delhi in the year 2002 and also participated in 2nd Thoh Shun International Art Camp 2006 held at Cherrapunjee (Sohra), East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya.
He has performed in the International Festival on Inter- Cultural Dialogue between North East India & South East Asia (2010). He composed and played the song entitled ‘Mei Mariang’ from an album titled ‘Sai-thainki Sur’ by the Khasi-Cymru collective which was released in 2021 on Naxos World. He was invited by Mr. Gareth Bonello a Welsh musician from Wales, United Kingdom to perform with him at the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) at Jodhpur (2022).
Risingbor was awarded a Certificate of appreciation for his participation in the workshop on the making of the traditional musical instruments organised by the Government of Meghalaya (2008).
He has received INTACH’s Martand Singh Memorial Award 2021,a cash award in the Handicraft Category amounting to Rs 1 lakh (Rs. one lakh) from Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), New Delhi.