Darshanam Mogilaiah

Darshanam Mogilaiah (born 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. The kinnera is a stringed instrument much like a veena whose origin can be traced back to as early as the 4th century CE. The instrument is indigenous to the nomadic tribes 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. In 2022, the Govt. of India honoured him with the Padma Shri award for his contributions as a kinnera musician.

In a sense, Mogilaiah reinvented the kinnera. The kinnera is a two-stringed instrument made using indigenous materials like bamboo, the dried outer shell of round bottle gourd, honeycomb, bull horn, beads, 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 helped the poor like Pandugolla Sayanna, Endavetla Pakiraiah and Miya Saab, all of whom helped the poor.

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. 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."

Other prizes and recognitions Ugadi Puraskaram, the highest State honor in Telangana State (2015)