Monday, September 9, 2013
The WADALI BROTHERS – PURANCHAND
WADALI and PYARELAL WADALI – are Sufi singers
and musicians from Guru Ki Wadali in the Amritsar District inPunjab, India.
Born into the fifth generation of musicians given to singing the messages of
Sufi saints, the Wadali brothers dabbled in the most unexpected of professions
before they became Sufi singers. While Puranchand Wadali, the elder brother,
was a regular in an akhara (English: wrestling ring)
for 25 years, Pyarelal contributed to the meager family income by playing the
role of Krishna in the village rasleela.
Their father, Thakur Das, forced Puranchand into music.
Puranchand studied music from celebrated masters like Pandit Durga Das and
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of the Patiala Gharana. Pyarelal was
trained by his elder brother, whom he considers his mentor and guru even today.
Their first musical performance outside their village was in
Harballabh Temple in Jalandhar. In 1975, the duo went to Jalandhar to
perform at the Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan but was not allowed to sing because
their appearance did not pass muster. Disappointed, they decided to make a
musical offering at the Harballabh temple, where an executive of All India
Radio, Jalandhar, spotted them and recorded their first song.
The Wadali Brothers sing in the gurbani, kafi, ghazal and bhajan genres
of music. They live in their ancestral house in Guru Ki Wadali, and teach music
to those who promise to preserve it. They do not charge their disciples, and
lead a very simple life devoted to the divine one.
They believe in the Sufi tradition deeply. They consider
themselves as a medium through which the preaching of great saints is passed on
to others. They have never indulged commercially, and they have only a handful
of recordings to their name (mostly from live concerts). They believe in
singing freely as homage to the divine one. They do not feel very comfortable
in using electronic gadgets in their music, and stress on Alap and Taans.
They believe that spiritual heights can only be attained if you sing
unreservedly, in a free atmosphere.
In 2003, they entered Bollywood, rendering music director and
writer Gulzar’s soulful lyrics in their unique style in the film Pinjar.
They also sang one song in Dhoop. On the cards is a documentary which the
Discovery Channel is planning to make on them.
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