A tradition where song is memory
Gafruddin Mewati Jogi represents an oral folk tradition in which story, faith, music and a community’s memory travel together. From the Mewat region of Rajasthan, he learned the bhapang, a single-string folk instrument often called a “talking drum”, from his father, Budh Singh Jogi. Regional profiles say he began performing at a very young age.
2,500 verses of the Mahabharata
His gift is not just playing the instrument but holding a vast spoken repertoire in memory. Citing his Sangeet Natak Akademi citation, The Indian Express reported that he knows and performs more than 2,500 dohas of “Pandun ka Kada”, the Mewati oral telling of the Mahabharata. His repertoire also includes Shivji ka Byavla, a folk Ramayana and other devotional stories that Mewat’s communities share.
A shared heritage
He has performed in both temple and mosque settings, which reflects the shared culture at the heart of the Mewati Jogi tradition. Decades of performing have also taken him abroad. The Padma Shri in 2026 is less a personal prize than national recognition for an endangered tradition that he keeps alive.
Heritage survives when it is performed and passed on. A folk tradition is not a lesser art: it can be an archive of history and of a community’s memory.
Sources
- PIB: Padma Awards 2026
- The Indian Express: Padma Shri for Rajasthan folk artists
- NDTV Rajasthan: Padma Shri for bhapang player
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2218690
- indianexpress.com/article/india/padma-shri-gafruddin-mewati-jogi-taga-ram-bheel-talking-drum-mewat-twin-flutes-thar-rajasthani-folk-artists-10494597/
- rajasthan.ndtv.in/rajasthan-news/padma-award-2026-rajasthan-gafruddin-mewati-jogi-will-awarded-padma-shri-for-playing-musical-instrument-bhapang-10883574