This year, Kartarpur saw very few yatrees owing to the Indo-Pak military standoff. Situated on the banks of the Ravi River, Kartarpur is regarded as the third holiest site for Sikhs, after Darbar Sahib Amritsar and Nankana Sahib. Unfortunately, it was inundated during unprecedented floods this year. Despite large-scale construction work, the surging waters entered the area. The gurdwara had previously been rebuilt by the Maharaja of Patiala in 1929 following another major flood.
Bhai Mardana, a lifelong companion of Guru Nanak, played the rabab and is credited with composing many of the shabads and kirtans of Guru Nanak—the hymns still sung in gurdwaras today. His descendants, known as the rababis, have preserved this sacred tradition of performing Sikh liturgical texts for centuries.
Guru Nanak is celebrated as the second great poet of the Punjabi language, following Baba Farid. Much of Baba Farid’s kalam has survived because Guru Nanak included it in his own collection.
For centuries, the rababis have been revered as great musicians. In modern times, virtuosos such as Bhai Lal, Ghulam Hasan Shaggan, Master Ghulam Haider, Rashid Attre, Wajahat Attre, Sain Akhtar Hussain, Tufail Niazi, and Hamid Ali Bela adapted to changing times and enriched the immense treasure trove of music over the last century.
However, the liturgical music of the Sikhs suffered greatly following the migration of the rababis to Pakistan during and after Partition. Among the many cultural casualties of the division of Punjab, this remains a largely unacknowledged tragedy. Sikhs themselves seldom discuss it with full candor, perhaps because when art becomes part of ritual, any critique of performance quality risks being perceived as a critique of the religious act itself, which can evoke varied reactions.
A similar pattern is evident in Pakistan, where aesthetic quality is often not treated as a critical factor in evaluating ritual. Instead, music or performance is viewed as external to religious practice. This means the observance of the ritual alone is taken as sufficient, resulting in quality frequently being overlooked while the act of ritual is considered complete once performed.
Punjabi musical expression was, and still is, deeply shaped by Sikh influence. From the mid-18th century, when the Sikhs ruled Punjab, through the British Raj, the princely state of Patiala emerged as one of the greatest patrons of music. Musicians from the region often drew upon liturgical references, if not always directly, then through regular allusions. The Sikh Gurus themselves designated a number of ragas and composed within them.
Like the khanqah and the mandir, the gurdwara became a sanctuary for musicians, offering a platform to develop and advance their art. After Partition, however, the rababis in Pakistan were compelled to suppress their liturgical traditions and adapt to other, more socially acceptable forms of music.
Many rababis turned to folk and film music, where they not only found space but also excelled, proving themselves as accomplished as other maestros. As Pakistan pursued a state narrative rooted in a more orthodox reading of religion, the rababis were forced to adapt further. Many altered their attire and distanced themselves from their musical ancestry; in some cases, they even claimed different origins. Like many others, they reinvented their identities in terms of caste, baradari, religion, and sect.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1346542-the-lost-music-of-the-rababis