Rajasthani Folk Singers: 9 Voices to Know

Rajasthani folk singers to know, from Allah Jilai Bai and Gavri Devi to Mame Khan, Kutle Khan and the Manganiyar and Langa masters, with sourced facts.

Key facts

Main communities: Manganiyar and Langa hereditary musicians of western Rajasthan, plus Bhopa priest-singers (Wikipedia)
Most famous song: Kesariya Balam, sung in Maand style; the earliest available recording is by Allah Jilai Bai (Wikipedia)
Padma Shri honourees: Allah Jilai Bai (1982), Sakar Khan (2012) and Lakha Khan (2021)
Coke Studio breakthroughs: Mame Khan's Chaudhary (2012) and Kutle Khan's Khari Khari (2013) with Amit Trivedi
Jodhpur RIFF 2026: 20th edition, 22 to 26 October 2026 at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur (official site)

The best-known Rajasthani folk singers include Allah Jilai Bai and Gavri Devi, the great Maand voices of the 20th century; Manganiyar masters such as Sakar Khan and Lakha Khan; and today's crossover stars Mame Khan, Kutle Khan and Swaroop Khan. Alongside them are Bhanwari Devi of the Bhopa tradition and Ila Arun, who took Rajasthani folk-pop into Hindi cinema. Most of this music comes from hereditary musician communities in western Rajasthan, mainly the Manganiyar and Langa. Their songs are passed down orally and are now reaching festival stages, Coke Studio and streaming playlists.

This guide explains the traditions, profiles the key singers with sourced facts and suggests where to start listening. It is timely: Jodhpur RIFF, the state's biggest roots-music festival, is running its 20th edition at Mehrangarh Fort from 22 to 26 October 2026.

Where Rajasthani folk music comes from

Rajasthan has several hereditary musician communities, including the Langa, Sapera, Bhopa and Manganiyar. The Manganiyar are a Muslim community of the Thar Desert, living mostly in Barmer and Jaisalmer districts and across the border in Sindh. For generations they sang for patrons from the Rajput and Charan communities, and their songs work as an oral history of the desert. Wikipedia's summary of their tradition notes that some of their ragas began in the Thar and are not found in north Indian classical music.

The Langa, another Muslim community of Rajasthan and Gujarat, are closely tied to the sindhi sarangi. Jodhpur RIFF's 2026 programme describes it as a handmade instrument with up to 28 strings, built to follow the human voice so closely it could be mistaken for one, and now played and made by very few people.

The Bhopa are priest-singers of folk deities. They perform all-night epics in front of a painted scroll called a phad, which works as a portable temple.

Much of what outsiders know about these communities is thanks to the folklorist Komal Kothari (1929 to 2004). He documented Langa and Manganiyar music, co-founded the Rupayan Sansthan folklore institute in 1960 and arranged international tours for folk artists.

The classic voices

1. Allah Jilai Bai

Born in Bikaner in 1902, Allah Jilai Bai was singing in the court of Maharaja Ganga Singh by the age of 10. She was trained in Maand, thumri, khayal and dadra, and her best-known recording is Kesariya Balam, Rajasthan's most famous folk song. She received the Padma Shri in 1982 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for folk music in 1988, and was named a Rajasthan Ratna in 2012. She died in 1992.

Start with: Kesariya Balam, then Moomal and Kurja
Style: Maand, the refined court style of folk singing

2. Gavri Devi

Gavri Devi, known as Maru Kokila, the nightingale of Marwar, was the other great Maand singer. She started a Maand programme on radio and Doordarshan in 1957 and sang Kesariya Balam Aavo Hamare Des at the Festival of India in Moscow in 1983. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, and the Rajasthan government gave her the Rajasthan Ratna in 2013.

Start with: her version of Kesariya Balam
Style: Maand, plus thumri, bhajan and ghazal

The Manganiyar masters

3. Sakar Khan

Sakar Khan (1938 to 2013) was born in Hamira village in Jaisalmer district and learnt the kamaicha, a bowed folk string instrument, from his father. Many regard him as its greatest player. He played in Brussels in a concert alongside Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar, performed with George Harrison in London, and received the Padma Shri in 2012.

Start with: any kamaicha recital recording
Style: instrumental and vocal Manganiyar repertoire

4. Lakha Khan

Lakha Khan, born around 1945 in Raneri village in Jodhpur district, is described as one of the last masters of the sindhi sarangi in the Manganiyar tradition. He worked with Komal Kothari early in his career and has toured WOMEX in Finland and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. He sings in Marwari, Sindhi, Hindi and Punjabi, often with his son Dane Khan on dholak. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2008 and the Padma Shri in 2021.

Start with: his Sufi and bhajan recordings with sindhi sarangi
Style: sarangi-led folk, Sufi and devotional song

The crossover generation

5. Mame Khan

Mame Khan was born in Satto village near Jaisalmer into a Manganiyar family. His father, Ustad Rana Khan, was also a folk singer. He made his film debut with Shankar Mahadevan on Luck By Chance in 2009, but his breakthrough came in 2012 with Chaudhary, made with Amit Trivedi for Coke Studio @ MTV season 2. He won the Best Folk Single award at the GiMA Awards in 2016, became the first folk artist to walk the red carpet at Cannes in 2022 and released his folk, Sufi and fusion album Desert Rose on 13 October 2022.

Start with: Chaudhary, then Desert Rose
Style: Manganiyar vocals with fusion production

6. Kutle Khan

Kutle Khan, born in 1984 into a Manganiyar family, started training with his father Ustad Jethu Khan at eight and left school after the fourth grade to study music. He formed The Kutle Khan Project in 2011, sang Khari Khari on Coke Studio @ MTV season 3 in 2013 and won the GiMA Best Folk Single award in 2015 for Moomal. Wikipedia says he has performed in more than 80 countries.

Start with: Khari Khari, then Moomal
Style: folk vocals and khartal with a band

7. Swaroop Khan

Swaroop Khan reached a national audience on Indian Idol season 5 in 2010. He is best known for Tharki Chokro in the film PK and Ghoomar in Padmaavat.

Start with: Tharki Chokro
Style: folk-rooted film playback

Women carrying the tradition

8. Bhanwari Devi

Born in 1964 into the Bhopa community, Bhanwari Devi is one of the first Bhopa women to perform widely in India and abroad. She first sang devotional phad epics with her husband. After his death she kept performing alone, which was unusual for a woman Bhopa singer, and widened her repertoire to other Rajasthani folk songs. She joined the Jaipur Virasat Foundation's work after a 2003 performance in Shimla.

Start with: her festival recordings of Rajasthani folk songs
Style: Bhopa devotional singing and Marwari folk

9. Ila Arun

Born in Jodhpur and raised in Jaipur, Ila Arun is an actor and Rajasthani folk-pop singer. Her film songs include Choli Ke Peeche from Khalnayak, which won her a Filmfare Award shared with Alka Yagnik, Morni Baaga Ma Bole with Lata Mangeshkar in Lamhe, and Ringa Ringa for A. R. Rahman in Slumdog Millionaire.

Start with: Morni Baaga Ma Bole
Style: Rajasthani folk-pop

Where to hear Rajasthani folk singers live

Jodhpur RIFF: held at Mehrangarh Fort since October 2007 and timed to the Sharad Purnima full moon. The 2026 edition runs 22 to 26 October and lists Rajasthani performers including Idu Khan Langa, Asin Khan Langa, Taga Ram Bhil and the Meghwal singers Bhallu Ram and Mala Ram, plus a sindhi sarangi special. Songlines named it among the 25 best international festivals in 2012 and 2013
Jaipur Literature Festival: Manganiyar singers performed at the 2026 edition, as photos on Wikimedia Commons show
Coke Studio: both MTV-era seasons and Coke Studio Bharat, which began in February 2023, have put folk singers alongside pop and hip-hop artists

Our music festivals in India 2026 calendar lists more dates. If you like what happens when these singers meet bands, read our guide to Indian folk fusion bands and our list of Indian indie folk and acoustic artists.

FAQ

Who is the most famous Rajasthani folk singer?

Allah Jilai Bai is the most celebrated classic voice, known for Kesariya Balam and a Padma Shri in 1982. Among living singers, Mame Khan and Kutle Khan are the best known nationally.

Who sang Kesariya Balam originally?

It is a traditional folk song with no known writer. Wikipedia says the earliest available recording is by Allah Jilai Bai, and Gavri Devi also made it famous.

Who are the Manganiyar?

A Muslim community of hereditary musicians from the Thar Desert, mainly Barmer and Jaisalmer, whose songs serve as an oral history of the region. Mame Khan, Kutle Khan, Sakar Khan and Lakha Khan come from it.