Miraj’s Sitar and Tanpura receive GI Tags

April 10, 2024

The sitars and tanpuras of Miraj, a small town in Maharashtra’s Sangli district known for its craftsmanship in making musical instruments, have been awarded the coveted Geographical Indication (GI) tags.
The tradition of making sitars and tanpuras in Miraj goes back more than 300 years, with over seven generations of craftsmen having worked towards making these string instruments.
On March 30, the government of India’s intellectual property office issued GI tag to the Miraj Musical Instruments Cluster for its sitars and to the Soultune Musical Instrument Producer firm for tanpuras.
The wood for making the sitars and tanpuras is procured from forests in Karnataka, while pumpkin gourds are sourced from Mangalvedha region of Maharashtra’s Solapur district.
The cluster manufactures 60 to 70 sitars and around 100 tanpuras in a month.