Sitars, tanpuras made in Maharashtra’s Miraj town get GI tags

Pune, 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 tags. 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 Miraj Musical Instruments Cluster functions as the apex body for both the sitar and tanpura makers in the town, its chairman Mohsin Mirajkar said. "Whenever classical artists visited the sansthan, discussions were held on how sitars or tanpuras needed to be made according to their specifications, leading to improvements in the quality of the musical instruments," Mirajkar said.