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Darshanam Mogilaiah Age, Children, Family, Biography

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Caste: Madiga (SC)
Hometown: Telengana, India
Age: 73 Years

Darshanam Mogilaiah

Bio/Wiki
Other NameKinnera Mogulaiah
ProfessionSinger
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)5' 7" (170 cm)
Eye ColourBlack
Hair ColourSalt and Pepper
Career
DebutTelegu Film Song: Title track of the film Bheemla Nayak (2022)
Bheemla Nayak film
Award, Honour• Ugadi Puraskaram (2015)
• Padma Shri Award (2022)
Darshanam Mogilaiah receiving Padma Shri
Personal Life
Date of BirthYear, 1951
Age (as of 2024) 73 Years
BirthplaceAusalikunta village, Nagarkurnool district, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), India
NationalityIndian
HometownTelangana, India
CasteMadiga (SC)
Relationships & More
Marital StatusWidower
Family
ChildrenSon- Mahender

Note: He had 9 children.
ParentsFather- Yellaiah

A photo of Darshanam Mogilaiah

Some Lesser Known Facts About Darshanam Mogilaiah

  • Darshanam Mogilaiah belongs to a Dalit family in Telangana along the stretches of Nallamala Hills.
  • At age eight, he travelled with his father to different parts of Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) and learned to play kinnera.
  • The tradition of playing kinnera came from Darshanam’s ancestors who started playing the instrument 400 years ago at the court of the Raja of Wanaparthy in Hyderabad.
  • Before getting recognition as an artist, he worked as a daily wage labourer for 14 years in Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, and Mumbai.
  • Darshanam reinvented the instrument kinnera by making it a 12 stair instrument with metal strings. Earlier, his forefathers used to make kinnera with eight to nine stairs built with women’s hair, and horse-tail, and used animal nerves as strings.

    Darshanam Mogilaiah holding kinnera

    Darshanam Mogilaiah holding kinnera

  • His songs comprise folk tales of local heroes such as Pandugolla Sayanna, Endavetla Pakiriah, and Miya Saab.
  • In 2013, his contribution towards playing the kinnera instrument and keeping the folk songs alive was incorporated as a lesson in the class eight textbooks of Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) as an honour.
  • Out of nine of his children, three of them died from health issues, three were married, and three others were students.
  • In 2022, he received Rs 1 crore cash from the Telangana government for reinventing the Kinnera instrument.
  • In 2024, a video of his went viral in which he was seen working as a labourer at the construction site in Turkayamjal.

    Darshanam Mogilaiah working on a construction site as a labourer

    A still of the viral video in which he was seen working as a daily wage labourer

  • According to him, one of his sons suffers from seizures due to which he needs more than Rs 7,000 a month for his son’s medical expenses.
  • According to sources, he had spent Rs 1 crore fund given by the government on his three children’s weddings and building a house in Turkayamjal after which he ran out of funds.
  • According to him, he received a Rs 10,000 monthly honorarium from the Telangana government which was stopped in 2024 and the 600 sq yard allotted in Rangareddy district by the government of Telangana was not given.