‘Trumpet an inspiration to start a new struggle’: Sharad Pawar launches party’s new symbol from Raigad Fort

‘Trumpet an inspiration to start a new struggle’: Sharad Pawar launches party’s new symbol from Raigad Fort

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar Saturday launched his party’s new symbol — ‘man blowing turha’ — from the Raigad Fort, calling the moment an inspiration to launch a new struggle.

“To establish a people’s government, we need to struggle and hence, we have to strengthen the trumpet symbol. It is an inspiration to launch a new struggle for people’s welfare and a government which works for their upliftment,” the 83-year-old leader said.

Pawar was carried on a palanquin up the Raigad Fort, his first visit to the place in 40 years. The fort holds great significance in Maharashtra’s polity as the coronation ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji took place here on June 6, 1674.

The decision of granting a new symbol to Sharad Pawar’s party came after the Election Commission recognized Ajit Pawar’s faction as the real NCP, paving the way for them to continue with the well-known “Clock” symbol.

The symbol of Sharad Pawar’s new faction shows a man blowing a long, curved, trumpet-like instrument in the shape of a reverse ‘C’, decorated with a thread or string. The “turha” is also pronounced and written as “turhi”, “turahi”, or “turturi”, and varies somewhat in form across regions in Maharashtra.

In an earlier age, the ceremonial blowing of the turha heralded the arrival of kings, nobles, and other high dignitaries. In Maharashtra, the turha was a popular instrument in the court of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. According to Swar Classical, an organisation that creates software for Indian classical music, the tutari was played as a salute during the reign of the Adilshahi kings of Bijapur (1490-1686).

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