Kanailal Bhowmick was born in the Kumilla district of Bangladesh, where he started his working life as a simple furniture-maker. After moving to Calcutta, he joined Yogesh Chakraborty in making Indian musical instruments. During this time, he had the good fortune to work with two stalwarts of Indian classical instrument making, Hiren Roy and Radha Krishna Sharma.

In 1940, he founded his own instrument making business called Kanailal & Sons,*which is located in Howrah near Calcutta. As the company name implies, he was assisted by his three sons; Subhas , Mintu and Ashutosh, all of them skilled craftsmen. Bhowmick’s craftsmanship won him appreciation from great musicians of the last generation such as Pt Jnan Ghosh, Pt Radhika Mohan Moitra, Pt. Narayan Rao Joshi and Pt. Gokul Nag.

Kanailal sitars, sarods, tanpuras, and a variety of other stringed instruments continue to be respected and praised by the Indian music community for their quality of construction and playability. Well-known artists such as Ud. Aashish Khan continue to play their instruments to this day.

*(This maker should not to be confused with the famous KanaiLal & Bros, who were renowned for their sitars, surbahars and vinas. They closed their business for good some years ago, and their instruments are collector's items)