INDIAN FOOD & SPICES
Indian Classical Music By Anita Kulkarni
Dhrupad Indian classical music history originated from the Dhrupad tradition. Dhrupad is an ancient religious and spiritual form of vocal and instrumental performing art in Hindustani Classical Music. Dhrupad style was developed and existed from 13th to the 19th century, which was later followed by the Khyaal style. The earlier Dhrupads were Sanskrit brijbhasa devotional compositions. They were the religious padas, meaning lyrics were sung in the praise of God and Goddesses or of the infinite grandeur of nature and creation. Usually the songs had four parts namely the Asthai (introductory part of the composition), Antara (expansion of the composition which is a second part), Sanchari (the third part, sung on the higher notes) and Abhog (concluding part of the composition). The Taal used for these are, ChaarTaal (12 beats), SoolTaal (10 beats), Teewra (7 beats), and Dhamar (14 beats). The Dhrupad vocalists were usually accompanied by pakhawaj or mridang and a string instrument, usually Taanpura. Dhrupad compositions were sung in various Ragas. Dhrupad is the oldest genre of Hindustani music and originally was sung in Hindu shrines, however it later emerged in Mughal courts and then to the stage. The glorious and unsullied swar sadhana of Dhrupad was a general pattern and the standard of popularity of presentation varied with the stature and voice quality of the singer and the response of the listeners. Dhrupad was dominated by men in which the singing was slow in nature and required a great control of the voice and breath to make possible often continuous rendering of various words and phrases with varying tonal or volume emphasis. The traditions followed were categorized as Gaudiva, Daguri, Nauhari and Khandari Banee or Vanee. Banee refers to sayings of the saints sung to music. Every Dhrupadiye family had one or two master Rudra Vina player. And the four Ang aalap of Vilambit, Madhya, Jod, Jhala, Meend, Gamak taan were already in a highly advanced and developed form to elaborate any raga. In Akbar’s period, there were four famous masters of Dhrupad – Tansen, Braj Chand Brahmin, Raja Sammokhan Singh (son-in-law of Tansen) and Shri Chand Rajput. Swami Haridas, the guru of Tansen was a well-known Dhrupad vocalist in the 15th century. Swamiji composed hundreds of Dhrupads. The 18th century saw a decline of Dhrupad. This is sometimes a price of change or innovation to keep alive a tradition and no one should be faulted for this. No students of Indian music deny that several angs of badhat, vistar or improvisation and laykari of the Khyaal bear the unmistakable stamp of Dhrupad style. Instruments such as tabla, sitar, and sarod accompany Dhrupad singers. Today, only few Dhrupad vocalists are active, including the well-known Dagar Brothers, Pt Rutwik Sanyal and Gundecha Brothers. November 2009
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