Dhrupad - Dhrupad and khyal are the two forms of classical singing that exist today in North India.The word Dhrupad is the Hindi form of the original Sanskrit, Dhruvapada, a combination of Dhruva = structured or rigid and Pada = word.
Dhrupad, the older form, a more entertaining style. Dhrupad however remained the favored style in a few imperial courts, mainly in Rajasthan and Bihar. Dhrupad is the oldest surviving form of Indian Classical music and traces its origin to the chanting of vedic hymns and mantras.Though a highly developed classical art with a complex and elaborate grammar and aesthetics, it is also primarily a form of worship, in which offerings are made to the divine through sound or nada. Dhrupad can be seen at different levels as a meditation, a mantric recitation, a worship, a yoga or tantra based on the knowledge of the nadis and chakras and also purely as a performing art portraying a universe of human emotions.
It is mainly a vocal tradition based on the practice of nada yoga, but is also performed on instruments like the Rudra Veena and the Sursringar. For the past five centuries Dhrupad has mainly thrived under the patronage of Mughal and Rajput kings. Dhrupad singers Zakiruddin Khan, Allabande Khan, Ziauddin Khan and Nasiruddin Khan.The descendants of Zakiruddin Khan and Allabande Khan adopted the name of the genre as their family name and acquired renown as the Dagar brothers.
Dhrupad - There are said to be four broad stylistic variants (vanis or banis) of Dhrupad – The Gauri (Gohar), Khandar, Nauhar, and Dagar, tentatively linked to five singing styles (geetis) i.e. Shuddha, Bhinna, Gauri, Vegswara, and Sadharani. Initially named after the language or dialect in which the verse was written and mentioned in Raja Man Singh Tomar’s treatise on the subject, Raga Darpan. The four banis, in later years, came to signify stylistic differences. But more importantly, there are a number of dhrupad gharanas or 'houses' or family styles. The best-known gharana is the Dagar family,
From the state of Bihar come two other gharanas, the Malliks (Darbhanga gharana) and the Mishras (Bettiah gharana). The Mishras practice both Nauhar and Khandar styles with some unique techniques for nomtom alap. This gharana flourished under the patronage of the kings of Bettiah Raj. The most famous exponents of the Bettiah gharana today are Indrakishore Mishra and Falguni Mitra. The form of dhrupad prevalent in Darbhanga and Bettiah is known as the Haveli style. In Pakistan, dhrupad is represented by the Talwandi gharana, who sing in the Khandar style.
Other than vocal the Dhrupad style is also performed on stringed instruments such as the Rudra Veena, Surbahar, Sursringar and can actually be performed on any instrument that is able to produce micro-tones and slides between the notes of a scale
Dhrupad Gharana
Dagar Gharana - There are a number of dhrupad gharanas: 'houses', or family styles. The best known gharana is the Dagar family, who sing in the Dagar vani. The Dagar style puts great emphasis on alap and for several generations their singers have performed in pairs (often pairs of brothers). The Dagars are Muslims but sing Hindu texts of Gods and Goddesses. Some of the best dhrupad singers outside the Dagar family, such as Uday Bhawalkar, Ritwik Sanyal, Nirmalya Dey and the Gundecha Brothers, also belong to the Dagar vani, as does instrumentalist Pushparaj Koshti, who plays the surbahar.
The descendants of Zakiruddin Khan and Allabande Khan adopted the name of the genre, the Dagar Bani of Dhrupad,as their family name and acquired renown as the Dagar brothers.
They kept this art alive in the difficult period after 1947 when it lost the patronage of the royal courts. Zakiruddin and Allabande Khan were brothers and disciples of their grand-uncle Baba Behram Khan, and served respectively in the royal courts of Udaipur and Alwar.
They were the foremost Dhrupad singers of their times (late nineteenth and early twentieth century) and were greatly respected for their singing and erudition. Their performances are still remembered with awe and reverence.
Although Dhrupad and its preceding forms originated in the chanting of vedic hymns and mantras, it gradually evolved into an independent art form with its own complex conceptual basis and grammar. Dhrupad was originally sung in temples and later thrived under the patronage of Mughal and Rajput kings. Fundamental to Dhrupad singing is the practice of Nada Yoga, in which, through various yogic practices, the singer develops the inner resonance of the body, and can make the sound resonate and flow freely through the entire region from navel to head. This enables the singer to produce a vast palette of subtle tone colours and microtonal shades. The processes of Udatta, Anudatta and Svarita play the same fundamental role in Dhrupad singing as in Vedic recitation. These processes are fundamentally linked to the ancient grama, murcchana system of tonal relations,and the Dagar tradition is probably the last that uses this ancient system based on murcchanas and not the modern thata or mela system that evolved in the last few centuries.
A Dhrupad performance starts with the alap which is a slow and elaborate development of a Raga (mode) using free flowing melodic patterns. The elaboration of Dhrupad alap is done using the syllables of a mantric phrase 'om antaran twam, taran taaran twam, ananta hari narayan om'. The phrases of Dhrupad alap are very slow and contemplative in the beginning, but the tempo increases in stages, and in the faster passages playful and vigorous ornaments predominate. The audio and video samples on this site give examples of different facets of Dhrupad. Dhrupad alap is followed by the singing of a composition with rhythmic improvisation, to the accompaniment of a barrel drum called the pakhawaj (ancestor of the tabla).
The Talas or cycles of beats commonly used are Cautal (12 beats), Dhamar (14 beats), Jhaptal (10beats), Sultal (10beats),Tivra (7 beats). In the videos on this page can be heard examples of Choutal and Dhamar. Dhrupad portrays a vast range of human emotions: serenity, compassion, sensuality, pathos, strangeness, anger and heroism and subtle shades of them all. In Dhrupad of the Dagar tradition the notes are not treated as fixed points, but as fluid entities with infinite microtonal shades.The music is deeply spiritual and meditative. The Dagar style of Dhrupad is defined by 52 musical concepts or Arkans (12 basic alankars and 40 more which amplify and refine them). These include concepts like Udatta, Anudatta, Svarita, Sapta Gupta, Sapta Prakata, Sakari etc. which have all but disappeared from Indian classical music and even from Dhrupad
Ustad Behram Khan took firm roots under the adept supervision of Ustad Behram Khan, who was associated with the royal court of Jaipur. Ustad Behram's father was Baba Gopal Das Pandey who was ostracized by his fellow brahmins for having chewed a pan offered to him by the then Mughal ruler in Delhi, Muhammad Shah Rangile, for his excellent rendition of Dhrupad. Haider and Behram were his two sons.
Haider Khan died early while Behram Khan spent the best part of his long life in establishing the purity of the gayaki not known before. The entire credit for keeping alive and passing down to posterity the pure form of dagarvani goes to him. A superb teacher, his disciples included his sons, Haider Khan’s sons and their sons. Particularly famous were his nephew’s sons, Zakiruddin Khan (1840-1926) and Allabande Khan (1845-1927), well known for their Jugalbandi (duet) performances.
The main representatives of the present-day Dagar gharana are the descendants of Ustad Zakiruddin Khan as well as of Ustad Allabande Khan’s four sons, Nasiruddin, Rahimuddin, Imamuddin and Husseinuddin: all of them extremely gifted and highly respected Dhrupad musicians. Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, now referred to as the Senior Dagar Brothers, were the elder sons of Nasiruddin and grandsons of Allabande Khan. Their jugalbandhi captivated audiences all over India and even in Europe bringing about a major revival of the dying genre. After the death of Moinuddin, their younger brothers, Nasir Zaheeruddin and Nasir Fayyazuddin also gained fame as a duo. Major contributions to the upkeep of this tradition also came from the sons of Rahimuddin and Husseinuddin, Rahim Fahimuddin and Hussein Sayeeduddin respectively, as well as the grandsons of Zakiruddin Khan, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin who revived the majestic Rudra Veena as a concert instrument and Zia Fariduddin.
Dagar Gharana musiciansThe rich heritage of the Dagar tradition lives on in the remaining Dagar brothers and their sons and well-groomed disciples from outside the family.
The Dagarbani dhrupad rendition is characterized by meditative and leisurely development of alap. The purity of a raga is usually maintained all through and in spite of intricate rhythmic patterns, there is a profound sense of devotion.
Dhrupad Gharana - Betia Gharana
The Betia gharana associated with the erstwhile royal court of Betia in Bihar primarily flourished during the 19th century. Stylistically, the gharana’s influence extended over entire eastern India. It became particularly strong in Bengal because of the close links of the Vishnupur gharana in Bengal with Betia, since masters of the latter trained most musicians of the former.
The genesis of Dhrupad in the Betia tradition is associated with the arrival in Betia of Pandit Shivdayal Mishra, a prominent disciple of famous musicians, Rahimsen and Karimsen of the Nepal court. He trained the royal brothers Anand and Nawal Kishore Sinha, who, in course of time, became composers of a very high order.
Dhrupad in Betia style is signified by the apparent simplicity of vocal delivery coupled with emphasis on the composition. Betia Gharana has compositions available from all the Banis, though more emphasis is placed on Gaurhar and Khandar Banis. As a result, the ornamentations and rhythmic variations are strictly applied during a rendition. Compositions of the Betia gharana are based on the poetry of the maharaja-poet-dhrupadiyas, Anand and Nawal Kishore. Pyar Khan of Seni Gharana and Haider Khan are considered to be the major influence on this gharana. Eminent musicians such as Hasan Ali Khan (father of sarodiya, Fida Hussain), beenkar Sadique Ali Khan and Kale Khan frequented the Betia court and learnt compositions of this gharana.
Betia Gharana - Bholanath Pathak
After the demise of royal patronage, the Betia tradition continued in Varanasi in the hands of stalwarts such as Shivrahal Mishra, Guruprasad Mishra, Jaykaran Mishra, Bholanath Pathak, beenkar Shivendra Nath Basu and Shib Mitra. It is claimed that Jaykaran Mishra, who had an excellent repertoire of dhamars and khayals, had committed to memory over nearly 2000 dhrupads in different banis. He passed on this cherished legacy to his deserving disciples, the most prominent among them being Bholanath Pathak. In addition to Varanasi, the Betia tradition prevailed in Bengal as well when several musicians moved to the Vishnupur court and is upheld today by prominent musicans of Bengal like Falguni Mitra. The tradition has a presence today in the place of its origin as well - in the form of Indrakishore Mishra.
Dhrupad Gharana - Talwandi Gharana
The Talwandi tradition is associated with north -western India, specifically, Punjab. Presently, the tradition has very few singers, all living in Pakistan. Prominent singers of the tradition claim that the Talwandi gharana represents Khandar Vani. It is claimed that Nayak Chand Khan and Suraj Khan were the founders of Talwandi Gharana, which flourishes today in Pakistan. The Talwandi Gharana evolved independently of and remained unaffected by the Hindu tradition of devotional music. In fact the entire performance is regarded as an offering to Allah. Nevertheless the Talwani repertoire includes compositions on both Muslima and Hindu themes. The gharana style appears to have similarities to the Darbhanga Gharana. A few recordings exist that show extremely fast concluding portions of the alap.The compositions display highly complex rhythmic variations.
Dhrupad Gharana - Darbhanga Gharana -Ram Chatur Malik
Radhakrishna and Kartaram, the court musicians for the Nawab of Darbhanga in the mid eighteenth century, are considered to be the founders of the Darbhanga tradition of dhrupad. The gharana is continued in the two lineages formed by their descendants.
From the state of Bihar come two other gharanas, the Malliks (Darbhanga gharana) and the Mishras (Bettiah gharana). The Malliks are linked to the Khandar vani & Gauharvani, they emphasize the Ragaalap as well as the composed song over an improvised alap with a variety of layakaris and thihayees. Originally, this gharana maintained branches of veena and pakhawaj playing too. The performance of the Darbhanga Gharana of dhrupad singers can be distinguished mainly by the way compositions are sung after the alap. A major emphasis is placed on the rhythmic aspect of the singing. The distinctive feature of the gharana is powerful and expressive vocal delivery, combined with a lively style of performance.
Prominent singers include the late Ram Chatur Mallik (1906-1990), who was court musician at Darbhanga, Vidur Mallik, Abhay Narayan Mallik, and Prem Kumar Mallik.Ram Chatur Mallik, Vidur Mallick, and Siyaram Tiwari were well known exponents of Darbhanga gharana in the last century. Today the senior performers of the Darbhanga gharana are Ram Kumar Mallick and Prem Kumar Mallick. Prashant Kumar Mallick and Nishant Kumar Mallick (Mallick brothers) are Dhrupad vocalists among young generation of Darbhanga tradition. Dhrupad of the Darbhanga gharana has a strong representation in Vrindaban owing to late Pandit Vidur Mallik, who lived and taught in Vrindaban during the 1980s and 1990s
Credit To - ITC Research Academy
www.itcsra.org/sra
https://www.dhrupad.info/
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