The gharana takes its name from the Mewat that includes some parts of Haryana and Rajasthan. This musical style was founded by Ghagge Nazir Khan, son of Bade Mohammed Khan of the Gwalior gharana and son- in-law of Haddu Khan. The impeccable lineage further strengthened his style. It was his nephew, Ghulam Kadir, who carried forward his legacy.
Ghagge Khan also had two promising disciples Nathulal and Chimanlal. Nathulal trained his nephew Pandit Motiram and his son Jasraj, who was also trained by his uncle Pt. Maniram after the early demise of his father. Pt. Jasraj rose to be the most prominent artiste of not just the gharana but of Hindustani music. The hallmark of this gharana is the clarity of diction, melody and usage of meend gamak as endorsed by Lalita Sharma, a well-known disciple of Pt. Jasraj.
Lalita Sharma extols the importance of bandish. It is believed that when Pt Jasraj sings, his bandish can be deciphered clearly and annotated. The movement from one swara to the other like s to p or p to re is stretched to get the beauty through meend. The connectivity between the swaras and ‘legato’ thus achieved is most important in rendition. Pt. Jasraj is known for his rare ragas such as Nat Narayan, Shuddh Bhairavi, Din ki Puriya and Naga Dhwani Kanhara.
The practitioners of the gharana believe in emoting feelings and thoughts that the music evokes; by definition khayal means transporting one to the realm of imagination that is heightened with the rasa bhava that the bandish evinces. The mood of the raga is developed through notes and equally through the meaning of the text. The taans and sargams adorn the bandish. Very fast meend taans are executed with melody and clarity.
Technique of murchana
According to Nad-Understanding Raga Music by Sandeep Bagchee, “A characteristic feature of the gayaki is the technique of murchana, which it uses for raag vistar (expansion) by transposing the raag through a change of the tonic, so also to bring about novelty and creativity.” The sthayi is sung once and the mukhada is taken up for expansion, the words of the sthayi are used for bol alaps and if at any point the badhat has to be ended quickly then taan or sargam is used. Akaar is not taken so that the link between the bandish and the alap does not get broken.
The badhat is done systematically, beginning in the lower octave, through middle and the higher octaves, that is mandra, madhya and taar saptaks, returning to the mukhada of the sthayi.
Layakari and taans continue to embellish the composition. Sapat taans and gamak taans are popular with the singers.
Recalling her almost 12 years of learning from Pt. Jasraj in the guru-sishya parampara, Lalita Sharma says that Guruji is perhaps the only one in our times who teaches for free and keeps his house open for serious learners. “He held shivirs (workshops) and had regular taalim schedule starting at 7.30 in the morning.
On a concert day, preparation started early in the morning on a meditative note. Calmness brought about a deeper understanding and awareness. It taught us to experience the spirituality of the artform and the need to respect it. His sensitivity percolated through his music and we learnt more in ‘saath sangat’ (by being with him). The learning was more intuitive, we picked up the nuances more by observation and knowing Guruji’s thought process.
Sanjeev Abhyankar, a child prodigy, is another popular singer of the gharana. He came under the tutelage of Pt. Jasraj through his mother Shobha, who was also his disciple. Panditji’s nephew, Rattan Mohan Sharma, Tripti Mukherjee and Kala Ramnath are some of the other noted singers of the gharana.
The Mewati gharana singers stand testimony to the importance of riyaz in the classical music tradition, as well as of being in sync with the composition, meditating on each and every akshara, emoting the feeling of spirituality — a tradition passed on to them by their Guru. Like Pt. Jasraj often says, “Om Shri Anant Hari. I will live through their music.”
