Dhrupad, the pristine musical form of Hindustani classical music, is derived from the ancient chhand-prabandh gayan. Dhrupad offered a compositional structure to the abstract raag. Swami Haridas and Tansen, the court musician of emperor Akbar, and later Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior popularised it in the 15th and 16th centuries. The musical form retained this exalted position till about the mid-19th century before khayal singing with all its embellishments took precedence under royal patronage.
Despite a decline in its popularity, dhrupad continues to hold its position as the epitome of classicism. The contemporary relevance and wide appeal of dhrupad was revived by institutions such as the Dhrupad Kendra at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. Apart from training young enthusiasts, it organised dhrupad festivals. With gurus such as Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar, the Dhrupad Kendra was run by Bharat Bhavan under the insightful guidance of Ashok Vajpeyi, who now looks after the Raza Foundation.
An immersive experience
Dhrupad Vaibhav, a festival celebrating the unhurried and immersive style of this form, is organised by the Raza Foundation. The third edition of this festival was held recently Delhi in collaboration with the India International Centre and Naad-Chakra Trust of Pt. Nirmalya De. The audience, who were referred to as ‘chatur sujan’ (wise and clever) by Ashok Vajpeyi were there on both days.
Kaberi Kar, a senior disciple of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar | Photo Credit: Nitin Gupta
The festival opened with a rudra veena recital, without which dhrupad’s honour can never be complete. It was also a tribute to the Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, a exponent of the instrument. The artiste of the evening was Carsten Vicke from Germany. A senior disciple of Asad Ali Khan, who belongs to the Khandar bani of dhrupad. Carsten displayed the nuances of the bani right from his aalap-jod-jhala, which had melodic phrasings and raga elaboration with complete rhythmic patterns. Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma accompanied on the pakhawaj and Sujanya Arvindan on the tanpura.
Carsten began with the rare raag Adbhut Kalyan. ‘Adbhut’ means extraordinary or exceptional, and it was an exceptional raag without both the madhyam and pancham swaras, the two main pillars to hold any musical scale. Omitting these two main swaras implied sweeping through the whole octave in one slow leap. Carsten’s meends and gamakas were sure and secure in a rigorously conceived aalap, jod, jhala, and a dhrupad rendition set to Chautaal. He also played a dhamar in Hindol, which is a raag of the spring season. “It’s a lifetime’s work to study and play this instrument,” said Carsten.
Kaberi Kar, a senior disciple of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, was the second artiste of the inaugural evening. She opened her vocal dhrupad recital with Jaijaiwanti. Her well-trained disciple Nisha Pal provided vocal support while Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma was on the pakhawaj.
The introductory alaap created the melodious aura of the raag before Kaberi presented a dhrupad in Chautaal. Next came a dhamar in Shankara. Finding her subtle understatements lost in pakhawaj’s sound, she politely said, “Mohan ji is playing with me after two decades, and this sangat develops by sitting together and conversing with each other.” She continued, “I think the swar should be seen with closed eyes, and then presented with reverence. If you are singing nishad, it should only belong to Shankara, and not carry the flavour of Bihag.”
Since it was the month of Falgun and Holi, Kaberi also presented her guru’s dhamar composition ‘Hori khelungi saanvare ke sang’ in raag Bahar before concluding with her own composition in Sooltaal.
Surbahar exponent Saurabhbrata Chakraborty with Shubhasheesh Pathak on the pakhawaj and Dipanvita Sharma on the tanpura | Photo Credit: Nitin Gupta
On the second day, Ashok Vajpeyi recalled anecdotes about Bade Ustad and his music. The evening opened with a surbahar concert by Saurabhbrata Chakraborty. Initiated into music by his mother Mala Chakraborty, he was further trained by Pt. Manilal Nag and Kashi Nath Mukherjee. He learnt surbahaar from Acharya Nitai Bose, and the Dagar style from Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar.
Opening with raag Yaman, Saurabhbrata played detailed aalap-jod-jhala and a dhrupad composition in Dhamar taal, accompanied on the Pakhawaj by Shubhasheesh Pathak and Dipanvita Sharma on the tanpura. Yaman, one of the most melodious evening raags, was played with great elan. Saurabhbrata concluded with a Sooltaal composition in raag Basant, most apt for the Spring season.
Pt. Premkumar Mallick, the 12th generation dhrupad vocalist from Darbhanga gharana | Photo Credit: Nitin Gupta
Perfect choice of songs
The festival concluded with the concert of Pt. Premkumar Mallick, the 12th generation dhrupad vocalist from Darbhanga gharana. The renowned son and disciple of Pt. Vidur Mallick, Premkumar is equally at ease with khayal, thumri, dadra and bhajan. A Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, he is also an author and a professor of music at Allahabad University. He offered the choicest gems from his treasure trove, especially dhamars in different raags. A style allied to dhrupad, dhamaar compositions are mostly in Braj bhasha, and sung in Dhamar taal of 14 beats time cycle.
Preceeded by a detailed aalap in Puriya, a late evening raag, the first dhamar went as “Aaj rasa been liye, kar duff-mridanga sab gwal baal’, where the elaboration in the lower octave was striking. Describing the Holi festival, the second dhamar came in Khamaj, ‘Aaj khelat moson hori’. The raag continued in the third one — ‘Braj mein dhoom machyo hai’ and also the fourth, ‘Lal mose khelo na hori’. Instead of continuing the same raga, he could have brought in variety by singing dhamaars in raags such as Kafi, Pilu and Sindura.
Pt. Premkumar Mallick concluded with the dhamaar ‘Aai basant bahar’, in Shankara, a Veer rasa raag, motivated by the combative pakhawaj of Gaurav Shankar Upadhyaay.
