Kirana Gharana, which got its name from a small town called Kerana in North India and founded by Ustad Abdul Karim Khan has traversed the length and breadth of India, bringing into its fold artistes such as Abdul Wahid Khan, Suresh Babu Mane, Hira Bai Badodekar, Roshanara Begum, Sawai Gandharv, Basavraj Rajguru, Sangameshwar Gurav, Pt. Pran Nath, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Prabha Atre, Gangubai Hangal, Manik Verma, Begum Akhtar, Ustad Niyaz Ahmed Khan, Venkatesh Kumar, Kaivalya Kumar and Purvi Parekh to mention a few.
“Though the Kirana gharana claims its descent from the Binkar Dhrupadiya tradition of Binkar Bande Ali Khan and his sons, this descent has been exaggerated and actually points to the sarangiyas — the Mirasis — the hereditary musicians who accompanied the courtesans,” says Sandeep Bagchee in Raga Understanding Music .
Influence of Sarangi
There is an evident influence of Sarangi (which is supposed to be closest to the human voice) on the production of the voice with emphasis on midhs and gamaks, the long and soothing aakars, alaps and alapchari, melodic and emotional with kana-s and grace notes , traversing from one octave to the other sustaining and prolonging the note — Legato, giving it a movement and a pattern as it weaves through the rhythm. Ustad Faiyaz Khan of Bangalore, originally a Sarangi player, is an accomplished Kirana singer .
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan sang at a higher pitch and Sawai Gandharv emulated him. As the singers evolved and punctuated the gayaki with their own embellishments, the ‘Khadi’ gayaki stood out. Bhimsen Joshi and Hirabai Badodekar sang full-throated, boldly retaining the beauty of the bolalaps and the sweetness of phrase, by the use of the vowels in aakars, bringing out the mood of the raag.
Madhu Bhaduri after a stint with the Indian Foreign Service has made Dharwar her home. A disciple of Pt. Pran Nath, she says, “Kirana is a relatively simpler gayaki compared to Agra which is more forceful, even aggressive. It is also less stylised.” In a recent concert of Malikarjun Shetter, she appreciated how the artiste went straight to the heart of the raag before reaching the climax and gave the listeners immense pleasure.
I remember a concert of Prabha Atre in Chennai (2007), in which she showed good judgment of the audience taste. Rendering Bihag, she accomplished a feat characteristic of the practitioners of the Kirana Gharana. She took the entire scale in one continuous melodious wave — through the three octaves with midhs and gamakas in a single breath. The finish was incredible, her tonal quality not wavering at the crucial pressure points, thereby presenting the Kirana aura.
Abdul Karim Khan considered different forms as vehicles to carry musical messages and in his time khayal and thumri enjoyed the same status. This thumri was different from the Purab and Punjab thumri and laid emphasis on swaras as it ended by doubling the tempo and came closer to the khayal.
