The searing heat of the plains of India is dispelled by the welcome dark clouds of the monsoons – joyously awaited by everyone. Malhar is the music of this ecstatic season, a raga that is said to bring the rains, and is traditionally played in the monsoon season. The rains are always considered romantic, and the various Malhars too are regarded as lyrical romantic ragas, personifying the appealing aspect of the rains.
There are several Malhars, though there are supposed to be 12 main Malhars according to Senia tradition. Their listing is not universally agreed upon, with different gharanas having different histories of how many Malhars there are. A modern listing of the extant Malhars today would be Mian Malhar, Ramdasi Malhar, Gaur Malhar, Meera Malhar, Surdasi Malhar, Nat Malhar, Charju Malhar, Dhulia Malhar, Megh Malhar, Des Malhar, and Jayant Malhar.
Pandit Narendra Nath Dhar, eminent sarodiya of the Shahjahanpur Senia tradition was taught an unusual Malhar, which pre-dates the extant Mian Malhar in Tansen’s time, which does not have either of the nikhads, or the gandhar, which is today called Shudha Malhar. Bhai Baldeep Singh, direct descendent in an unbroken line of kirtaniyas dating back to the15th century from Guru Nanak’s time, also speaks of the pentatonic “Shudha Malhar”. But this definitely does not have the sound of Malhar as we know it today, with the long drawn pathos of two nikhads.
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Tales of Malhar concerts bringing on the rains abound – in 1973, after seven years of drought in the desert city of Bikaner, a powerful vocal aalap of Mian Malhar, in the pure Senia tradition, brought about, first the rain clouds, then the much needed rains! The last of the famous maand singers, of the court of Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner, late Allah Jilai Bai used to recall the private concert with awe.
In the 1980s, a powerful rendition of Mian Malhar by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan performing in Delhi at the Shankarlal festival brought about a huge storm in the city, at a time when rains were not imminent recalls Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar.
However, according to the late Pandit Radhika Mohan Moitra, Malhars were composed to be performed in the monsoons only so their bringing about the rains is not extraordinary! This is, of course, a prosaic and practical explanation that does not pander to the more attractive and lyrical perception of the sound of Mian Malhar drawing the clouds!
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Some artists performed certain Malhars so beautifully that they came to be associated with the raga – like Vidushi Kishori Amonkar with Meera Malhar. Ustad Vilayat Khan was known to have said his taalim raga, (or the first raga one is elaborately taught) was Gaur Malhar, and indeed, amongst instrumentalists it is difficult to remember another instrumentalist playing the raga so well.
Amongst vocalists, Gaur Malhar is a favourite with the Jaipur, Rampur Sahaswan and Gwalior gharanas – several exponents have sung it memorably including Vidushi Kesarbai, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan and Pandit Krishnarao Shankar.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s Mian Malhar recordings are unforgettable and even today stand apart from other versions. Several younger instrumentalists, not taught by him, admit privately to being inspired so much by his Malhar concerts and recordings in the 1970s and 1980s!
Mian Malhar has also inspired film music composers, with several songs being picturised in the rains to songs that had elements of Malhar in them. This was as early as in the 1942 film “Tansen” with “Barso re” based on Megh Malhar; the most memorable song based on Mian Malhar being perhaps “Bole re papihara” from the 1971 film “Guddi”.
One looks forward to hearing the different Malhars this season!