It's not every day that one gets to listen to a scholarly yet lucid exposition of the history of our classical music. India International Centre on Tuesday provided such an opportunity by organising a talk on “Gwalior Gharana and its Paluskar Tradition” by Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas under its Music Appreciation Programme. In his opening remarks, he offered a bird's-eye view of the way music developed from the singing of Sama Veda wherein only three notes were employed and how gradually a saptak consisting of seven notes took shape. In the 16th Century, Dhrupad acquired its present form and four distinct styles or banis crystallised. It was a time when qawwalis promoted by Sufi saints too had evolved into a full-blooded musical form.
By the 18th Century, a new singing style known as Khayal (‘idea' or ‘imagination') had come into being. “Khayal,” declared Pandit Vyas to an amused audience, “was the fusion music of the 18th Century and it was completely secular.” Elaborating on this point, he explained how the Khayal incorporated the sthayi and antara of Dhrupad, introduced laya in the alapchari section, and incorporated taans, khatka, murki and zamzama of the Qawwali. “Dhrupad was essentially Hindu music that had developed in the temples, and all its compositions were in praise of Shiva, Krishna and other gods and goddesses. On the other hand, Qawwali was primarily sung at the dargahs of the Sufis. However, the Khayal had no such limitation. By assimilating the characteristics of both these musical traditions, it had acquired a completely secular character,” Vyas observed., adding that as Dhrupad was sung in four different styles or banis, Khayal too came to be presented in different ways by various gharanas (musical clans) in the course of its evolution.
Gwalior gharana, founded by the legendary Haddu Khan-Hassu Khan, is considered the fountainhead of all other gharanas. Its singing style is called ashtang (eight-part) gayaki and offers a balanced presentation of all the parts in an integrated manner. Later, other gharanas arose by laying special emphasis on a particular aspect of the Gwalior style. For example, Agra gharana is known for its layakari while Kirana is famous for paying lavish attention to swara and meend. Patiala gharana has specialised in taans.
Popularised by disciples
Haddu Khan and his brother Hassu Khan taught many students including Vasudevrao Joshi whose disciple Balkrishnabua Ichalkaranjikar settled in Miraj in Maharashtra and popularised this style of singing. It was his chief disciple Vishnu Digambar Paluskar who made a historic contribution to the modernisation and popularisation of Hindustani classical music in the 20th Century.
Pandit Vyas recalled that Maharashtra had two living musical traditions when Khayal appeared on the scene there. There was an old tradition of Keertankars and a relatively new tradition of Natya Sangeet (theatre music). The classicists faced the challenge of holding the attention of the audience for long hours. This influenced the style of presentation as well the content of Khayal singing. The revolutionary role played by Paluskar lay in his attempt to expand its public space by bringing it out of the royal palaces and small soirees of the connoisseurs. He opened the first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901. To attract students from respectable families, he changed the character of the Khayal compositions from romantic or erotic to devotional. Paluskar took out dohas and chaupaees from Tulsidas' “Ramcharitmanas” and set them to a particular raga. Similarly, he took up bhajans from Tulsidas, Surdas, Meera, Kabir and other saint poets and rendered them in raga sangeet. The prayer “Jai Jagdish Hare” virtually became the anthem for Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Paluskar was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi as well as the Congress-led national movement. He sang at various AICC sessions. Vyas' father Narayanrao Vyas and uncle Shankarrao Vyas were disciples of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. It was Shankarrao Vyas who had composed the tune for the Mahatma's favourite bhajan “Vaishnavajan To Tene Kahiye”.
The talk was interspersed with Vyas' singing and added to the pedagogic value of the presentation. He sang ragas Shree, Kamod, Megh and the famous Ramcharitmanas chaupaee “Jab sabhi nirpat niras bhaye” in Bhoop to elucidate several musical points. It was a truly memorable evening.
