After four years of learning music under the guru-shishya tradition at the Dr. Gangubai Hangal Gurukul, the first batch of students will bid adieu to the gurukul this month.
As many as 13 students from various States will perform before their gurus on Saturday in Dharwad and on Sunday in Hubballi before they are given certificates for their learning at the gurukul.
Gurus of the gurukul Pt. Maniprasad, N. Rajam, Pt. Ganapati Bhat Hasanagi, Vijay Jadhav Gatlewar and Pt. Kavilyakumar Gurav and Administrator B.V. Laxmeshwar told presspersons here on Friday that while there was no end to the study of music, the students would have to leave the gurukul after four years as per the guidelines.
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“Their performances on Saturday and Sunday will reveal the kind of training they have received. More than the number, quality is given importance here,” said violinist N. Rajam.
Pt. Kaivalyakumar Gurav and Pt. Ganapati Bhat Hasanagi clarified that from the academic point of view the students would not get any degree but at gurukul they would be trained to become professional performing artistes. “At a time when the training under the guru-shishya tradition was becoming outdated, the gurukul was trying to continue it,” they said.
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Mr. Laxmeshwar said that already 11 students from across the country had been chosen for the new admission and six more had been chosen to undergo a six-month training under the gurus. After six months, they would decide on admitting them based on their improvement, he said.
PerformanceHe said that outgoing students Abhishek Sinha, Manjunath Hosaval, Vidyashree Salimath, Shreya Kulkarni and Monika Soni would perform at Srujana Rangamandir in Dharwad on Saturday between 5 and 9 p.m. Another batch of outgoing students namely Praveen Mishra, Soumya Pattar, Maheshkumar Sharma, Shatrughna Bevura, Mrunalini Parolekar, Prabhat Devangan and Aniruddha Deshpande would perform at Kannada Bhavan in Hubballi on Sunday between 5 and 9 p.m.