Chapter III Gharana: Concept and its Predominance in the Khayal Form Chapter III Gharana: Concept and its Predominance in the Khayal Form The khayal form which has an inherent ability for the manifestation of individual creativity became a vital means for the establishment of the gharana concept. The term gharana has come to be associated with a musical ideology or a school of thought and is interpreted on the basis of the salient features of the musical ideology it represents. It has its root in the word ghar (in Hindi) or griha (in Sanskrit) which means a home and hence has a direct reference to family. The performing arts in India have always been a part of a family tradition and the guru-shishya parampara or teacher disciple mode of instruction is the essence of this tradition. This is also the reason why the concept of gharana has been more prominent in the performing tradition rather than in other disciplines. And the concept has been most clearly defined in thekhayal genre of vocal music. The guru-shishya parampara which is the basis of the gharana model traces its roots to the vedic times. A text called ‘Vansha Brahman’ designates 200 names of sama-gayak (samaveda singers) trained in the traditional guru shishya parampara (Bangre 2011: 203). Vedic shakha-s were the different styles of singing akin to the gharana-s of today (ibid. 204). Prabandha, which was a precursor to the dhrupad genre, was categorized into three parts namely sooda prabandha, alikrama prabandha and viprakeerna prabandha. Additionally, many varieties of prabandha-s were prevalent based on the structural diversity of the form. During the medieval period, the different forms of singing dhrupad came to be known as baani. The four baani-s were Gobarhaar, Dagur, Khandaar and Nauhaar; each of which 24 was identified by distinct musical and stylistic characteristics that they represented. The pre-dhrupad era also recognized mata-s which also meant ideology. There were four mata-s namely the Shiva-mata, Hanuman-mata, Brahma-mata and Bharata-mata. According to Bangre (2011:207), Sharangadev mentions a more inclusive term sampradaya in his thirteenth century text ‘Sangeet Ratnakar’. While gharana especially emphasized on familial tradition, sampradaya included the family of the founder as well as the lineage of the disciples. This brings us to the understanding of the gharana phenomenon in the khayal genre, where it has been predominant and has profoundly influenced Hindustani music for two centuries. The emergence of the khayal genre as a prominent form and the establishment of the gharana tradition in Hindustani music towards the end of the eighteenth century seem to have coincided somewhat with the decline of the Mughal era. Deepak Raja (2005: 72) argues that during the Mughal rule there was considerable degree of homogeneity with most musicians concentrated in and around the Delhi region. With the decline of the Mughal era, the musicians migrated to smaller centers in search of alternative patronage. All these centers which included amongst many others Agra, Gwalior, Atrauli and Kairana later gave birth to several of the khayal gharana-s (Mukherji 2006: 52). The distinct feature of the khayal form has been that it has nurtured individual freedom unlike any other genre preceding it. This could possibly be one of the main reasons for the proliferation of distinctive styles within the broad framework of the khayal genre itself, which came to be addressed as gharana-s. Each of these gharana-s were shaped by a combination 25 of factors which included the voice quality of the founder, the regional influences under which the gharana-s flowered and the impact of other forms like dhrupad, thumri and tappa. Vamanrao Deshpande (1987) provides a conceptual framework by classifying gharana styles on the basis of the relative emphasis that they put on the two essential aspects of music-making namely swar and laya, these two being the opposite ends of a continuum . He further adds that a style attains the status of a gharana if it has a lineage of successful musicians for at least three generations (ibid.). While adhering to the three generation theory is not essential, what this implies is that the aesthetic viewpoint of every gharana must be clearly defined and for this to happen the style must be well established for a stipulated period of time. To sum up, some of the salient features of gharana are the following: • Every gharana follows a distinct musicological ideology and the main aspects of music swar, laya and bandish are given different weight-age in each of the gharana-s. There is stylistic diversity on account of various factors like swar lagaav, treatment of bandish, vistar of a khayal (vilambit and drut khayal), preference of raga-s, choice of tala-s, ornamentations used ( meend, gamak, khatka, murki, kan), types of tana-s , emphasis on layakari and forms/genres of music (apart from khayal) sung. • Each generation of artistes assimilate new musical ideas while being faithful to the basic tenets of their respective gharana. This phenomenon ensures perpetuation and continuity of the gharana. This also results in stylistic diversity within a gharana. • A gharana gains recognition if it produces successful musicians for three generations or more (Deshpande 1987:12). 26 • Every gharana has been named after the place of origin of the founder or the princely states that initially patronized the gharana-s. For instance we have Agra, Gwalior, Patiala, Jaipur-Atrauli (also known as Alladiya Khan gharana) and Kirana. • There are large numbers of gharana-s of khayal in vocal tradition today, the major ones being: Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, Bhendibazar, Rampur- Sahaswan, Delhi, Banaras, Shyam-Chaurasia, Mewati, Indore etc. • Gharana-s exist in instrumental music also. Sitar and Sarod gharana-s include Rampur/Maihar gharana, Imdad Khan gharana ; Tabla gharana-s, known as baaj (which connotes to the style of playing) are associated with Delhi, Lucknow, Ajarada, Punjab, Farrukhabad. Although the word gharana has its connotations to family, clan or lineage, today the gharana phenomenon has largely been governed by specific ideological principles. Persons with no family background in music have taken it up in a serious manner and hence the gharana concept is no longer the sole domain of hereditary musicians and their families alone since the affiliations have been formed on the basis of a musical ideology rather than familial or regional basis (Ranade 2006: 206) . Historically, the Gwalior gharana is understood to be amongst the earliest in khayal vocalism. Gwalior had always been an important seat of music patronage with Mansingh Tomar, ruler of the Gwalior court in the fifteenth century being credited with the propagation and popularization of the dhrupad form. It was but natural that the khayal practitioners of the Gwalior gharana were influenced by features of the dhrupad form. While it is neither the aim nor scope of this study to delve upon the stylistic features of the other gharana-s, 27 I would nevertheless mention in brief the influences that other gharana-s had and the subsequent impact on their respective styles. This only reinforces the idea that for the durability of any concept, constant change and transformation are necessary; and this is what most gharana-s tried to achieve. Agra gharana was founded by Ghagge Khuda Baksh who apparently also trained from Natthan Peerbaksh of the Gwalior gharana. Thus one finds similarity in thegayaki -s of the two gharana-s with both having a bias for medium tempo and giving due importance to the bandish. But since many early practitioners of the Agra gharana were dhrupad singers, they borrowed many elements from the dhrupad form to a greater extent; For instance, rendering nom-tom aalap before presenting the bandish and the varied layakari employed in the gharana gayaki are reminiscent of the accent on layakari in dhrupad singing. This is illustrative of how, within the khayal form, the characteristic features of the two gharana-s shaped up differently. It has been stated that the voice quality of the founder of a gharana influences the respectivegayaki . The Jaipur-Atrauli gharana as we know it today is a case in point. Alladiya Khan, who is associated as a pioneer of this gharana also had a sound training in dhrupad from his uncles thereby gaining proficiency in performing dhrupad, dhamar, hori and sadra apart from khayal. But the complex patterning of phrases in aalap-s and tana-s is largely understood to be a result of Alladiya Khan’s conceptualization borne out of shortcomings in his voice which he overcame by conceiving a style thriving on complexity. In fact Alladiya Khan even attributes this complexity to his tutelage under Mubarak Ali Khan of the Gwalior gharana. So contrary to popular belief, the phenomenon of mutual exchanges between gharana-s has always existed and contributed to the 28 enrichment of individual styles within a gharana. Abdul Karim Khan, the scion of the Kirana gharana, had a pin-pointed and extremely tuneful voice production which became a benchmark for future generations in his gharana. The predominant mood of poignancy and karuna rasa associated with this gharana is best portrayed in Abdul Karim’s gayaki accentuated especially through his unique voice production. A natural corollary of this and the influence of the beenkaar and sarangiya legacy is that melodic orientation dominates in the Kirana gharana gayaki. The Patiala gharana with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan as its most famous propagator is an ideal example of how regional forms or folk genres may influence the gayaki of a gharana. The bias towards fast and swift note passages and intricate tana-s is attributed to the influence of thetappa genre that originated in the Punjab region.