Modern Concept of Bani and Gharana in Dhrupad Sangit
BHASWATI SARMA
Introduction:
Dhrupad is the earliest known grammatical basis of Indian Music. Being one of the bearers of HINDU culture, Dhrupad is very ancient and carries traditional style. Hence, it influences other styles of Indian music derived from it or originated later.
Dhrupad occupies a significant place in Hindustani Music. This genre of music is essentially unique while unfurling a Ra̅ga in its authentic style or presenting it keeping its feeling intact throughout. Dhrupad can also be defined as an image or reflection of ancient “Jatigaan” and “Chandaga̅na” or “Prabandhaga̅na”. Historically reporting, this style has evolved from “Dhruba̅ Prabandha” of “Prabandhaga̅na”. According to some scholars, the musical background of dhrupad is traceable back to the Vedas themselves. The lyrics and music of Dhrupad is excellent for its colorful “ala̅pcari” (singing uniqueness), layaka̅ri (different rhythmic structure), jhor, upaj etc. Veterans in music like Tansen, Swami Haridas etc. have shown expertise in performing Dhrupad.
Dagar Brothers
Artists from several ‘Ghara̅na̅s’ have also received great acclamation in performing ‘Dhrupad Sangeet’ in their own style keeping intact its gravity, rhythm, notes combinations etc. The oral tradition of Dhrupad with traditional verse refers to the four Banis or styles of Dhrupad. Teaching and learning of Dhrupad Sangeet and its continuity with reference to Dagar, Khandar, Gauhar, Nauhar, Darbhanga, Bishnupur, Betia, Talwandi etc. with illustration is discussed in this dissertation.
The term ‘Ghara͞na͞’ is derived from a Persian word “ Ghar” , meaning house, family ,room etc. Therefore, ‘Ghara͞na͞’ means a tradition of a certain house or family. In north-Indian music the term is exclusively used for professional musician family and it means the methods or stages which are to be followed by every member of such professional musician family. There is no room for copying a musician under the Ghara͞na͞ system1. The rigid structure of the stages of performance which is known as silsila͞ is the key guide –line which a Ghara͞neda͞r artist has to be followed though there are ample scopes of showing creatity of his own2.
The Ghara͞na͞ system in north –Indian music is not very old. It has been practiced since the second half of 16th century. Of course, the system flourished throughout north-Indian during 18th and the 1st half of 19th century. Before Ghara͞na͞ method, there were ‘Parampara̅’ or tradition which were of two types, namely, (a) Acharya Parampara͞ or music scholar’s tradition, and (b) Ga͞yaka. Va͞daka and Nartaka Parampara͞ ( singer, instrument-player and dancer’s tradition)3.
Again, during the age of Ga͞ndharva or Ma͞rga-sangita, Acharya parampara͞ was of two main classes, viz-a-viz, a) Na͞tya (dancedrama) Sampradaya, and (b) Sangita sampradaya (musicologist and musician class). As for example, we may say that Bharata-muni belonged to Na͞tya-sampradaya and Na͞rada, Viswabasu, Durgasakti, Kasyapa, Yastika etc belonged to Sangita Sampradaya. Besides this, there was another Parampara͞, which was referred to in Bharata’s “ Natyasa͞shtra” and other musicological texts known as Viswakarma͞. This refers to makers of musical instruments. However, this system also continued after the abolition of Ga̅ndharva or Ma̅rga and with the beginning of Mughal rule, the culture of music in temples became obsolete and the music for entertainment was given prominence at courts. Hence, the professional musician class along with Ghara͞na͞ earned a status.
Ghara̅͞na̅͞ in Indian music is nothing but a method or stages of performance of professional musician family. It is related to vocal, instrumental music and dance. The common features of Ghara͞na͞ are enumerated below:
Firstly, Ghara̅͞na̅͞ system is exclusively related to professional musician family. This system is concerned with some steps of musical performance which are to be followed by every member of a certain Ghara͞na͞. The most important thing of Ghara͞na͞ system is the expression of individual artiste’s creative imaginations on a certain framework or steps, known as “Silsila”. Mere coping an artist is not the characteristics of Ghara͞na͞. Thirdly, to establish a Ghara͞na͞ at least three generations are necessary. Fourthly, there should be an exponenet of each Ghara̅͞na̅͞. Fifthly, a Ghara͞na͞ should be named after a city, country, musician etc. As for example, Gwalior Ghara͞na͞, Rampur Ghara͞na͞, Delhi Ghara͞na͞, Senia Ghara͞na͞ etc4.
Concept of Giti with Ba̅ni and Ghara̅na̅:
In ancient times there were Gities which meant the singing styles. Again, in ancient Ga̅͞ndharva or
Ma̅rga Sangit, the above styles were of two types as the tunes were based on two types of music. One is modal and the other is melodic. The modal music is nothing but related with ancient Ja̅͞ties. Ja̅͞ties were again of 18 types and 7 of them were Suddha and the rest were the Vikrita Ja͞ties5. Actually, there were some fixed notes of Ja͞ties on which a song was composed in Sanskrit Language. This is known as modal music. The melodic was based on Ra̅͞gas. Ra̅͞gas are combination of notes and it had some embellishments, which helped to express the different moods and sentiments. Both the types of songs were used in ancient Dance, Dramas or Na͞tya. Those dramatic songs were known as Dhruva6. However, the Modal songs i.e., the songs which were based on Ja͞ties have four types of Gities known as Ja͞ti-gities. They were Ma͞gadhi, Ardha-ma̅͞gadhi, Sambhabita͞ and Prithula͞7, while in melodic songs based on Ra̅͞gas have 5 gities and had two types, both had simple ascending and decending orders8.
The embellishments used in the first types were Meend, very small Gamakas, A͞sh, Sparasan i.e., grace note and touch notes. The other type of Suddha giti were definitely simple but the notes used in a staccato forms , i.e., the tunes void of Meends or glides etc. In the later time the first type of suddha giti i.e., Gwalior Ba̅ni or Gourhari Ba̅ni was evolved and from the second type of Suddha giti the Da͞gar Ba͞n or Da͞gar Ba͞ni were evolved. In case of Vinna͞ giti heavy and medium Gamakas were used in three octaves but the Gamakas should produce a beautiful tonal structure. In later times during Prabandha age and later times ( in 16th century) in Dhrupada, the Vinna giti was transformed into Kha͞nda͞ri Ba͞n which was found in the eastern bank of Ara͞valli region and the third was Goudi giti which has oha͞ti. Oha͞ti means the very heavy Gamakas in lower and middle octave. One has to lower down his cheek while producing this Gamakas. Such type was transformed in prabandha age as Gontri Ba͞n. The Ba͞n was produced from Gandoana land (Goud or Gand). This type of Ba͞n or Ba̅͞ni was not found in later time, it was very difficult to produce or to practice.
Then Besara giti, Besara means ‘Begaswara’ where slow tempo was not used but fast tempo was used. It was seen in Punjab area. The embellishments like chhut, Pukar, Khadda etc.were used. The Dhrupada which was based on this type of Giti was known in later time as Nauha͞r Ba͞n or Nauha͞r Ba̅͞ni. Any how in later time Nauhar Ban became obsolete with the advent of Punjabi Khayal or Tappa. Next comes Sa̅dha̅rani giti, which was a mixture of the above four types of Gities. It was not arranged in a very disciplined order because there was no mention how much items of the above four Ba͞nies would be added in Sa̅dha̅rani Giti. Also it was known from 16th century as Mishra Ba͞n or Mishra Ba͞ni Dhrupad9.
These are the short descriptions of ancient Ba͞nies and Gities but Ghara̅͞na̅͞s had no direct link with the Gities. Because Ghara͞na͞ means the procedure of performing music by a professional class of musicians and Gities and Banies were evolved on the basis of regional characteristics of performing music. It meant that in one region one Giti or one Ba͞ni was produced and also regional characteristics were found in that Giti or Ba͞ni. But in one place there may be so many Ghara̅na̅s such as in U.P we may have five or six Ghara̅na̅s. The Ghara̅na̅s which were very close to the region where from the ancient Ba͞nies and gities are evolved. They will have, in most cases, the characteristics of those Gities which were evolved from particular place. Though, it does not mean that a Ghara͞na͞ should follow the Giti . But they will have a definite procedure of performing music. That is Ghara͞na͞. ‘Ghar’ means a musician family. Ghara̅na̅ means There are also two streams of each Ghara̅͞na̅͞. One is the musician having blood relations and the musicians who were disciples of a certain professional musician family. Ba̅nis or Gitis do not have such relation10.
Musical Features of the Ba̅nis:
Da̅gar Ba̅ni or Da̅gar Ghara̅na̅:
Melody is the most important musical elements of a Ba̅ni. Da̅gar Ba̅ni shows an embllished melodic line. In Da̅gar Ba̅ni ‘Meend’ is a characteristic fundamental. Da̅gar Ba̅ni evokes compassion (karun) and sweetness (madhur) and contains a mystical quality with grace. The principle characteristic of the Da̅gar Ba̅ni is simplicity and gracefulness with a natural and straightforward gait. Curvacious ordering of the melodic elaboration can be seen in this style. Da̅gar Ba̅ni focuses on delicately executed curvilinear meends with gamaks. Da̅gar Ba̅ni forte is the Ala̅p. The tonal pattern in Ala̅p brings onto play every note are so subtle and so deep that they become hardly noticeable to the unskilled and untrained ears. 
The main art of Da̅gar Ba̅ni lies in merukhand Ala̅p, which
is structured on ten svara-lakshanas named as- A̅ka̅r, Dagar, Dhuran, Muran, Kampita, A̅ndolita, Lahak, Gamak, Hudak and Sphurti. The voice culture of Da̅gar Ba̅ni is so delicate where we can find fluidity in the tone shades using several microtones or ananta shruti. It is known for correct intonation, simplicity, purity and structure. Da̅gar Ba̅ni Dhrupad is a family tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation which carries the Suddha Giti style mentioned in the Sangeet Ratna̅kar.
For the past five centuries Dhrupad has mainly thrived under the patronage of Mughal and Rajput kings. Tracing its history back to nineteen generations, we can say that the Ghara̅na̅ took firm roots under the able supervision of Behram Khan who went to Jaipur and founded his gurukul. Ustad Behram Khan who was a scholar in both music and Sanskrit spent the best part of his life in establishing the purity of the Ga̅yaki and popularizing Kheyal along with Dhrupad. Among his popular disciples were Alibaksh Fateh Ali, Kale Khan, Abdullah Khan and here we found a name of a female deciple Gohki Bai.
The credit of keeping alive Da̅gar tradition goes to seven Da̅gar brothers or cousins and some of their well groomed disciples who carried out the rich heritage quite competently. Ustad Aminuddin Da̅gar reciepent of Padmabhushan along with his elder brother Nasir Moinuddin Da̅gar popularized the Da̅gar Bani not only in India but also in the west. Ustad Mohiuddin Da̅gar, the greatest exponent of Rudra Veena̅ in the family and his younger brother Ustad Zia Fariduddin Da̅gar, former Director of Dhrupad Kendra – Bhopal , have added to the popularity by their global level concerts and workshops. No less commendable is the contribution of the other cousins Ustad Nasir Zaheeruddin, Nasir Fayyazuddin who were popularly known as Da̅gar brothers (junior).
Ustad Fahimuddin Da̅gar, who is son of Ustad Rahimuddin Da̅gar, is a great scholar of Dhrupad and was well versed in demonstrating the theoretical and practicle aspects of Dhrupad. Ustad Hussainuddin Da̅gar was another great singer in Da̅gar brothers. His soulful and melodious rendering of Ala̅p and Dhrupad is remarkable. Another popular singers among young generation are Bahauddin Da̅gar son of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Da̅gar is only Rudra Veena̅ player who is carring the tradition. Wasifuddin Da̅gar son of Ustad Faiyazuddin Da̅gar is also worth mentioning.
Although the majority of the dhrupad singers are male but there are some female singers of Da̅gar Ba̅ni are Asgari Bai, Vidushi Alaka Nandi, Vidushi Ashoka Dhar, Smt Kaberi Kar and Smt Madhu Bhatt Tailang name are worth mentioning for their commendable contribution.
Govarhar Ba̅ni:
Tansen is said to be the originator of this Ba̅ni as he was a Gauda Brahmin and therefore this style is known as Gaudiya or Govarha̅ri Ba̅ni. Smooth glides and linier singing is the main characteristics of this Ba̅ni with a slow gait and contemplative, spreding a feeling of repose and peace.
Gauhar Ba̅ni is describe as ‘Sudhha Ba̅ni’ which means pure. Its rendering is straight and simple with a gap in between the words and stanzas, bridged by ‘aan’s and ‘meends’. Composition are set to slow tempo which gives a devotional feel and evokes the mood of tranquility which portrays Shaanta, Gambhira and Bhakti Rasa. This Suddha Ba̅ni is sung in a clearly indicated manner with each distinct note with a chief characteristic of clarity. As the style is slow in tempo and heavy in movement it requires great control on breath. Nowdays, Gauhar Ba̅ni is seldom heard but it occupied a supreme position once.
Influence of Gauhar Ba̅ni tradition in Darbhanga Ghara̅na̅:
The Darbhanga Ghara̅na̅ was founded by two brothers Radhakrishna and Kartarama, Gauda Brahmins from Braj, found patronage in the court of Darbhanga, North Bihar. It is said that Darbhanga Ghara̅na̅ has adopted the Gauhar Ba̅ni as its basic style. But according to musicians it also combines in its tradition the robust voice culture of Khandar Ba̅ni and the swiftness of the Nauhar Ba̅ni.
The distinctive feature of the Darbhanga Ghara̅na̅ is therefore powerful and expressive vocal delivery, combined with lively, joyful style of performance, skillful Layaka̅ri improvisation. There is not much emphasis on restrained, mediative slow movements or on voice culture and such other technical aspects. The senior musician of the Darbhanga tradition is Pandit Vidur Mallik of Vrindaban who succeeded the legendry Pandit Ram Chatur Mallik.
Here I would like to add two important names of female Dhrupad singer who belongs to Italy and London are Amelia Cuni and Selina Thielemann who learnt Dhrupad under Pt.Vidur Mallik.
Khandar Ba̅ni:
Raja Samokhan Singh of Kandahar region was a famous Beenkar. Thus his style of singing became famous as Kandahar or Khandar Ba̅ni. The speciality of this Bani is its majestic and robust gait using heavy and vigorous Gamakas and more expressive of valor in comparision to Gauhar Ba̅ni. The tempo is also not so slow as Gauhar Ba̅ni. The composition were set to Madhya and Drut laya.
Khandar Ba̅ni is more prominent in Jor Ala̅p of the Rudra Veena̅ along with bewildering pattern of vigorous Gamakas. Singer innovates series of Bol-ta̅ns in rhythmic patterns. The Ba̅ni was suited for expressing the fast and furious Vira Rasa.
Among the female artist Smt. Shukla Chatterjee used to learn Khandar Ba̅ni style from her guru Uday Bhushan Bannerjee.
Influence of Khandar Ba̅ni tradition in Talwandi Ghara̅na̅:
The Talwandi tradition is associated with the western parts of India, specially Punjab. Presently the tradition has very few singers, most of them belong to Pakistan. Prominent singers of the tradition include Muhammad Hafiz Khan claims that Talwandi Ghara̅na̅ represents Khandar Ba̅ni. Dilip Chandra Vedi, who learnt from Talwandi Ghara̅na̅ members in 1920’s, claimed that Nayak Chand Khan and Suraj Khan were the founders of Talwandi Ghara̅na̅. Contrary to other opinions regarding Dhrupad, Hafiz Khan places Islam at the center of Dhrupad philosophy. The Talwandi Ghara̅na̅ appears to have similarities to the Darbhanga Ghara̅na̅.
The compositions display highly complex rhythmic variations and the concluding portions of Ala̅p is extremely fast. Since the Talwandi Ghara̅na̅ descended from Muslim tradition, the conventional designations of the various stages of the Ala̅p elaboration and the names denoting Dhrupad performance are in Urdu terms. The entire performance was regarded as an offering to Alla̅h. Although the repertoire includes some Hindu devotional songs along with the majority Muslim religious themes. In this style there is full-length Ra̅ga Ala̅p but the improvisation in the rendering of the pre-composed bandish is rather restricted.
Nauhar Ba̅ni:
Nauhar Ba̅ni developed during 16th century, characterized by simplicity and charm. Its founder was Rajput Sri Chand who belonged to Nauhar. The style was characterized by quick, jerky passages employing a variety of Gamakas. It usually moved in successions, moving as it were in slow deliberate curves from the first to its third or fourth note, and then changing course. Thus, the Nauhar Ba̅ni with its jumpy Chhoots( short, quick musical run) surprised the listeners at each of its movements.
Nauhar Ba̅ni was technically called Chhoot style with predominance of Madhya laya spacious Dhrupad compositions. It was ideally suited for depicting the joy and wonder of Adbhuta Rasa of songs set to smaller beats. This style of rendering is very popular with wandering minstrels singing songs of love and war.
Tradition and style of Betiya Ghara̅na̅:
The Betiya Ghara̅na̅ is from Eastern India, and it is associated with Royal Court of Betiya in Bihar. It flourished mainly during the nineteenth century, after it was founded by ‘Kathakas’(story tells or bards) from Varanasi. A muslim from Kapi, a disciple of Ustad Haider Khan of Lucknow, is also associated with the Betiya Ghara̅na̅.
The Betiya Ghara̅na̅ gathered strength in Eastern India because of its association with the Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅, a tradition of Dhrupad and Kheyal that emerged from the court at Vishnupur in West Bengal. The Dhrupad of Betiya and Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅ influenced the devotional music that developed in Bengal during 19th century for example ‘Brahma-Sangit’.
Because of the congregational nature of its rendering, the emphasis of the Dhrupad of the Betiya Ghara̅na̅ is on the composition and the clarity in its presentation.The Ala̅p is kept to a minimum, while the improvement( Layaka̅ri, Bol Bant) is hardly attempted.
According to Falguni Mitra, the main proponent of Betiya Ghara̅na̅, it has compositions available from all Ba̅nis, though more emphasis is placed on Khandar Ba̅ni. The ornamentations and rhythmic variations are strictly applied during the rendition of Dhrupad. He states that the Ghara̅na̅ originated in the royal state of Betiya in Bihar. Pyar Khan of Seni Ghara̅na̅ and Haider Khan are considered to be the major influence on this Ghara̅na̅.
Ustad Zia Fariuddin Dagar-Dhrupad.
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The tradition and style of Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅:
Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅ is one of the most significant and important genre in Dhrupad Sangit. Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅ is an age old tradition of Indian guru-shisya parampara. Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅ flourished under the second Mallaraj Raghunath Singh who was a great patron of music which now belongs to Bankura district of West Bengal. Eventually music maestros started migrating from different parts to Vishnupur. Bahadur Khan, a decendent of the legendary Tansen, was one of them became the court singer. Gadadhar Chakraborty and Ramshankar Bhattacharya emerged as the most promising one. Ramshankar Bhattacharya proved himself outstanding student and eventually established a vocal style that was distinctly his own and later on this style spread across Vishnupur and came to be known as the Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅.
In this style, artist excels in unfolding the beauty of the Raga through the Alap. It is simple, devoid of heavy and cumbersome ornamentation. It is free from intricate play with the rhythm. Layaka̅ri is often used in Dhama̅r. The Dhrupad of Vishnupur Ghara̅na̅ uses shuddha dhaivata in Ra̅ga Vasant and a touch of komal nishada in the descending notes of Ra̅ga Bhairava which makes the style or ga̅yaki unique and different from others.
Conclusion:
Two Things of Ghara̅na̅ system of Indian music are very important. One is vigorous practice and the other is Silsila, i.e., chronological performing stages. In other words, we may say that under Ghara̅na̅ system music discipline is an important thing to observe. We know that without discipline none can attain success in life. Similarly, this is equally applicable in music. It is also true that Ghara̅na̅ system was born out of professional performance of Darbari music where the science, philosophy and history of music were highly neglected and consequently became the cause of its downfall. But, in spite of its lapses, we can advocate in favour of Ghara̅na̅ system for the above two reasons. Moreover, we cannot deny that creativity in performance, based on different schools, is one of the significant characters in Indian music. However, after some modifications Ghara̅na̅ system will be very much helpful to resurrect the glory of Indian classical music11.
Most of the present – day Hindustani musicians say that the past glory of Ghara̅na̅ system is rapidly decaying. Some of them even say that now-a-days music training method has been changed and music education of schools, colleges and universities are quite different from that of Ghara̅na̅.
Hence, it is very difficult to preserve the Ghara̅na̅ method of training. Whatever it may be, there are ways to preserve or continue the system. Firstly, unlike institutional training students of music should get their music education under one Guru for at least twelve years. Secondly , a music student should know the different styles of different Ghara̅na̅s. Lastly, the music students should have a regard for the other Ghara̅na̅s besides his own.
End Notes:
- Bimal Roy, Sangiti Sabda Kosh, p 49
- Ibid, p 47
- Pradip Ghosh, Bharatiya Sangite Gharanar Itihaas, p 22
- Bimal Roy, Sangiti Sabda Kosh, p 151
- Nishanka Sarangadev, Sangit Ratnakar, p 29
- Ibid, p 35
- Ibid, p 52
- Ibid, p 66
- Bimal Roy, Dhrupad Prasange, p 11
- Ibid, p 12
- Pradip Ghosh, Bharatiya Sangite Gharanar Itihaas, p 25
Author : Bhaswati Sarma, Doctoral Research Scholar, Sangeet Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, Email id-sharma.bhaswati@gmail.com , Ph- 08473838133, 8486172304