Hindustani or Indian Classical Music never fails to fascinate. Whether its a seasoned connoisseur or someone listening to it for first time.It invokes some kind of "Bhaav" or some kind of "Vichar" (thought).. some kind of "Khayal" !
The uniqueness of this music is that it has that subjective feeling to each and every individual evoking "Thoughts" / "Moods" and thats the beauty of it. Every individual interprets it based on his/her "nature" with some definitive common ness that unites it to render a certain mood based on the time of day or season !
I have now and then experienced this fascinating phenomenon !
The preface to this final blog post of the season, are the following three previous blog posts, related to Khayal , Bandishes and Raagdaari.(all posted in 2017)
Khyaal ( ख्याल ) : A poetic musical tweet
As a connoisseur of "Khyaal" gayaki , one realizes how Khyaal represents a composite intervening of various artistic forms of India. It truly expresses in musical form , complex interpretations of poetry, melody , rhythm , philosophy and even science of sound to provide a complete entertainment to mind and soul. 95% of the Indian Classical Music or Hindustani Classical Music is in form of Khyaal , presenting the raagdari through bandishes, sadras, thumris , bhajans and gazals. Khyaal truly represents the culture and philosophy of the Indian Sub-continent and the concept of "Sangeet" ( music , dance and poetry )
Raagdaari, Khyaal and Bandishes : Part 1
Raagdaari is a way of elaborating and expressing a raag through Khyaal. Which in turn uses a Bandish, set in a particular tune/melody (धून) and rhythmic pattern (ताल) to express one or more of the multiple facets of a particular raag. One of the most glaring misconception about Indian or Hindustani Classical Music stems from its nomenclature. In Indian languages, classical music is referred to as "Shastriya" (शास्त्रिय संगीत) that literally translates to "Scientific" music. There lies the root cause of the misconceptions .. a misnomer as Scientific (shastriya) instead of being called "Abhijaat" (अभिजात) that correctly translates to "Classical" in real sense.
Raagdaari , Raag Sangit and Khyaal : Part 2
One of the first raags that attracted me to Indian Classical Music was the Todi. There is something soothing in the scale of Todi. The predominant Bhaav or Ras ( भाव - रस ) of Todi is that of submission to supreme power and enlightenment attained through the path of knowledge ( ज्ञान-मार्ग ). Bhairavi on the other hand has a predominant Bhaav or Ras of pure love and devotion, submission through faith ( भक्ति -मार्ग ). This classification is generic and may have some rare exceptions through specific bandishes.
One of the most poignant and rare raag of Indian Classical Music is called Bilaskhani Todi , which in one way is a perfect combination of Bhairavi and Todi. It is a type of Todi that has the Bhairavi raagang or is set to gait and scale of Thaat Bhairavi. Bilaskhani Todi or Bilaskhani , is a Todi that sounds like Bhairavi. Hence Bhairavi and Bilaskhani Todi are siblings in a way !
Bilaskhani is extremely difficult to sing and there is a legend behind its creation : Bilas Khan was was one of the four sons of the legendary Dhrupad singer Miyan Tansen. Tansen thought poorly about the musical abilities of Bilas Khan and had almost disowned him !
At the funeral of Tansen , grief of Bilas Khan made him sing a Todi that was filled with emotions of pathos and pain. The legend has it that the poignancy of this rendition brought life back to Tansen and his eyes flickered for a moment ! Such was the power of this rendition of Todi by Bilas Khan .. we call this BilasKhani Todi of modern days that belongs theoretically to the "Bhairavi Thaat".
Here is a link to my playlist for Bilaskhani Todi on youtube
Some of my favorite renditions of Bilaskhani Todi available on youtube are following:
Aarti Ankalikar sings "Jagadambika Ambika" and "Araj mori suno re dayala"
जगदम्बिका अम्बिका
अरज मोरी सुनो रे दयाला
Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande sings "Koi aan milao kuwar shyam"
कोई आन मिलाओ कुंहर श्याम, करुणा कर माधव सुख विराम
Pt Ajay Chakravarty sings "Bansiya bajee mohan shyam ki"
बंसिया बजी, मोहन श्याम की
Pt Jitendra Abhisheki sings Bilaskhani Todi
सतगुरु रहो मन में
त्यज रे अभिमान जान गुणीयन को, कौन जाने कब मिटे जाए साथ तन की
Pt Ajit Kadkade a trademark composition in Bilaskhani Todi in Marathi, one of my favorites .. "Sajal Nayan"सजल नयन नित धार बरसती ...
With the roots of "Khayal" or "Khyaal" gayaki in Gwalior gharana, which is called complete eigthfold (ashtang pradhan), other styles or gharanans have predominant and specialized in certain aspects of this "Ashtang gayaki" ..
Agra gharana retaining its roots to Dhrupad style mixed with laykaari
Kirana (Kairana) gharana with a kind of bhakti ras mixed with romance..taans, khatkas and murkis stressing the acuteness of a "sur" bringing Carnatic influence.
Mewati gharana with the predominant vaishnav "bhakti ras" and a surrender to the forms of Vishnu
Banaras gharana has its predominant Shaiv form of "bhakti ras" dedicated to the almighty "Bhairaon" mixed with the lightness of music in form of romance and virah
Patiala gharana with the free flow of romance , wilderness and grandiose of music and stress on sargams and long taans sometimes spanning all three octaves .
Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, in true sense is one of the oldest with roots in all three Dhrupad gharanas and has evolved through the Dhrupad bandishes brought through "Haveli Sangeet". Vid Shruti Sadolikar represents that Old Classical Jaipur style.
Here is my post related to it , from the symposium on Jaipur Gharana held at Goa in 2019 and related youtube links to the symposium recordings
It is quite natural that these styles will attract individuals based on their nature and disposition. Also some styles would suit certain kind of mood , time and season ! I am however not much inclined to mixing two / three styles in one rendition like some kind of potpourri, though such experiments are becoming quite common and routine currently. This might be one reason of losing the "classical ness" of the Khayal singing !
Jayateerth Mewundi sings Bilaskhani Todi and Bhairavi
बाजे नीके घुन्गरिया ..