Everything about Hindustani Classical Music totally explained
Hindustani Classical Music (
Hindi: हिन्दुस्तानी शास्त्रीय संगीत,
Urdu: ہندوستانی شاستریے سنگیت) is the
Hindustani or erstwhile
North Indian style of
Indian classical music. It is a tradition that has been evolving from the
12th century AD, in what is now northern
India and
Pakistan, and also
Bangladesh,
Nepal and
Afghanistan, and is today, one of the two main parts of
Indian classical music, with the other one being the
Carnatic music, which represents the music of
South India.
Characteristics
The tradition was born out of a cultural synthesis from several musical streams: the
vedic chant tradition dating back to approximately one millennia BCE, the equally ancient
Persian tradition of
Musiqi-e assil, and also existent folk traditions prevalent in the region. The terms
North Indian Classical Music or
Shāstriya Sangeet are also occasionally used.
It is traditional for performers who have reached a distinguished level of achievement, to be awarded titles of respect;
Hindus are usually referred to as
Pandit and
Muslims as
Ustad. An interesting aspect of Hindustani music going back to
sufi times, is the tradition of religious neutrality: Muslim ustads singing Hindu
bhajans, or vice versa.
Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from the principle which eventually came to be identified as
Carnatic classical music. The central notions in both these systems is that of a melodic
mode or
raga, sung to a rhythmic cycle or
tala. The tradition dates back to the ancient
Samaveda, (lit.
sāma=ritual chant), which deals with the norms for chanting of
srutis or hymns such as the
Rig Veda. These principles were refined in the
Natyashastra by
Bharata (2nd-3d c. CE) and the
Dattilam (probably 3d-4th c. AD).
In medieval times, many of the melodic systems were fused with ideas from Persian music, particularly through the influence of
sufi composers like
Amir Khusro, and later in the
Moghul courts. Noted composers such as
Tansen flourished, along with religious groups like the
Vaishnavites. After the 16th century, the singing styles diversified into different
gharanas patronized in different princely courts. Around 1900, Pandit
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani Classical music into a number of
thaats.
In the 20th century, Hindustani classical music has become popular across the world through the influence of artistes like
Ravi Shankar,
Ali Akbar Khan and many others.
Indian classical music has 7 basic notes
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni, with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale isn't fixed, and intertonal gaps (
temper) may also vary; however with the gradual replacement of the
sarangi by the
harmonium, an
equal tempered scale is increasingly used. The performance is set to a melodic pattern called a
raga (also spelled as raag) characterized in part by specific ascent (
Arohana) and descent (
Avarohana) sequences, which may not be identical. Other characteristics include King (
Vadi) and Queen (
Samavadi) notes and a unique note phrase (
Pakad). In addition each raga has its natural register (Ambit) and
glissando (
Meend) rules, as well as features specific to different styles and compositions within the raga structure. Performances are usually marked by considerable improvisation within these norms.
History
Music was first formalized in India in connection with preserving the
sruti texts, primarily the four
vedas, which are seen as
apaurasheya (lit. un-created by man). Not only was the text important, but also the manner in which they'd been enunciated by the immortals. Prosody and chanting were thus of great importance, and were enshrined in the two
vedangas (bodies of knowledge) called
Shiksha (pronunciation, chants) and
Chhandas (prosody); these remained a key part of the brahminic educational system till modern times.
The formal aspects of the chant are delineated in the
Samaveda, with certain aspects, for example the relation of chanting to meditation, elaborated in the
Chandogya Upanishad (ca. 8th c. BC). Priests involved in these ritual chants were called
Samans and a number of ancient musical instruments such as
conch (
shankh), lute (
veena), flute (
bansuri), trumpets and horns were associated with this and later practices of ritual singing.
Sanskritic Tradition
The
Samaveda outlined the ritual chants for singing the verses of the Rig veda, particularly for offerings of
Soma. proposed a tonal structure consisting of seven notes, which were named, in descending order, as
Krusht,
Pratham,
Dwitiya,
Tritiya,
Chaturth,
Mandra and
Atiswār. These refer to the notes of a flute, which was the only fixed frequency instrument. This is why the second note is called
pratham (lit. first, for example note when only first hole is closed).
Music is dealt with extensively in the Valmiki
Ramayana;
Narada is an accomplished musician, as is
Ravana;
Saraswati with her
veena is the goddess of music.
Gandharvas are presented as spirits who are musical masters, and the gandharva style looks to music primarily for pleasure, accompanied by the
soma rasa. In the
Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Naga king Ashvatara asks to know the
svaras from Saraswati.
The most important text on music in the ancient canon is
Bharata's
Natya Shastra, composed around the 3rd c. CE. The Natya Shastra deals with the different modes of music, dance, and drama, and also the emotional responses (
rasa) they're expected to evoke. The scale is described in terms of 22 micro-tones, which can be combined in clusters of 4, 3, or two to form an octave.
While the term
raga is articulated in the Natya Shastra (where its meaning is more literal, colour, as in the mood), it finds a clearer expression in what is called
jati in the
Dattilam, a text composed shortly after or around the same time as Natya Shastra. The Dattilam is focused on gandharva music, and discusses scales (
swara), defining a tonal framework called
grama in terms of 22 micro-tonal intervals (
sruti) comprising one octave. It also discusses various arrangements of the notes (
murchhana), the permutations and combinations of note-sequences (
tanas), and
alankara or elaboration. Dattilam categorizes melodic structure into 18 groups called
jati, which are the fundamental melodic structures similar to the
raga. The names of the jatis reflect regional origins, for example
andhri,
oudichya.
Music also finds mention in a number of texts from the
Gupta period;
Kalidasa mentions several kinds of veena (Parivadini, Vipanchi), as well as percussion instruments (Mridang), the flute (Vamshi) and conch (Shankha).
Music also finds mention in
Buddhist and
Jaina texts from the earliest periods of the Christian era.
Narada's
Sangita Makarandha treatise circa 1100 CE is the earliest text where rules similar to the current Hindustani classical music can be found.
Narada actually names and classifies the system in its earlier form before the advent of changes as a result of Persian influences.
Jayadeva's
Gita Govinda from the 12th century was perhaps the earliest musical composition presently known sung in the classical tradition called
Ashtapadi music.
In the 13th century,
Sharngadeva composed the
Sangita Ratnakara, which has names such as the
turushka todi (Turkish
todi), revealing an influx of ideas from the Islamic influx. This text is the last to be mentioned by both the Carnatic and the Hindustani traditions, and is often thought to date the divergence between the two.
Medieval Period: Persian influence
The advent of Islamic rule under the
Delhi Sultanate and later the
Mughal Empire over northern India caused considerable cultural interchange. Increasingly, musicians received patronage in the courts of the new rulers, who in their turn, started taking increasing interest in local music forms. The initial generations may have been rooted in a cultural traditions outside India, gradually, they adopted many aspects from their kingdoms which retained the traditional
Hindu culture. This helped spur the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas to bring forth new forms of musical synthesis like
qawwali and
khayal.
The most influential musician from the
Delhi Sultanate period was
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), sometimes called the father of Hindustani classical music. A prolific composer in
Persian,
Turkish,
Arabic, as well as
Braj Bhasha, he's credited with systematizing many aspects of Hindustani music, and also introducing the ragas
Zeelaf and Sarparda. He created the genre of the
qawwali, which fuses Persian melody and beat on a dhrupad like structure. A number of instruments (such as the
sitar) were also introduced in his time.
Amir Khusrau is sometimes credited with the origins of the
khayal form, but the record of his compositions don't appear to support this. It is possible that the word khayal was a corruption of qawwali, but it's more likely that it has a separate etymology (the Arabic word
khyal means mood or capriciousness). The compositions by the court musician
Niyamat Khan (
Sadarang) in the court of
Muhammad Shah 'Rangiley' bear a closer affinity to the modern khyal, and suggests that 'Sadarang' may have been the father of modern day 'Khayal'.
Much of the musical forms innovated by these pioneers merged with the Hindu tradition, composed in the popular language of the people (as opposed to Sanskrit) in the work of composers like
Kabir or
Nanak. This can be seen as part of a larger
Bhakti tradition, (strongly related to the
Vaishnavite movement) which remained influential across several centuries; notable figures include
Jayadeva (11th century),
Vidyapati (1375 AD),
Chandidas (14th-15th century), and
Meerabai (1555-1603 AD).
As the Mughal Empire came into closer contact with Hindus, especially under Jalal ud-Din
Akbar, music and dance also flourished. Particularly, the legendary musician
Tansen is recognized as having introduced a number of innovations, ragas as well as particular compositions. Legend has it that upon his rendition of a night-time raga in the morning, the entire city fell under a hush and clouds gathered in the sky, or that he could light fires by singing raga Deepak, which is supposed to be composed of notes in high octaves.
At the royal house of
Gwalior,
Raja Mansingh Tomar (1486-1516 AD) also participated in the shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom (
Hindi) as the language for classical songs. He himself penned several volumes of compositions on religious and secular themes, and was also responsible for the major compilation, the
Mankutuhal (book of curiosity), which outlined the major forms of music prevalent at the time. In particular, the musical form known as
dhrupad saw considerable development in his court and remained a strong point of the Gwalior gharana for many centuries.
After the dissolution of the Mughal empire, the patronage of music continued in smaller princely kingdoms like
Lucknow,
Patiala,
Banaras, giving rise to the diversity of styles that's today known as
gharanas. Many musician families obtained large grants of land which made them self sufficient, at least for a few generations (for example the
Sham Chaurasia gharana). Meanwhile the
Bhakti and
Sufi traditions continued to develop, and interact with the different gharanas and groups.
Modern era
In the 20th century, the power of the
maharajahs and
nawabs declined, and so did their patronage. With the expulsion of
Wajid Ali Shah to
Calcutta after 1857, the Lucknavi musical tradition came to influence the music of renaissance
Bengal, giving rise to the tradition of Ragpradhan gan around the turn of the century.
In the early 20th century, Pandit
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar emerged as an extremely talented musician and organizer (despite having been blinded at age 12). His books on music, as well as the
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school that he opened in
Lahore in 1901 helped foster a movement away from the closed gharana system.
Paluskar's contemporary (and occasional rival) 'Chaturpandit'
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande recognized the many rifts that had appeared in the structure of Indian classical music. He undertook extensive research visits to a large number of gharanas, Hindustani as well as Carnatic, collecting and comparing compositions. Between 1909 and 1932, he brought out the
monumental
Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi (4 vols), which suggested a transcription for Indian music and described the many traditions in this notation. Finally, it consolidated the many musical forms of Hindustani Classical music into a number of
thaats, a system that had been proposed in the Carnatic tradition in the 17th century. The ragas as we know them today were consolidated in this landmark work, although there are some inconsistencies and ambiguities in Bhatkande's system.
In modern times, the government-run
All India Radio and
Radio Pakistan helped to bring the artists in front of the public, countering the loss of the patronage system. The first star was
Gauhar Jan, whose career was born out of
Fred Gaisberg's first recordings of Indian music in 1902. With the advance of films and other public media, musicians started to make their living through public performances. With exposure to Western music, some of these melodies also started merging with classical forms, especially in the stream of popular music. A number of
Gurukuls, such as that of
Alauddin Khan at
Maihar, flourished. In more modern times, corporate support has also been forthcoming (for example the
ITC Sangeet Research Academy).
Principles of Hindustani music
The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called
Taal. The melodic foundations are "melodic modes", or "Parent Scales", known as
Thaats, thaats are part of "musical personalities" called
Ragas or Raags.
Thaats - and so Ragas - may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or
swara. Hindustani musicians name these pitches using a system called
Sargam, the equivalent of Western movable do
solfege:
- Sa = Do
- Re = Re
- Ga = Mi
- Ma = Fa
- Pa = Sol
- Dha = La
- Ni = Ti
- Sa = Do
Both systems repeat at the octave. The difference between sargam and solfege is that re, ga, ma, dha, and ni can refer to either "Pure"
(Shuddha) or altered "Flat"
(Komal) or "Sharp"
(Tivra) versions of their respective scale degrees. As with movable do solfege, the notes are heard relative to an arbitrary tonic that varies from performance to performance, rather than to fixed frequencies, as on a xylophone.
The fine intonational differences between different instances of the same swara are sometimes called
śruti. The three primary registers of Indian classical music are Mandra, Madhya and Tara. Since the octave location isn't fixed, it's also possible to use provenances in mid-register (such as Madra-Madhya or Madhya-Tara) for certain ragas. A typical rendition of Hindustani raga involves two stages:
Alap: a rhythmically free improvisation on the rules for the raag in order to give life to the raga and shape out its characteristics. The alap can be further divided into the alap, jod and jhala.
Bandish or Gat: a fixed, melodic composition set in a specific raga, performed with rhythmic accompaniment by a tabla or pakhavaj. There are different ways of systematizing the parts of a composition. For example:
- Sthaayi: The initial, Rondo phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
- Antara: The first body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
- Sanchaari: The third body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes
- Aabhog: The fourth and concluding body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes.
: There are three variations of Bandish, regarding tempo:
- Vilambit Bandish: A slow and steady melodic composition, usually in Largo to Adagio speeds.
- Madhyalaya Bandish: A medium tempo melodic competition, usually set in Andante to Allegretto speeds.
- Drut Bandish: A fast tempo melodic composition, usually set to Allegretto speed, and onwards.
Vocal music
Hindustani classical music is primarily vocal-centric, insofar as the musical forms were designed primarily for vocal performance, and many instruments were designed and evaluated as to how well they emulate the human voice.
Types of compositions
The major vocal forms-cum-styles associated with Hindustani classical music are Dhrupad, Khayal, and Thumri. Other forms include Dhamar, Tarana, Trivat, Chaiti, Kajari, Tappa, Tap-Khayal, Ashtapadis, Dadra, Ghazal and Bhajan. Of these, some forms fall within the crossover to folk or Semi-Classical or Classical ('Light' Classical) music, as they often don't adhere to the rigorous rules and regulations of 'pure' Classical Music.
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a yet older style of singing, traditionally performed by male singers. It is performed with a tanpura and a Pakhawaj as instrumental accompaniments. The lyrics, which sometimes were in Sanskrit centuries ago, are presently often sung in Brajbhasha, a medieval form of Hindi that was spoken in the Mathura area. The Rudra Veena, an ancient string instrument, is used in instrumental music in the style of Dhrupad.
Dhrupad music is primarily devotional in theme and content. It contains recitals in praise of particular deities. Dhrupad compositions begin with a relatively long and acyclic Alap, where the syllables of the following mantra is recited:
"Om Anant tam Taran Tarini Twam Hari Om Narayan, Anant Hari Om Narayan".
The alap gradually unfolds into more rhythmic Jod and Jhala sections. This is followed by a rendition of Bandish, with the pakhawaj as an accompaniment. The greatest of Indian musicians, Tansen sung in the Dhrupad style. A lighter form of Dhrupad, called Dhamar, is sung primarily during the festival of Holi.
Dhrupad was the main form of northern Indian classical music until two centuries ago, but has since then given way to the somewhat less austere, khyal, a more free-form style of singing. Since losing its main patrons among the royalty in Indian princely states, Dhrupad ran the risk of becoming extinct in the first half of the twentieth century. Fortunately, the efforts by a few proponents from the Dagar family have led to its revival and eventual popularization in India and in the West.
Some of the best known vocalists who sing in the Dhrupad style are the members of the Dagar lineage, including the late Senior Dagar brothers, for example Us. Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Us. Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, the late Junior Dagar brothers, for example Us. Nasir Zahiruddin and Us. Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, Us. Wasifuddin Dagar, Us. Fariduddin Dagar, Us. Sayeeduddin Dagar. Other leading exponents include the Gundecha brothers (for example Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha), Dr. Ritwik Sanyal and Pt. Uday Bhawalkar, who have received training from some of the Dagars. Leading vocalists outside the Dagar lineage include the Mallik family.
Khayal
Khayal is a form of vocal music in Hindustani music, adopted from medieval Persian music and based on Dhrupad music. Khayal, literally meaning "Thought" in Hindi/Urdu originally from Arabic, Khyal, is special as it's based on improvising and expressing emotion. A Khayal is a 4 to 8 lined lyric set to tune. The lyric is of an emotional account possibly from poetic observation. Khayals are also more popularly depicting emotional significance between two lovers, a situation evoking intense feeling, or situations of ethological significance in Hinduism and Islam.
Th importance of the Khayal's content is for the singer to depict, through music in the set raga, the emotional significance of the Khayal. The singer improvises and finds inspiration within the raga to depict the Khayal.
The origination of Khayal is controversial, yet it's accepted that this style was based on Dhrupad gayaki and influenced by Persian music. Many argue that Amir Khusrau created the style in the late 16th Century. This form was popularized by Mughal Emperor Hussain Shah Sharqi, an art connoisseur, through his court musician, Mohammad Shah. Other well-known composers of this period were Sadarang, Adarang, Manarang.
" Kaisku Marwa Jaayal Hamaraa
More darawa nayan ghar kan warahe,
Mohammad Shah ke Sadarangile,
Prem Piya la Chapate Apne,
Huntara Tana Mana Waarune "
- Mohammad Shah
This Khayal bandish in raga Bibhas was popularized by D.V. Paluskar. It is interesting how this bandish mentions three names; Mohammad Shah, Sadarang, and Prem Piya.
Later performers include Pt.Dattatreya Vishnu Paluskar, Faiyaz Khan, Pt.Vinayak Rao Patwardhan, Pt. Shankar Rao Vyas, Pt.Narain Rao Vyas,Pt.Balabhau Umdekar "Kundalguru" Ut.Nazakat Ali And Ut. Salamat Ali Khan, Pt.Eknath Sarolkar, Pt.Kashinath Pant Marathe, Ut.Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit,Amir Khan, Pt. Gajananrao Joshi, Pt. Ram Marathe, Pt. Ratnakar Pai, Pt. Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. A. Kanan,Pt. Basavaraj Rajaguru and Mallikarjun Mansur.
Some of the present day vocalists are Rashid Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal, Pt. Yeshwantbua Joshi, Girija Devi, Kishori Amonkar, Satyasheel Deshpande, Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Dr. Ishwarchandra Karkare,Dr. Rajshekhar Mansur, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Arun Bhaduri, Malini Rajurkar, Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, Prabakar Karekar, Alka Deo Marulkar, Aslam Khan, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Shruti Sadolikar, Ashwini Bhide, Maya Motegaonkar, Ajay Pohankar, Chandrashekar Swami, Pt. Venkatesh Kumar, Mashkoor Ali Khan,Vidushi Subhra Guha,Pt. Parameshwar Hegde, Indrani Choudhury, Pandit Ganapathi Bhatt, Pt.Madhav Gudi, Bhawani Angiras, Smt. Shashwati Mandal Paul, Pandit Nagaraj Havaldar, Pt. Somanath Mardoor, Pt.Panchakshariswamy Mattigatti, Pt. Shivanand Patil, Sandipan Samajpati, Sanjeev Chimmalgi
Tappa
Tappa is a form of Indian classical vocal music whose specialty is its rolling pace based on fast, subtle, knotty construction. The arrangement of words, with the help of tone vibrations performed in an exquisite vocal style, create a charming atmosphere. It originated in the Punjab Gharana. Among the prominent living performers of this style is Smt. Girija Devi.
Tarana
Another vocal form, Tarana are songs that are used to convey a mood of elation and are usually performed towards the end of a concert. They consist of a few lines of rhythmic sounds or bols set to a tune. The singer uses these few lines as a basis for very fast improvisation. In some sense the tarana can be compared to the Tillana of Carnatic music.
Thumri
Thumri is a semiclassical vocal form said to have begun with the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, 1847-1856. There are three types of thumri: Punjabi, Lucknavi and poorab ang thumri. The lyrics are typically in a proto-Hindi language called Braj bhasha and are usually romantic.
Prominent recent performers of this genre are Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Barkat Ali Khan, Girija Devi, Siddheshwari Devi, Begum Akhtar, Shobha Gurtu and Pandit Channulal Mishra.
Ghazal
Ghazal is an originally Persian form of poetry. In the Indian sub-continent, Ghazal became the most common form of poetry in the Urdu language and was popularized by classical poets like Mir Taqi Mir, Ghalib, Zauq and Sauda amongst the North Indian literary elite. Vocal music set to this mode of poetry is popular with multiple variations across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Turkey, India and Pakistan. Ghazal exists in multiple variations, including folk and pop forms but its greatest exponents sing it in a semi-classical style.
Instrumental music
Although Hindustani music clearly is focused on the vocal performance, instrumental forms have existed since ancient times. In fact, in recent decades, especially outside South Asia, instrumental Hindustani music is more popular than vocal music, perhaps because the lyrics in the latter are not comprehensible due to unfamiliarity with the language.
A number of musical instruments are associated with Hindustani classical music. The veena, a string instrument, was traditionally regarded as the most important, but few play it today and it has largely been superseded by its cousins the sitar and the sarod, both of which owe their origin to Persian influences. Other plucked/struck string instruments include the surbahar, sursringar, santoor, and various versions of the slide guitar. Among bowed instruments, the sarangi, esraj (or dilruba) and violin are popular. The bansuri (bamboo flute), shehnai, harmonium, and samvadini are important wind instruments. In the percussion ensemble, the tabla and the pakhavaj are the most popular. Various other instruments (including the Bulbul tarang and the piano) have also been used in varying degrees.
Some representative performers (these lists are by no means comprehensive nor are intended to be):
Veena: Dabir Khann, Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Bahauddin Dagar, Asad Ali Khan, Suvir Misra, Jeff Lewis
Vichitra Veena: Dr. Lalmani Misra, Pt. Gopal Krishna, Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra, Mrs.Radhika Budhkar
Sitar: Imdad Khan, Enayet Khan, Wahid Khan, Mushtaq Ali Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Shujaat Khan, Manilal Nag, Purnendu Shekhar Sengupta (Kanu Babu), Rais Khan, Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Imrat Khan, Shahid Parvez, Indranil Bhattacharya, Santosh Banerjee, Kalyani Roy, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Kartik Seshadri, Shriram Umdekar, Purbayan Chatterjee
, Indrajit Banerjee, Sri Jagdeep Singh Bedi
Sarod: Allauddin Khan, Brij Narayan, Hafiz Ali Khan, Radhika Mohan Moitra, Timir Baran, Ali Akbar Khan, Jatin Bhattacharya, Buddhadev Das Gupta, Vasant Rai, Sharan Rani, Dhyanesh Khan, Aashish Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Mukesh Sharma, Rajeev Taranath
Surbahar: Imdad Khan, Wahid Khan, Enayet Khan, Annapurna Devi, Imrat Khan, Sri Jagdeep Singh Bedi
Shehnai: Bismillah Khan, Ali Ahmed Khan
Bansuri: Pannalal Ghosh, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Raghunath Seth, Bari Siddiqui, Deepak Ram
Santoor: Shivkumar Sharma, Tarun Bhattachrya, Bhajan Sopori, Omprakash Chaurasiya, Smt Shruti Adhikari
Sarangi: Ram Narayan, Bundu Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Abdul Latif Khan
Esraj: Ashesh Bandopadhyay, Ranadhir Roy
Violin: Parur Sundaram Iyer, V. G. Jog, Gajananrao Joshi, N. Rajam, Allaudin Khan, L. Shankar, L. Subramaniam, Kala Ramnath, Sisir Kana Dhar Choudhury
Harmonium: Pt. Gyan Prakash Gosh, Ustad Zamir Ahmed Khan, Ustad Bhure Khan
Samvadini: Pt. Manohar Chimote, Pt.Rajendra Vaishampayan, Pt. Jitendra Gore
Tabla: Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Gyan Prokash Ghosh, Shyamal Bose, Shankar Ghosh, Anindo Chaterjee, Chatur Lal, Shamta Prasad, Kanthe Maharaj, Alla Rakha, Arup Chattopadhyay, Anokhelal Misra, Keramatullah Khan, Kishen Maharaj, Zakir Hussain, Aban E. Mistry, Yogmaya Shukla,Shubhankar Banerjee, Subrata Bhattacharya, Debashis Choudhury.
Guitar, slide (modified), or mohan veena: Brij Bhushan Kabra, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Dr. Kamala Shankar, Debashish Bhattacharya, Nalin Mazumdar of Allahabad
Prominent performers
There have been many great exponents of Hindustani music. Some of them are Allauddin Khan, Girija Devi, Vilayat Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Sharafat Hussain Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Vasantrao Deshpande, Amir Khan, Dr Pandit Gokulotsavji Maharaj, D.V. Paluskar, Salamat Ali Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur, Omkarnath Thakur, Bismillah Khan, Gangubai Hangal, Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, Kumar Gandharva, Gundecha Brothers, Jasraj, Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Ali Akbar Khan, Pannalal Ghosh, Vijay Raghav Rao, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ulhas Kashalkar, Malini Rajurkar, Prabha Atre, Shivkumar Sharma, and Annapurna Devi.
Further Information
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