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Section Synopsis (September 2006)
NEWS & NOTES
DHRUPAD FESTIVAL IN CHENNAI
-LAKSHMI SREERAM
Prakriti Foundation, Chennai, in association with the
Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, organised a three-day Dhrupad Festival
from 16-18 February at the Museum Theatre, Egmore in Chennai. The
artists featured were vocalists Uday Bhawalkar, Abhay Narayan Mallick,
Umakanth and Ramakanth Gundecha, Wasifuddin Dagar, and Rudra veena
exponents Bahauddin Dagar and Asad Ali Khan.
Dhrupad is "the other" tradition of North Indian classical music, the
mainstream classical music style in the North today being the khayal.
Not very long ago, however, the situation was quite the reverse. If,
today, Bhimsen Joshi and Kishori Amonkar-- well known names in the North
Indian classical music tradition, are khayal singers, a few centuries
ago Mian Tansen, Swami Haridas, and Baiju-- well known names then and
now, were dhrupad singers. To call the dhrupad the "other" tradition may
be misleading since the dhrupad is the older tradition. It was the
khayal that began as an upstart, different from the mainstream dhrupad.
Dhrupadia-s constantly aver that the nature of their music is spiritual;
they sing not to entertain, but to evoke feelings of devotion, and
indeed, spiritual peace and calm. But the dhrupad is the "other"
tradition in the sense it is conscious and jealously protective of its
separate identity, seeking to uphold its "different-ness" and prestige.
As Ustad Asad Ali Khan said in a poignant preamble to his concert, much
has been said and written about the difficulties faced by dhrupad
because of its waning popularity, and about the charges and criticisms
levelled against it. But it is an intimate aspect of our cultural
psyche, a glorious cultural inheritance, and so, the efforts to preserve
and propagate it cannot ever be enough.
Prakriti Foundation has made a niche for itself in the Chennai cultural
landscape, organising serious talks and programmes that are not always
encountered along well trodden paths. And it is the agenda of the SNA to
step in and help precious cultural traditions survive-- supporting this
venture of Prakriti Foundation was one such measure.
Uday Bhawalkar of the Dagar gharana, the first artist in the festival,
and regarded by many as the next star, sang a finely controlled Yaman.
The movements from ni to dha and ma to ga were carefully detailed and he
came up with some inspired movements around the tara shadja. The
pulsating jod and jhala built up a fine climax. The last portion saw the
pakhawaj accompanist joining in. It is more common for the pakhawaj to
only step in during the rendition of the bandish (composition). (This is
much like the tanam portion in the ragam-tanam-pallavi; some musicians
like to take the mridanga accompaniment even during the tanam, before
the pallavi). Kesara ghola ke ranga bano hain-- a dhamar composition
followed. Dhamar is a particular kind of composition used in dhrupad
performance. Also called Pakki hori, it is descriptive of the festival
Holi and is in a tala (also called Dhamar) of 14 beats. Bhawalkar did
not perform the dugun - tigun - chaugun exercises which one typically
associates with dhrupad singing. He clarified that his teachers had
encouraged him to sing in the upaj ang which emphasises spontaneity.
Sohoni and Adana were the other raga-s he took up for detailing.
Most of the artists came up with small tidbits about dhrupad, educating
the audience about what dhrupad is all about. Bhawalkar pointed out that
the same note when pronounced with different syllables, leaves a
different impression-- a different timbre, different mood. Dhrupad
singers employ syllables such as om, num, re, ri, na, ta, tom, etc.
during the alap. And these are employed as a painter would employ
colours.
The first artist the next day, Bahauddin Dagar, chose Yaman too. That he
represents the 20th generation of dhrupadia-s in the Dagar family is
itself awe inspiring. The alap was scrupulously detailed and Yaman
emerged in soft majesty on the Rudra veena. The jod created a rippling
effect. But then, softness is a hallmark of the Dagar vani. The
audience, however, turned restless as he explored the raga in the mandra
saptak for over 20 minutes. A friend sitting next to me whispered "Do
you think something could be wrong? Can he not hit the middle octave?"
The Chennai audience is as good as one gets and it is possible Dagar
sahib might not have had his pulse on the audience mood.
Vardhini raga followed, but the audience was kept guessing about the
raga. This was the Dagar interpretation of Ragavardhini, the 32nd
melakarta of the Venkatamakhi scheme. The Dagar family renders some of
the "vivadi" melakarta-s, even Kanakangi, giving them their own
interpretation. The pakhawaj accompaniment by Akhi
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