Swar, laya and sahitya are considered to be the basic elements of Indian music. Sahitya is an important element to evoke the rasa-bhava of the raga and helps a performer to conjure up the right atmosphere or mahaul of the raga. The word “Vaggeyakara” means a poet composer, who is not just the composer of the sahitya or song called bandish, but its tune as well. In Hindustani music khayal compositions or bandish play an important role.
A bandish is not just a simple song, it represents many intricate things besides the raga roop/raga bhava or raga mood. It represents the musical discipline of the raga, hence it is immutable and its violation simply not permissible in musical culture. A bandish, in fact, is a veritable embodiment of the raga, the fundamental vehicle or mode of expression of ragas and the raga mood. The master composer or Vaggeyakaras, composed so competently that the bandish became the embodiment of a raga itself.
A seminar on the legendary Vaggeyakaras (composers) of Khayal gharanas of Hindustani classical music, was organised last week under the project of Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA)-Kaladarsana; conceptualised and curated by Kumud Diwan under the mentorship of Dr. Bharat Gupta. The representatives of various gharanas like Gwalior, Agra, Kirana, Jaipur Atrauli, etc participated to talk about the famous composers of their gharanas. It was also an opportunity to listen to the beautiful compositions of Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, Mehboob Khan ‘Daraspiya’, Dr. S.N. Ratanjankar, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Pandit. Jitendra Abhisheki, Jagannath Bua Purohit ‘Gunidas’ and many more with the anecdotes related to the creation of those particular compositions.
Talking about the composers of Kirana gharana, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan started with the origin of his gharana from Gopal Nayak and his lineage through two of his disciples. He said there was also been and sarangi players apart from the vocalists in his gharana, who were great composers. Khan Saheb emphasised before presenting the rare compositions of his gharana “you will not find any of these compositions in the collection of (Vishnu Narayan) Bhatkhande, published in his Kramik Pustak Malikas”, and opened with a composition in raga Basant set to Vilambit (slow) Ada Chautala “Ab Maine Dekhe Sapnen Mein Ri Apne Lalan Ko...” and the Chhota Khayal “Tora Cham Cham Chamke Taaj Maharaj...” composed by Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan set to Teen taal. Then he presented a compositions of Bande Ali Khan in Jogi Asawari, Multani and Brindavani Sarang, a composition of Rahim Bux Khan in Bageshree-Bahar set to Jhoomra taal concluding with Khusro’s “Janeman Janeman Jaanaane mann...”
Ustad Raja Miyan from Agra gharana presented compositions of the famous composer of his esteemed gharana like Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan and Mehboob Khan ‘Daraspiya’. Starting with the legendary Ustad Faiyaz Khan, he first told about his upbringing from childhood that groomed him into such a versatile singer/composer and presented his famous compositions in Ramkali “Un Sang Laagi...” and then narrated the story how once Faiyaz Khan Saheb heard some musicians criticising him and composed the famous bandish in raga Todi that went “Gunan Ki Ladaai Ladiye Sab Gunijan/Maro Taan Ke Baan” and the antara (second part of the bandish) “Baat Kahat Kachhu Hovat Nahin/Ye Daudiye Maidaan...” (come on all worthy men (gunijan) and fight with the arrows of taan. There is no sense talking ill of someone; if you have courage, come on the ground and compete.)
Rare raga
Then he sang the popular bandish “Baje Mori Payaliya...” in Barwa, a rare and favourite raga of his gharana. The composition of Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan in Kapal Gauri “Jagmag Jyot Jale...” and “Balam Deho Gajra...” Raja Miyan then proceeded to the compositions of Mehboob Khan ‘Daraspiya’, who was proficient in many languages from Arabic, Persian to Sanskrit, Hindi and Brij bhasha and sang a composition in raga Sohani, where the description of Krishna’s chhavi or image is done in chaste Sanskritised Hindi, “Aisi Saloni Sapne Mein Chhavi Dikhlai...”
Shubhra Guha also from Agra gharana presented some rare compositions of Pandit S.N. Ratanjankar. About her training under Ustad Faiyaz Khan she narrated an interesting incident. Once the Maharaja Baroda requested Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande for some music teacher for his wife. Bhatkhande agreed and sent his disciple Ratanjankar to Baroda and requested the Maharaja that his disciple should have the privilege to be trained under his court musician Ustad Faiyaz Khan, in return. Thus Ratanjankar was groomed under the great Ustad of Agra gharana. Shubhra presented some of his compositions like “Murat Mann Bhave,..” in Bhimpalasi, “Tanik Sun Ri...” in Bhathiyar, the Drut Ek taal bandish “Goondh Goondh Lao...” that Natu Saheb composed as a response to “Tanik Sun Ri”. She also sang a couple of taranas where the learned composer Ratanjankar composed Sanskrit shlokas instead of the conventional Persian couplets. The concluding one was a striking composition in Hindol Bahar “Jhoolat Hindola Bahar Aayi...” where the specific swaras of each raga matched their names in the musical rendition of the bandish.
Suhas Vyas presented a number of compositions by ‘Gunidas’ Gajanan Bua Purohit, including his favourite Shivmat Bhairav and Swanandi. Satyasheel Deshpande presented compositions of Pandit Kumar Gandharva and a few compositions of Patiala gharana that he learnt from Ustad Jhande Khan. About Pandit Kumar Gandharva he states that there were fewer words in his compositions but they created the imagery of the subject and demonstrated a composition in Madhwa, his own created raga too. The Shiva-Bhathiyaar composition created the abstract image of Shiva.
On the inaugural day, Vidushi Shruti Sadolikar had presented the composers and compositions of Jaipur Atrauli gharana and Shaunak Abhisheki presented compositions of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki. The good news is that the whole proceedings of the two-day seminar got documented and hopefully the rare recording would be available for music lovers, and researchers for further references.