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Pandit Kishan Maharaj
Pandit Kishan Maharaj (3 September 1923 – 4 May 2008) was an Indian tabla player who belonged to the Benares gharana of Hindustani classical music. Early life and background Kishan Maharaj ji was born in Kabir Chaura, Benaras into a family of professional musicians. He was initially trained in classical music by his father, Hari Maharaj. After his father's death, his training was taken over by his uncle, Kanthe Maharaj. Musical career By the time he was eleven, Kishan Maharaj began performing in concerts. Within a few years, Kishan Maharaj was sharing the stage with stalwarts like Faiyaz Khan, Omkarnath Thakur, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Vasant Rai, Vilayat Khan, Girija Devi, Sitara Devi and many others. Maharaj had the ability to play cross-rhythms and produce complex calculations, particularly in tihai patterns. Known as an excellent accompanist, Maharaj was extremely versatile and capable of playing with any accompaniment, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of Muslim artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. * * * * * Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and to the east of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies downstream of Allahabad (officially Prayagraj), where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site. Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999. Shankar was born to a Bengali Brahmin family in India, and spent his youth as a dancer touring India and Europe with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the ''Apu Trilogy'' by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956. In 1956, Shankar began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and incr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birju Maharaj
Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist. After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, ''Kalashram'', also in Delhi. Birju Maharaj was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, in 1986. Early life Maharaj was born Brijmohan Nath Mishra, on 4 February 1937 into a Hindu Brahmin family at Handia of Allahabad district. His father was the Kathak exponent, Jagan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gopi Krishna (dancer)
Gopi Krishna (22 August 1935 – 18 February 1994) was an Indian Kathak dancer, actor and choreographer. He also studied Bharatnatyam. In 1952, at the age of seventeen, Gopi Krishna became one of the youngest choreographers in Hindi film history when he was hired to choreograph dances. Life and career Gopi Krishna was born into a family of kathak dancers. His maternal grandfather Pandit Sukhdev Maharaj was a teacher of Kathak and his aunt Sitara Devi was a Kathak dancer who has performed around the world. When he was 11 years old, Gopi Krishna began training under his grandfather. He also learned from Shambhu Maharaj. In addition to Kathak, Gopi Krishna learned Bharatanatyam from Mahalingam Pillai and Govind Raj Pillai. Despite suffering from chronic asthma he continued to expand his dance repertoire, receiving the title of "Nataraj" (King of Dancers) at the All Bengal Music Conference at the age of 15. In 1952, 17-year-old Gopi Krishna became one of the youngest choreogra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangat (term)
Sangat ( Punjabi: ਸੰਗਤ) is a Sikh term with its origin in the Sanskrit word ''sangh'', which means company, fellowship and association. In Sikh vocabulary, the word has a special connotation. It stands for the body of men and women who meet religiously, especially in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. It is sometimes analogous to ''Sat-Sangat'' (Fellowship of the seekers of truth) and ''Sadh-Sangat'' (Congregation of a ''Sadh or Sant''). The word sangat has been in use since the time of Guru Nanak (1469-1539). In his days and those of his nine successors, sangat referred to the Sikh brotherhood established in or belonging to a particular locality. In Sikhism there is a strong push for one to be a part of the ''Sangat'' as well as to avoid '' Ku-Sangat'' (Undesirable Sangat). Alongside ''Sangat'' is also the tradition of '' Pangat''. Use Sangat is used in the Janamsakhis, or traditional life-stories of Guru Nanak, as well as the ''hukamnamas'', or edicts issued by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhamar (music)
Dhamar is one of the talas used in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is associated with the dhrupad style and typically played on the pakhawaj and also tabla. Dhamar taal has 14 beats (''matra''s) grouped asymmetrically into a 5-2-3-4 pattern. A song in dhrupad style set to dhamar tala is also called a dhamar. The text of a dhamar concerns the antics of Krishna teasing the milkmaids during the ''Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...'' (''hori'') Spring Festival of colours. It is considered a relatively light, gentle, and romantic musical form. The ''theka'' or syllabic pattern of dhamar tala is: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 क ध्धि ट धि ट धा ऽ ग त ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition. It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from ''dhruva'' (ध्रुव, immovable, permanent) and ''pada'' (पद, verse). The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text ''Natyashastra'' (~200 BCE – 200 CE), and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the ''Bhagavata Purana'' (~800–1000 CE), where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized. The term denotes both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung. It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination. Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet, overtone-rich texture of the sitar, with sympathetic strings that give it a resonant, reverberant quality. A fretless instrument, it can produce the continuous slides between notes known as meend (glissandi), which are important in Indian music. Origins The word sarod, which comes from the Persian, is much older than the Indian musical instrument. It can be traced back to ''sorūd'' meaning "song", "melody", "hymn" and further to the Persian verb ''sorūdan'', which correspondingly means "to sing", "to play a musical instrument", but also means "to compose". Alternatively, the shahrud may have given its name to the sarod. The Persian word šāh-rūd is made up of ''šāh'' (shah or king) and ''rūd'' (string). Many scholars of Indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau Khan, an 18th century figure of Mughal Empire has been identified by modern scholarship as the originator of Sitar. According to most historians he developed sitar from setar, an Iranian instrument of Abbasid or Safavid origin. Another view supported by a minority of scholars is that Khusrau Khan developed it from ''Veena''. Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of Ravi Shankar, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1960s, a short-lived trend arose for the use of the sitar in Western popular music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as the Beatles, the Doors, the Rolling Stones and others. Etymol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tihai
''Tihai'' (pronounced ti-'ha-yi) is a polyrhythmic technique found in Indian classical music, and often used to conclude a piece. Tihais can be either sung or played on an instrument. Tihais are sometimes used to distort the listeners’ perception of time, only to reveal the consistent underlying cycle at the sam. Definition Tihai is the repetition of specific group of BOL or BEATS by three times. Usage Typically, a ''tihai'' is used as a rhythmic cadence, i.e., a rhythmic variation that marks the end of a melody or rhythmic composition, creating a transition to another section of the music. Structure The basic internal format of the ''tihai'' is three equal repetitions of a rhythmic pattern (or rhythmo-melodic pattern), interspersed with 2 (usually) equal rests. The ending point of the ''tihai'' is calculated to fall on a significant point in the rhythmic cycle (called '' tala''), most often the first beat (called '' sum'' and pronounced "some"). The other most com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitara Devi
Sitara Devi (named Dhanlakshm; 8 November 1920 – 25 November 2014) was an Indian dancer of the classical Kathak style of dancing, a singer, and an actress. She was the recipient of several awards and accolades, and performed at several prestigious venues in India and abroad; including the Royal Albert Hall, London (1967) and at the Carnegie Hall, New York (1976). At a young age Devi met Rabindranath Tagore, who encouraged her to revive the lost Indian performing arts such as Kathak. Rabindranath Tagore described her as ''Nritya Samragni ( नृत्य सम्राज्ञी )'', meaning the empress of dance, after watching her performance when she was just sixteen years old. Some people consider her as the ''Kathak queen''. Early life and background Sitara Devi was born in Kolkata (then Calcutta) on 8 November 1920, that coincided in that year with the festival of Dhanteras, the eve of the Indian festival of Deepavali. She was named Dhanlakshmi, in honour of the god ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Girija Devi
Girija Devi (8 May 1929 – 24 October 2017) was an Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of thumri. She was dubbed as the 'Queen of Thumri' for her contribution in the genre. She died on 24 October 2017. Early life Girija Devi was born in Varanasi, on 8 May 1929, to Ramdeo Rai, a zamindar. Her father played the harmonium and taught music, and had Girija Devi take lessons in singing ''khyal'' and ''tappa'' from vocalist and sarangi player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five. She starred in the movie ''Yaad rahe'' aged nine and continued her studies under Chand Misra in a variety of styles. Performing career Girija Devi made her public debut in 1949 on All India Radio Allahabad, after marrying a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother because it was traditionally believed that no upper-class woman should perform publicly. Girija ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
