Swami Harballabh was a

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...

i classical vocalist and a saint. In 1875, he established the first Hindustani classical music festival in the world, known as

Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan is the oldest festival of Hindustani Classical Music in the world, which is celebrated every year at the sacred seat of music, the samadhi of Baba Harballabh – a saint and an exponent of Hindustani Classical Music. T ...

. He was born to an affluent family at a village in Bajwara. He was a student of Swami Tulja Gir, who encouraged him to practice art and music. Although Baba Harballabh came from a long line of saints who sang

devotional songs A devotional song is a hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals. Traditionally devotional music has been a part of Hindu music, Jewish music, Buddhist music, Islamic music and Christian music. Each major religion has its own trad ...

, he went on to formal training under Pandit Duni Chand of Ujahan (now in Sialkot district) and maintained the guru-shishya parampara at Devi Talab, where scores of disciples learned the art from him and other masters. Swami Harballabh had many disciples, and he attempted to instill a love of music in them. The place where Swami Hariballabh used to sing became a Kashi for musicians and players of classical music. Baba Harballabh also translated Raag Darpan and wrote Sangeet Dapran.

References

Bhajan singers Hindustani singers {{India-musician-stub