Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

, Chilla or Chilla Katna (Doing the Chilla) is a stage of training or

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

where the student is fully isolated from the outside world and lives for music only. Some musicians spend long periods of their training in varying degrees of isolation and describe these as their chilla; for others, it's a shorter, more extreme retreat, traditionally lasting 40 days. In either form, it is thought to have the power of transforming not only the student's music, but their whole life. Chilla is widely used in the Punjab gharānā (school) of

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

playing.

Origin of Name

The word Chilla in music comes from the practice of forty days after childbirth during which the mother is said to be "unclean", or quarantined, or more generally a period of religious fasting and worship.

Method

The musicians lock themselves up in a solitary cell called ''chilla-khana'' for forty days and practice their instrument severely. A special diet, often omitting meat and grains, is taken during this period and very little food is eaten. Any contact to the outside world is avoided during this period. People try not to fall asleep at any cost, if necessary they will tie their hair to a noose at the ceiling. It is done to achieve a very high level of skill, that cannot be achieved due to normal regular practice. The ''chilla'' details may differ between

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

s (musical lineages).

Notable Mentions

Abdul Karim Khan Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Devanagari: उस्ताद अब्दुल करीम ख़ान, Persian: ) (11 November 1872 – 27 October 1937)Kirana Gharana Kirana gharana is one of the Indian classical khyal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes (swara). Singing style The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tuning ...

, described chilla as "lighting a fire under your life. You either cook or you burn. If you cook, everyone can enjoy your flavour – otherwise, you'll be a mass of cinders, a heap of ash." "Forego your sense of self if you want to achieve greatness. It’s only when a seed is thrown in the soil, does it blossom into a flower of a lush garden". This was the famous Ghalib couplet, late Sitar maestro Ustad

Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (18 February 1927 – 4 January 2017) was an Indian sitar player. Khan received the national awards Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (2006) and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1987. Early life Abdul Hali ...

often quoted, to sum-up the intensely grueling process of becoming a successful Hindustani musician.https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/features/masters-of-music-self-quarantined-for-creativity-95776 Tribune India Well known musicians who have documented their Chilla experience include

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 Ind ...

and Zakir Hussein.https://www.pramanaresearch.org/gallery/prj-p670.pdf Pranama Research Journal

References

Hindustani music terminology {{India-music-stub