The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a

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 ...

or school of

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 ...

, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Maihar Maihar is a tehsil in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maihar is known for the temple of the revered mother goddess Sharda situated on Trikuta hill. Origin of the name It is said that when lord Shiva was carrying the body of the dead mother god ...

, now in the central Indian state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, and hence the name. Allauddin Khan learnt music from Vina player Wazir Khan, an exponent of the Senia gharana. The Maihar gharana is therefore sometimes referred to as the ''Maihar-Senia gharana''. It is one of the most prominent gharanas of the 20th century; much of the fame of

in the west stems from this gharana. Prominent musicians belonging to the Maihar gharana include prominent

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 ...

players

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 ...

Nikhil Banerjee Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He ...

, Allauddin Khan's son

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 ...

player

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he ...

, daughter

Annapurna Devi (1927 – 13 October 2018) was an Indian surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani classical music. She was given the name 'Annapurna' by former Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the former Maihar Estate (M.P.), and it was by this name that she was p ...

and grandsons

Aashish Khan Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a reci ...

, Dhyanesh Khan, Pranesh Khan, Rajesh Ali khan, Alam Khan, Manik Khan and Shiraz Ali Khan. Other prominent musicians with links to this gharana include the

player

Bahadur Khan Ustad Bahadur Khan (born Bahadur Hossain Khan; 19 January 1931 – 3 October 1989) was an Indian sarod player and film score composer. Early life and family Ustad Bahadur Khan, a Bengali, was born on 19 January 1931 in Shibpur, Brahmanbaria, B ...

Sharan Rani Sharan Rani (also known as Sharan Rani Backliwal, ''née'' Mathur) (9 April 1929 – 8 April 2008) was an Indian classical sarod player and music scholar. Her private collection of 379 musical instruments ranging from the 15th to the 19th ...

Vasant Rai Vasant Rai (1942–1985) was one of the world's most acclaimed masters of Indian music and played the Indo-Afghan instrument the sarod. Personal life and education Rai's family was from a small town in India called Unjha and he was born in Pari ...

, Kamlesh Moitra, Kamal Mallick, Rajesh Chandra Moitra,

Rajeev Taranath Rajeev Taranath (born 17 October 1932) is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Taranath is a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan. Career Rajeev Taranath was born in Bangalore on 17 October 1932. He received his initial training in vocal mus ...

Tejendra Narayan Majumdar Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (born 17 May 1961) is an Indian sarod player and pupil of Bahadur Khan. Majumdar is one of the most popular and celebrated modern sarod players. Training He started his music training under his grandfather Bibhuti ...

, Debanjan Bhattacharjee, Pratik Srivastava, Soumava Bhusan Chakraborty, Shamim Ahmed, Gourab Deb, Damodar Lal Kabra,

Apratim Majumdar Apratim Majumdar (born 1978), is an Indian classical sarod player from Kolkata, India. His style is the "Dhrupadiya Veenkar" style of Alauddin Khan's Seni Beenkar Gharana. Tutelage He was tutored by Rabin Ghosh, disciple of Alauddin Khan, for ...

, Vikash Maharaj, Jyotin Bhattacharya,

Abhisek Lahiri Abhisek Lahiri ( bn, অভিষেক লাহিড়ি) (born 24 September 1983) is an Indian classical sarod player with training in the three major gharanas of sarod which are Shahjahanpur, Maihar gharana, and Senia Bangash (Gwalior) fr ...

, Vishal Maharaj, B.N.Choudhury,and Basant Kabra, violinist V. G. Jog, Sishir kona Dhor Chowdhury, Indradip Ghosh, Souvik Chakrabortty, guitarists Brij Bhushan Kabra,

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena (slide guitar). Personal life Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his wife and ...

and his nephew Krishna Bhatt, Manju Nandan Mehta, flautists Pannalal Ghosh,

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...

, Nityanand Haldipur,

Rupak Kulkarni Rupak Kulkarni is an Indian Bansuri player. Background With the musical background of his father Pt Malhar Rao Kulkarni, Rupak continued his learning under Padma Vibhushan Hariprasad Chaurasia to represent Maihar gharana. Performances Rupak ...

, and

Ronu Majumdar Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flautist in the Hindustani classical music tradition. Awards, nominations, and music collaborations In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the All India Radio competition, and the President's Gold Medal. He ...

, and

players

Chandrakant Sardeshmukh Chandrakant Sardeshmukh (1955 – 15 August 2011) was an Indian classical sitar player of the Maihar Gharana school. Education Sardeshmukh was taught by Ustad Shabuddin Khan and Khurshid Mirajkar from the age of 4, and became popular as chil ...

, Kartick Kumar and his son

Niladri Kumar Pandit Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer. Early life He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public per ...

, Jaya Biswas, Abhishek Maharaj. Musicians belonging to the gharana adhere to a

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 Ind ...

aesthetic in their approach to playing the ''

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

'' and '' jor'' portions in a

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

. Variations in tempo are used to demarcate sections while playing the ''jor'', with a short rhythmic figure indicating closure of a section. Therefore, rhythmic figures within the ''jor'' assume structural importance. ''Alap-jor'' is followed by a ''khayal'' style ''vilambit gat'' with ''taan'' improvisations, and the performance ends with a ''jhala''.

References

External links

Maihar gharana
at ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' Instrumental gharanas Satna {{india-music-stub