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, si ...

, 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 of Maihar, 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 ...

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 In ...

, Nikhil Banerjee, 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 a ...

, 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,

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, Kamlesh Moitra, Kamal Mallick, Rajesh Chandra Moitra, Rajeev Taranath,

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, Vikash Maharaj, Jyotin Bhattacharya, Abhisek Lahiri, 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 I ...

, Nityanand Haldipur, Rupak Kulkarni, and Ronu Majumdar, and

players Chandrakant Sardeshmukh, Kartick Kumar and his son Niladri Kumar, 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 In ...

aesthetic in their approach to playing the '' alap'' and '' jor'' portions in a raga. 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