Gharanas

GenresThaatsBilavalKhamajKafiAsavariBhairavBhairaviTodiPurviMarvaKalyanIn 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 musical style. The word gharana comes from the Hindi word 'ghar' which means 'house'. It typically refers to the place where the musical ideology originated; for example, some of the gharanas well known for singing khyals are: Gwalior, Delhi, Agra, Indore, Kashmiri, Atrauli-Jaipur, Kirana and Patiala. Four famous kathak gharanas are: Lucknow, Atrauli-Jaipur, Benares and Raigarh. BackgroundGharana is a lineage which is biological (often patrilineal, father-son, etc.) initially and grows into a disciple chain (referred to by some traditions as "silsila". The chain of disciples and their disciples spreads over generations and is referred to as guru-shishya parampara. The concept is based on the prevalence of performance arts being family traditions in South Asia. Nowadays, the term connotes what Ashok Ranade describes as the "comprehensive musico-aesthetic ideology changing from ghar