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 Sampradaya and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition. It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from dhruva and pada. The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra, and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the Bhagavata Purana, where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized.
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, shastriya sangeet. The term shastriya sangeet literally means classical music, and is also used to refer to Indian classical music in general. It is played on instruments like the veena, sitar and sarod. Its origins from the 12th century CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition in South India. While Carnatic music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Hindi-Urdu, Braj, Avadhi, Punjabi, and Rajasthani,.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is an Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020.
Girija Devi was an Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of thumri. She was dubbed as the 'Queen of Thumri' for her contribution in the genre. She died on 24 October 2017.
Prabha Atre was an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. She was awarded all three of the Padma Awards by the Government of India. She died after experiencing breathing difficulty in the early hours and was taken to Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital. She died from cardiac arrest before reaching the hospital. Atre died on 13 January 2024, at the age of 91.
Pandit Bhajan Sopori was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument.
Ramanlal C. Mehta was an Indian musician and musicologist. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour.
The Gwalior Gharana is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605).
Pandit Chhannulal Mishra is a celebrated Hindustani classical singer from Banaras, a noted exponent of the Kirana gharana (school) of the Hindustani classical music and especially the Khayal and the 'Purab Ang' – Thumri.
Sumati Mutatkar was an Indian classical music vocalist and musicologist from the Agra gharana of Hindustani classical music, and a Professor of Department of Music in University of Delhi.
Manik Varma was an Indian classical singer from the Kirana and Agra gharanas.
Shanno Khurana is a noted Indian classical vocalist and composer, from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the doyen of the gharana, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, she is known for performing rare bandish and raag, though her singing style includes genres like khayal, tarana, thumri, dadra, tappa, to chaiti and bhajan. Born and brought up in Jodhpur, she started singing on All India Radio in 1945 in Lahore, later shifted to Delhi, where she continued her singing on All India Radio, Delhi and in concerts and music festivals. She also pursued music education, finally earning her M.Phil. and PhD in music from the Kairagarh University, and has undertakes extensive research on folk music of Rajasthan.
Gopeshwar Banerjee or Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay (1880–1963) was an Indian classical singer and musicologist, belonging to Bishnupur gharana of Hindustani music, which originated in Bishnupur in West Bengal. He was known for his khyal and dhrupad renditions, besides Rabindra Sangeet. He also sang thumri, and most notably the thumri, Kon Gali Gayo Shyam, in Raga Mishra Khamaj, which he popularised. As a musicologist, he published several books of rare compositions with musical notations, including dhrupad and Rabindra Sangeet.
Professor B. R. Deodhar was an Indian classical singer, musicologist and music educator. He was a vocalist of Khayal-genre of Hindustani classical music.
Tarapada Chakraborty was an Indian classical vocalist. He was born in Kotalipara, Faridpur, Bengal Presidency to a Vedic Brahmin family. He is known for the khyal and thumri forms of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of Raagpradhans. He is the pioneer of the Kotali Gharana which is best known for its slow rendition of alap while presenting a raga. He was the first Indian classical artiste to have presented any Raaga in 48-beats vilambit format, which is considered to be a difficult rendition in itself. He is the creator of Raaga Chhaya Hindol and Navamalaka.
Ram Chatur Mallick (1902–1990) was an Indian classical musician and an exponent and founder to the outside world of the Darbhanga gharana of the Dhrupad tradition, one of the oldest genres of Hindustani vocal music. Known to be the last main court musician at the court of The Darbhanga Royals, following his immediate & direct ancestors from the last 14 generations and one of the closest to the King of the Dharbanga Maharaja Sir Kameshwar Singh, he also was the closest ADC to his highness and responsible for all music related activities on behalf of the King and King's brother, he was a member of the Mallick family of singers. He was honoured by the Government of India in 1970 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Vasundhara Komkali (1931–2015), popularly known as Vasundhara Tai, was an Indian classical musician and one of the leading exponents of the Gwalior gharana, an old Khyal tradition of Hindustani music. She was the wife of renowned musician, Kumar Gandharva, and was a recipient of the 2009 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for her contributions to Indian classical music.
Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (1878–1964) was an Indian classical vocalist. He belonged to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana.
Darbhanga gharana is a gharana, or tradition, of the Hindustani classical music dhrupad thought to have been started in the eighteenth century by Radhakrishna and Kartaram, musicians in the court of the Maharaja of Darbhanga. The style is notable for its vocal delivery and energetic performances, as well how the songs are sung after the alap. Notable singers of the Darbhanga gharana include Ram Chatur Mallick, Prem kumar Mallik and Siyaram Tiwari.
Pandit Damodar Keshav Datar, popular as D. K. Datar, was an Indian violinist. He was born in Kurundwad, Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. His brother Narayanrao introduced him to music and he took early lessons in violin from Pandit Vighneshwar Shastri, who used to teach at the Deodhar School of Indian Music, Mumbai. Datar completed his Bachelor's Degree but took music as full time profession. He was nephew of Hindustani classical vocalist D. V. Paluskar, under whom he later on studied music. Influenced by Paluskar, Datar adjusted his violin playing technique to vocal dominated style and played violin according to the khyal style of Gwalior gharana. Apart from khyal, he popularly also played on bhajan, thumri and natya sangeet styles. Among various countries, he toured Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. He was also employed by Films Division of India and regularly provided background score for various documentary films. He received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Hindustani Music in 1995 and in 2004 was conferred with Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour. he died on 10 October 2018 of old age at his residing home in Goregaon, Mumbai.
