Tana and Riri is an Indian story about two girls born around 1564, who were asked to sing in the court of Akbar. [1] The story has become part of Gujarati folk culture. [2]
The twins were from a northern town known as Vadnagar near Visnagar in the state of Gujarat. Tana and Riri both girls are closely related to Narsih Maheta. Narasih Maheta's grand daughter is Sharmishtha who is mother of Tana and Riri.
When Akbar's court singer, maestro Tansen's preceptor died, he sang the raag "Deepak". The effect of singing this raag is said to be that the singer starts feeling an incurable heat in his/her body. When Tansen was affected by the burns of the Deepak raag, he roamed around the whole of India. Finally the commander in chief of their army, Amjadkhan, came to Vadnagar and learned of the two sisters Tana and Riri who were proficient singers and could cure Tansen (expert of raag dipak) by singing raga Malhar. When they were asked to sing at Akbar's court, they refused to come since it was their vow as Nagars only to sing in front of the village deity's idol. So they asked Tansen instead to come to their home if he would want to subside the effect of raag deepak; which he agreed to. Women did not leave their houses and go elsewhere in those days. Thus these twin sisters became renowned as the only singers who were able to cure Tansen in whole India. Later on king Akbar invited them to become his court singers but they refused as they would only sing in front of God and not any king. So after one or more requests Akbar sent army to fetch them. Instead they killed themselves by drowning in a well. They chose to do this rather than to refuse, which would have caused conflict in their town. When Akbar learned of it he apologised to their father and asked Tansen to develop a new genre of pieces named in honor of Tana-Riri.[ citation needed ]
A memorial has been erected in Vadnagar to honour Tana-Riri.
Tana-Riri Music Festival is organised every year by Government of Gujarat in their dedication. [3] [4]
Rāmtanu Pāndey, popularly referred to as Mian Tānsen, or Sangeet Samrāt, was a Hindustani classical musician. Born into a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family in Gwalior, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pradesh. He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh, where Tānsen's musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame. This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sent messengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tānsen to join the musicians at the Mughal court. Tansen did not want to go, but Rāja Ramchandra Singh encouraged him to gain a wider audience and sent him along with gifts for Akbar. In 1562, at about the age of 60, the Vaishnav musician Tānsen joined Akbar's court, and his performances became the subject of many court historians.
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or Uttar Bhartiya 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. It diverged in the 12th century CE from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of Southern 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, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Rajasthani, Marathi and Punjabi.
Jasraj was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana. His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana – a school of thought in Hindustani classical music. Pandit Jasraj taught music to amateur and professional students in India, Europe, Canada and the United States.
Baiju Bawra is a 1952 Hindi musical romantic drama film directed by Vijay Bhatt. Produced by Prakash Pictures, with story by Ramchandra Thakur and dialogues by Zia Sarhadi, Baiju Bawra was a musical "megahit" which had a mighty 100-week run in the theatres. Bhatt's decision to make a film based on classical music was met with scepticism by the Indian film industry due to its "lack of mass appeal", but the film and music turned out be an "overwhelming success".
Vadnagar is a town and municipality in the Mehsana district of the state of Gujarat in India. It is located 35 km (22 mi) from Mehsana. Its ancient names include Anartapura and Anandapura. It was a location visited by Xuanzang in 640 C.E. The founder and the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Alexander Cunningham, had identified Anandapura with the town of Vadnagar. Vadnagar is also the birthplace of Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India.
"Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga. Malhar is associated with torrential rains.
Devaki Pandit is an Indian classical singer.
Baiju Bawra was a dhrupad musician from medieval India. Nearly all the information on Baiju Bawra comes from legends, and lacks historical authenticity. According to the most popular legends, he lived in the Mughal period during the 16th and 17th centuries. He was one of the court musicians of Man Singh Tomar of Gwalher.
Anuradha is a 1960 Hindi-language Indian film produced and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Balraj Sahni and Leela Naidu in lead roles along with Asit Sen and Mukri. The film is noted for being Miss India Naidu's debut film.
Megh Malhar is a Hindustani classical raga. The name derives from the Sanskrit word Megh, meaning cloud. Legends say that this raga has the power to bring out rains in the area where it is sung. Megh Malhar is similar to raga Megh with a tint of Malhar in it.
Megh is a Hindustani classical raga. The meaning of megh in Sanskrit is 'cloud'. Hence this raga is mostly sung or played in the monsoon season. Another raga which describes rain is raga Malhar. These two ragas were merged and a new raga developed, raga Megh Malhar. The Carnatic music equivalent of this raga is Madhyamavati.
The first Dastur Meherji Rana, sometimes known as Mayyaji Rana, was a spiritual leader of the Parsi community in India during the sixteenth century. He was seen by the Parsi community as someone with “vast knowledge and spiritual powers”.
Lalith J. Rao is an Indian classical singer and a representative of the Agra gharana.
Vidushi Manju Mehta was an Indian classical sitar player.
Tansen is a 1943 Indian Hindi language film directed by Jayant Desai, featuring K. L. Saigal and Khursheed Bano in the lead roles. The film was based on Tansen, the 16th century musician in the court of Mughal emperor, Akbar. The film featured 13 hit songs, performed by the leads, including "More Balapan Ke Saathi", "Rum Jhum Rum Jhum Chal Tihari", "Kahe Guman Kare Gori", "Bina Pankh Ka Panchhi", "Sapt Suran Teen Gram", "Diya Jalao" and "Baag Laga Doon Sajni". It was the second highest grossing Indian film of 1943. In 2009, it was reported that another film based on the life of Tansen would be directed by Satish Kaushik.
Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut with the song Aadha Hai Chandramaa Raat Aadhi.
Sangeet Samrat Tansen is a 1962 Hindi biopic historical drama film directed by S. N. Tripathi. Produced by Sur Singar Chitra it had lyrics by Shailendra and Swami Haridas with music by S. N. Tripathi. One of the popular songs from this film was "Jhoomti Chali Hawaa" in Raga Sohni, sung by Mukesh for Bharat Bhushan. The film starred Bharat Bhushan, Anita Guha, Sabita Chatterjee, David, Sapru and Mukri.
The Battle of Bhuchar Mori, also known as Battle of Dhrol, was fought between the army of Kathiawar led by Nawanagar State and the Mughal army at Bhuchar Mori plateau near Dhrol, Saurashtra. It was meant to protect Muzaffar Shah III, the last Sultan of Gujarat Sultanate who had taken asylum under Jam Sataji of Nawanagar after his escape from the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was fought in July 1591. The Kathiawar army included the armies of Junagadh who betrayed Nawanagar and joined the Mughal army at last. The battle led to a large number of casualties on both sides. The battle resulted in the victory of the Mughal army.
Samrat Pandit is an Indian classical vocalist. He sings khyal in the Patiala gharana, and semi-classical like thumri and Tappa.
Shashwati Mandal is a Hindustani classical music vocalist. She is an exponent of the Gwalior gharana.