3 Review(s)

India’s Heritage of Gharana Music: Pandits of Gwalior is about the history of the Gwalior gharana. Gwalior’s rise to being known as the cultural capital of India owes it to the patronage that it enjoyed in pre- independence times leading to the blossoming of two important styles in the music of north India, namely dhrupad and khayal. There was a saying that even when a child in Gwalior cries, he cries in sur. The patronage by the two dynasties namely the Tomars and the Scindias, made it possible to reach its pinnacle. This book is about the transition from dhrupad to khayal style in north Indian classical music and from the Khans to the Pandits. It is the remarkable journey of how the Pandits of Gwalior imbibed this heritage at a time when it was unthinkable for Hindus to learn music from Muslim ustads who enjoyed all creature comforts provided by their patrons. It highlights the selfless guru bhakti, sadhana for attainment of highest level in any art. It is also about the contribution of the individual members of the Pandit family of Gwalior to Hindustani music. The book provides deep insight into the depth of the gayaki of Gwalior and the generosity with which the art disseminated all over India. Numerous legends, rare anecdotes, folklore, narratives make it a very pictures from the family archives interspersed throughout the book.