RAMDASI Gharana
John Holm
Has anyone heard N Dass, Atma Ram, Karim Bux or Bhai Gopal Singh? I
came across a couple of articles on the Ramdasi gharana which was
written up like the be-all and end-all of khyal (reproduced below).
Dass seems to be the most high-profile exponent of the gharana (based
on, well, the only article I found on the web was about him :) - it
seems he has made recordings; has anyone heard them?
* * *
At <http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~boppe/MUSIC/GHAR/vgharana.html>, we read:
RAMDASI GHARANA
Founder: Baba Ramdas Bairagi
Ramdasi Gharana was established shortly after the death of Aurangzeb.
The gharana was established in the singing style of Baba Ramdas
Bairagi. Baba Ramdas Bairagi was a resident of Gwalior and was a court
musician of Akbar and Jahangir. He had a close relationship with
Abdur-Rahim-Khan-e-Khana. Baba Ramdas's singing often used to move
Khan-e-Khana to tears. Baba Ramdas's singing was famous due to his
dramatic deep voice. Mian Tansen was a great admirer and a student of
Baba Ramdas. It is believed that Mian Tansen was so affected by the
deep resonance of Baba Ramdas voice that he styled his singing after
him.
Baba Ramdaas was a musicologist with a great knowledge of Shastras of
music and treated music as a source of spiritual satisfaction rather
than a means of livelihood, unlike Mian Tansen who made music a source
of his livelihood and performed to please the emperor for his material
gains. This is why Tansen was never called a "Nayak".
Baba Ramdas created many high classical ragas. Some of the Ragas are
Ramdasi Malhar, Ramdasi Sarang, Ramkali, Rama, Ramkaunsi, Ramdas, Ram
Kalyan, Ram Sakh.
After the death of Baba Ramdas, his son the great Nayak Surdas carried
on the tradition and also created many ragas, such as Surdasi Malhar,
Surdasi Todi, Surdasi Kalyan.
Ramdasi Gharana style of singing is not commercially popular and
remains obscure in India due to the fact that the great masters from
this gharana are brahmins that believe that the main purpose of music
is spiritual and not commercial. The music taught in the gharana
explores the very rare ragas and rare talas that are not commonly
taught in modern times.
Some of the great masters of this gharana are:
- Baba Surdas (student of Baba Ramdas)
- Pandit Narayan (student of Surdas)
- J Dhamodar (student of Surdas)
- Pandit Sitaram (student of Pandit Narayan)
- Ramesh Das (student of Pandit Narayan)
- Bhai Gopal Singh (student of J Dhamodar)
- Baba Prabhu Das (student of Pandit Sitaram)
- Ustad Karim Bux (student of Bhai Gopal Singh)
- Pandit Ajoy Krishnana (student of Prabhu Das)
- Bhai Gurdit Singh (student of Bhai Gopal Singh)
- Ustad Allam Ali Khan (student of Bhai Gopal Singh)
- Khansaheb Villayat-Ulla-Khan (student of Ustad Karim Bux)
- Pandit Atma-Ram (student of Pandit Ajoy Krishnana)
- Pandit N Das (student of Pandit Atma-Ram)
- Pandit Kumar Desai (student of Pandit Atma-Ram)
- Ustad Halim Khan (student of Khansaheb Villayat-Ulla-Khan)
- Pandit J Achrukar (student of Pandit Kumar Desai)
The singing style of this gharana is available in rare recordings of
Pandit Atma Ram, Pandit N Das, Ustad Karim Bux, and Bhai Gopal Singh.
The most significant aspect of this gharana is that most of the
singers from this gharana are highly knowledgeable in the shastras of
music and are regarded as musicologists with extensive knowledge of
rare ragas and talas.
The khayal singing from the masters of this gharana, is a journey in
time, a spiritual experience rather than an entertaining experience.
Each raga is treated to its original unchanged form. The technique of
taans is unlike any other gharana singers. The taans are lovingly
called "Damani taans" meaning lightening taans. The taans are almost
supernatural in their presentation since they are so fast and amazing.
Lovers of Indian classical music that strive to explore the unknown
regions of the vast sea of Indian classical music must explore this
obscure style of music that speaks to us of a time long gone.
- Article by Dr Rune Dirdhal (translated from Dutch by D Patterson)
* * *
And at <http://chembur.com/anecdotes/ndass.htm>, we read:
Pandit N Dass comes to the indian classical musical scene not as
another khayal singer - but rather as an embodiment of a tradition
long lost to us. The uniqueness and strength of panditji's work and
singing stems from the fact that he was trained in the unique style of
singing that traces its origins to Baba Ramdas of Gwalior, a senior
musician in the court of Akbar and Jehanghir - and one of the gurus of
Mian Tansen.
Pandit Dass was trained by pandit Atma-Ram of Ramdasi gharana. Pandit
Dass has studied higher classical musicology, and holds an MA in the
subject. His research has taken him from India to France, Holland,
England and USA.
Pandit Dass has an extensive knowledge of both Indian and Western
music, and he is especially interested in very rare musical scales and
melodic patterns. He is a master of "sruti-jati-mandalam", i.e. the 22
srutis (microtones) that exist in an octave (or saptak). Beginning
with a morphological context for each raga, he then proceeds to
elaborate the nature of the srutis that shape and define a raga and
imbue it with rasa and anga.
For example, in a recent interview, pandit Dass explained that in raga
Mandrik Kanada, 'in order to achieve the proper impact designed for
this raga, one must sing four of the 22 srutis, namely, the "Rohini",
the "Ramya", the "Urga" and the "Kshobhini". If the use of these four
srutis is neglected on the descent of the antara of the bandish, the
true rasa of raga Mandrik is completely lost. Similarly, raga Puriya
Dhanashri is defined by the use of "Chandovanti" and "Pritah" srutis.
Without the use of srutis the true raga cannot be sung; one only ends
up singing the bare minimum, the skeleton, if you will.' Such
precision in singing is a signature of panditji's art.
Another exciting, and characteristic of Ramdasi gharana, component in
panditji's singing is the "damani taan" (lightning taan). He remarks,
"in my taans I like to use various melodic patterns which in western
musicology are referred to as infrapolation (the insertion of a note
below the principal tones of a progression), interpolation (the
insertion of one or more notes between the principal tones of a
progression), and ultrapolation (the insertion of a note above the
principal tones of a progression)."
Given his obvious mastery of higher Indian classical music, panditji
elegantly and tastefully blends the use of meends, jamjam, gamak, and
embellishments for each sruti, as prescribed by a given raga.
At the same time panditji prefers to work with talas, which are very
rare and consist of complicated rhythmic cycles. Thus in his recent
recording of a very rare raga called Anandi-Shivri, panditji employs
tala "panja-sadha" (a cycle of sixteen beats), which has never been
recorded in recent times in khayal singing. Some of the other talas
that pandit Dass has recorded are jaiytal, indra tala, sikhara tala,
jagpala tala, chhaka tala, panja tala, brahma tala, pharodast, mandari
taal, bahnumati and udaya tala.
This training in the theory and science of music has instilled within
panditji not only a devotion to the style peculiar to his gharana, but
also a desire to make this style more widely known.
Pandit Dass has a large number of original bandishes for both rare
ragas and the ones most commonly known in modern times. The lyrics
that he uses are written especially for him by his younger brother Dr
Nirmal Dass, who holds a Ph D in languages and philosophy, and is an
accomplished literary writer in his own right, whose recent books
include "Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth" (Albany: State University
Press of New York, 1991), and "Rebuilding Babel: the Translations of
WH Auden" (Amsterdam, Holland Editions Rodopi, 1993).
I recently had the previlege of attending a private sitting in new
york where pandtji sang raga Deepak - a rare raga not commonly sung.
Panditji employed tala jaiytaal in vilambat and teentala in drut. By
the end of this raga one could almost feel the heat in the atmosphere.
The raga which is associated with fire was sung in such a style that
one could almost feel surrouned by flames. It was an experience that I
will not forget. Immediately, panditji sang raga Surdasi Malhar to
somewhat cool the atmosphere. Later panditji explained that one must
sing Malhar (raga of the rainy season) after Deepak to kill the
burning fire of raga Deepak. Amazingly, raga Surdasi Malhar had a very
soothing effect after Deepak.
This exciting agenda of making rare and little known ragas available
to us shall more than pique the interest of classical Indian music
enthusiasts - it will ensure that pandit Dass's musical offerings will
secure him a place in the annals of Hindustani music.
shams
singing.
RAMDAS BAIRAGI is one of the "buzurgs" (sort of master/sage) from
Moghul times.
Most people know of Ramdasi Malhar (recs from Ali Akbar Khan, Amir
Khan). He was
a Dhrupad singer and in their case, BANIS (similar to gharanas) are
appropriate.
It would be interesting if somebody knows the family tree of Ramdas.
What is interesting is how names of Mian Karim Bux and Ustad Vilayet
Ali Khan (not Vilayet-Ullah) got into the list. Not many people have
heard of these names. There is an interview of Pandit Omkarnath
by ? Nadkarni, published in his book (can't recall the title), where
Omkarnath stated that he was influenced by 2 eccentric singers: (1)
Ustad Rahmat Khan (son of either Haddu or Hassu Khan) of Gwalior and
(2) Mian Karim Bux of Kashmir. Mian Karim Bux is a buzurg of Ustad
Salamat Ali Khan's family. Ustad Vilayet Ali Khan is Ustad Salamat Ali
Khan's father (died when SAK was about 8-9). Mian Karin Bux was Ustad
Vilaet Ali Khan's uncle, who like himself was a Dhrupad singer. He was
a court musician of the Kashmir court and later became a "dervish".
Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (along with his older brother Nazakat Ali Khan)
became the first frim the family to come out as a Kheyal singer (also
Thumri & Multani Kafi).
Shams
john_ho...@hotmail.com (John Holm) wrote in message news:<4caa0d82.01102...@posting.google.com>...
mi...@altinex.ca
On Sunday, 21 October 2001 09:08:26 UTC-4, John Holm wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Has anyone heard N Dass, Atma Ram, Karim Bux or Bhai Gopal Singh? I
> came across a couple of articles on the Ramdasi gharana which was
> written up like the be-all and end-all of khyal (reproduced below).
> Dass seems to be the most high-profile exponent of the gharana (based
> on, well, the only article I found on the web was about him :) - it
> seems he has made recordings; has anyone heard them?
>
> * * *
>
> RAMDASI GHARANA
> Founder: Baba Ramdas Bairagi
>
> Ramdasi Gharana was established shortly after the death of Aurangzeb.
> The gharana was established in the singing style of Baba Ramdas
> Bairagi. Baba Ramdas Bairagi was a resident of Gwalior and was a court
> musician of Akbar and Jahangir. He had a close relationship with
> Khan-e-Khana to tears. Baba Ramdas's singing was famous due to his
> Baba Ramdas. It is believed that Mian Tansen was so affected by the
> deep resonance of Baba Ramdas voice that he styled his singing after
> him.
>
> Baba Ramdaas was a musicologist with a great knowledge of Shastras of
> music and treated music as a source of spiritual satisfaction rather
> than a means of livelihood, unlike Mian Tansen who made music a source
> of his livelihood and performed to please the emperor for his material
>
> Lovers of Indian classical music that strive to explore the unknown
> regions of the vast sea of Indian classical music must explore this
> obscure style of music that speaks to us of a time long gone.
>
> - Article by Dr Rune Dirdhal (translated from Dutch by D Patterson)
>
>
> * * *
>
> Pandit N Dass comes to the indian classical musical scene not as
> another khayal singer - but rather as an embodiment of a tradition
> singing that traces its origins to Baba Ramdas of Gwalior, a senior
> musician in the court of Akbar and Jehanghir - and one of the gurus of
> Mian Tansen.
>
> Pandit Dass was trained by pandit Atma-Ram of Ramdasi gharana. Pandit
> Dass has studied higher classical musicology, and holds an MA in the
> subject. His research has taken him from India to France, Holland,
> England and USA.
>
> Pandit Dass has an extensive knowledge of both Indian and Western
> music, and he is especially interested in very rare musical scales and
> with a morphological context for each raga, he then proceeds to
> elaborate the nature of the srutis that shape and define a raga and
> imbue it with rasa and anga.
>
> For example, in a recent interview, pandit Dass explained that in raga
> this raga, one must sing four of the 22 srutis, namely, the "Rohini",
> the "Ramya", the "Urga" and the "Kshobhini". If the use of these four
> true rasa of raga Mandrik is completely lost. Similarly, raga Puriya
> precision in singing is a signature of panditji's art.
> Another exciting, and characteristic of Ramdasi gharana, component in
> "in my taans I like to use various melodic patterns which in western
> below the principal tones of a progression), interpolation (the
> insertion of one or more notes between the principal tones of a
> progression), and ultrapolation (the insertion of a note above the
> Given his obvious mastery of higher Indian classical music, panditji
> elegantly and tastefully blends the use of meends, jamjam, gamak, and
> embellishments for each sruti, as prescribed by a given raga.
>
> At the same time panditji prefers to work with talas, which are very
> rare and consist of complicated rhythmic cycles. Thus in his recent
> recording of a very rare raga called Anandi-Shivri, panditji employs
> that pandit Dass has recorded are jaiytal, indra tala, sikhara tala,
> jagpala tala, chhaka tala, panja tala, brahma tala, pharodast, mandari
> taal, bahnumati and udaya tala.
>
> This training in the theory and science of music has instilled within
> panditji not only a devotion to the style peculiar to his gharana, but
> also a desire to make this style more widely known.
>
> Pandit Dass has a large number of original bandishes for both rare
> ragas and the ones most commonly known in modern times. The lyrics
> that he uses are written especially for him by his younger brother Dr
> Nirmal Dass, who holds a Ph D in languages and philosophy, and is an
> accomplished literary writer in his own right, whose recent books
> Press of New York, 1991), and "Rebuilding Babel: the Translations of
> WH Auden" (Amsterdam, Holland Editions Rodopi, 1993).
> I recently had the previlege of attending a private sitting in new
> york where pandtji sang raga Deepak - a rare raga not commonly sung.
> Panditji employed tala jaiytaal in vilambat and teentala in drut. By
> the end of this raga one could almost feel the heat in the atmosphere.
> The raga which is associated with fire was sung in such a style that
> one could almost feel surrouned by flames. It was an experience that I
> will not forget. Immediately, panditji sang raga Surdasi Malhar to
> somewhat cool the atmosphere. Later panditji explained that one must
> sing Malhar (raga of the rainy season) after Deepak to kill the
> burning fire of raga Deepak. Amazingly, raga Surdasi Malhar had a very
> soothing effect after Deepak.
>
> This exciting agenda of making rare and little known ragas available
> to us shall more than pique the interest of classical Indian music
luqma...@gmail.com
> Hello!
>
> Has anyone heard N Dass, Atma Ram, Karim Bux or Bhai Gopal Singh? I
> came across a couple of articles on the Ramdasi gharana which was
> written up like the be-all and end-all of khyal (reproduced below).