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History of Indian Classical music
Bhakti Saints and their contribution to Indian classical music
Music in India from its origin to evolution and growth need to be viewed in religious perspective. In course of time some of the musical forms which were developed had little to do with religion or religious rituals- yet a classical singer even an improvised ‘raga alapa’ does it as a ritualistic act in the presence of God. In south India it is accepted that music has emerged out of religion, centred in and around temple and with worship. The idea of ‘bhakti’ implied loving adoration of God, made compositions of devotional songs as – Bhajans Stutis Kriti Nama Kirtana Padas Slokas Namavalis Sankirtans Padavalis Padam etc became increasingly popular. Padams – had religious devotional or philosophical themes. Bhajans – mean to sing in praise of God. It is rendered solo, or in group, but the latter is often termed as ‘Kirtan’, – Namavalis are the most common. Kritis (prose) – are mostly in Telegu, Sanskrit and Tamil. From the point of view of Indian Classical music the development of devotional music and its various form like: The origin of ragas is traced to a divine source. According to Narada, Krishna began to play murli, captivating the hearts of the Gopi’s by its sweet melody. Gopis then in the company of Krishna, each sang a song, which led to the birth of sixteen thousand ragas. Ragas are the
representation of ‘ShivaSakti’ and ocean of love (prem rasa) which captivated in the heart of God Vishnu. The word ‘ta’ signifies ‘Gauri’, ‘na’ – indicative of ‘Lord Shiva’. ‘Tana’ thus makes one realise ‘Shiva-Sakti’. One of the peculiar feature found in bhakti songs like –Chandidas, Mira Bai,’Tulsidas’ and ‘Surdas’ was ‘banita’ or ‘chhap’, in which creator of the text and music entered their name in the text. The use of ‘banita’ are also noticed in ‘dhoa’ ‘kabita’ etc. Thousands of devotional songs only those have survived through the oral tradition, which appeal to the listeners due to quality of the text and also were appealing musically. The oldest composition that has come to us is ‘Charyagiti’ of Buddhist Tantrik or ‘Astapadis’ of Jayadeva on account of their lyrical beauty. ‘Vaggeyakaras’ composed their songs in wide variety of composition for which the term ‘ Prabandha’ genre is used by some scholar. Thus the ‘padas’ of ‘Namadeva’ were composed as Prabandha. ‘Padmanava’ the poet, wrote well known work ‘Kanhadade Prabandha’ in which he mention singing of ‘pada prabandha’. Some of the saints of Maharastra like’Eknath’ have sung ‘Saptapadis’, ‘Chaupadis’ etc. We have ‘Chaupadis’ in Hindi & Marathi by ‘Damodara Pandit’. In ‘Gorakh bani’ we have ‘Saptapadis’ & ‘Chaupadis’ which were forms of ‘Prabandha’. These bhajans, padas, kritis, songs were by oral transmission- preserved through ‘Guru- Sishya’ parampara. This was the main vehicle of transmission and preservation of these devotional songs. Even today we find ‘gharanas’ of traditional ‘bhajans & kirtan’ singers in different parts of India just we find ‘gharanas’ of classical singers. Later collection of padas, sakhis etc. were made by the disciples. But this does not seem to apply to the songs of ‘Jayadeva’, ‘Vidyapati’, ‘Chandidas’, ‘Jnaneshwar’ (13th. century) and some other saints who had become very popular among the people. Thus the love songs of ‘Vidyapati’ were very popular among the women folk and they sang these on various occasions as wedding etc. Even today Maithili women’s culture is judged by the answer to the question ‘what songs of ‘Vidyapati can you sing? Even if the people under stood the raga of a composition, in most cases they are likely to observe the characteristics of the raga to some extent only, but not in the strict classical sense. The ‘Guru Grantha’ was one of the earliest written of various types of ‘padas’,’dupadas’,’tipadas’,’chaupadas’,’panchapadas’,’asthapadas’. The number of ‘padas’ in a song is the number of antaras it has. ‘Asthapadas’ like Jaidev’s ‘Gitagovinda’ has eight
(xiv) Maru (xv) Kalyan (xvi) Malhar (xvii) Kafi (xviii) Kanada etc. In ‘Guru Granth’ sahib also songs are not grouped thematically but grouped under thirty one ragas, each raga group forming a chapter in the collection. Some musichologists say that the name of the raga is mere a superscription without reference to its context. They were expecting thematic connection between the songs. Others have the opinion that a musical principle has been followed in arranging verses of the Gurus,save a few exception – there is a distinct method of pattern in which the bhajans have been arranged. The following factors determine in which particular raga group a song was to be placed: (i) The number of padas (stanza) in the bhajan. (ii) Its gharu and its sankar raga (iii) Its author Gharu literally means ‘sets’ of the same raga. They seem to be variant in the same raga pattern. In sankar or hybrid raga like ‘Gaudi-majh’, Gaudi is the main raga. There is no information about how these mixed ragas were formed, but it is correct to presume that the sankar form was dominated by the raga under which they were listed. Other division with a raga to specific melodies is associated with certain social group like-‘Gaudi-guwareri’ (sung by milk man), ‘Gaudi bairagini’ gaudi sung by bairagis. Instruments: In bhajana and kirtana singing in North as well as in South, accompaniment was an essential pattern. In South – Sruti-box(drone), Mrdangam, Jalra(Cymbol), Gejjai(ankle bells) were more common. In North India, Ekatantri Vina, Cymbals, Tambura, Kartal, Flute, Drum were use. Most of the instruments were very simple and some of them may be termed as folk instrument. Many of the singers used to play an instrument while singing like – Mira, Sur. In south ‘Mrdangam’ was played by men, where as other instruments could be played by both men and women singers.
Saints like Mirabai, Purandaradasa, Tyagarajee, Arunagirinath, preached through music and condensed philosophy in a song. Dimdima and Mrdanga are mentioned among instruments played by ladies for pleasure of king Ravana of Srilanka. Being well versed in the original Sanskrit and Tamil text in music. ‘Arunagirinatha’ wove the basic concept of musical grammer in his songs of the 16000 hymns(Triuppugazhs) – 1330 have been traced so far, besides work likes ‘Kandar’,’Alamkaram’, ‘Antadi’,’Kandar anubhuti’’ in classical metres &’Tiruvalmppu’ a group of poem in ‘Chamdappa’ poetic form in a variety of metrical pattern made resonant with deep toned music. ‘Arunagiri’ drew from the new trends in composition which developed during 11th. – 14th. Centuries. Kirtan form evolved by ‘Haridas’ of Karnataka and Tallapaka. Composers of Andra Pradesh has talked about ‘Sapta Suladi tala’ parallel to the Marga and desi talas given by ‘Sarangadeva’ in Sangit Ratnakar. Instead of Pallavi and Anupallavi and ‘Charana’ he adopted his own form- where each pada is elaborated in ‘stanza’ of length-limited to four syllables corresponding to Tana-Tana or ‘Tanda-tana’. In elaborated form we come across – ‘Tisra’,’Chasturasara’,’Khanda’,’Misra’ and ‘Sankirna’ grouping arising out of ‘Sapta-tala-jati system. Bhatavetala, Vakuppu mentions five ‘Marga talas and names of many ragas- ‘Varati’,’Gaudi’,’Bhairavi’,’Lalit’,’Malhar’,’Bouli’,’Dhanyasi’ etc. Seven notes as given in Tamil music, are indicated in ‘Tiruppugazh Ariyayan Putpikka’. He also refers gammaks and technique of singing and playing instruments. He used the term ’Pancham’ when writing about instrumental music and mentions a number of instruments. One feature may be noted while studying about religious musical form and rhythm is what has been termed as ‘Responsorial monophony’ – when one person sings a devotional song in congregation repeats the line in the same manner or with little variation as possible. Though this is not common in ‘sloka’. This is noticeable in case of ‘kirtana’ and in the south ‘namavali’ performer and ‘pundarikam’. Monophony – music consists of a single melodic line. This term is considered under two categories: (i) Accompanied (ii) Unaccompanied ‘Kirtana’ may be performed solo or in congregation. We have no precise information how the text of ‘kirtan’ were set to music, or how they were originally sung. Poetic output of the ‘Alvira saints’ – ‘Jaideva’ (12th. century), ‘Namdev’(13th. century),’Vidyapati’ (1360) ‘Chandidas’ (end of 14th. century), ‘Arunagirinath’ and others
free rhythm. There is no ‘tala’ to mark the beat. The precise time measure of ‘kirtan’, ‘pallavi’, ‘pundarikams’ (which shows greater consistency in performance time) as sung in South India these days. At present, the correct rendering of the raga form of ‘Gitagovinda’ is very rare and differes from region to region, or from one ‘sampradaya’ to another, though it is claimed that correct rendering of ‘Gitagovinda’ gana are found in the temple of ‘Jaganath’ Puri in Orissa, but afterwards it was found that the musicans of Tanjore (Tanjavur) exhibit their superiority in the correct rendering of the tunes that are used in ‘Gitagovinda’. We find twenty four song (ganas) set to 12 clssical ragas and five talas by ‘Jaideva’ were somewhat different from the present time. The ragas in the ‘Gitgovinda’ are: (i) Malavgauda (ii) Gurjari (iii) Vasanta (iv) Ramkeli (v) Kanada (vi) Bibhasa (vii) Malva (viii) Gundakiri (ix) Bhairava (x) Desakha (xi) Bhairavi (xii) Desa-Vardi Talas are five as: (i) Yati (ii) Ektali (iii) Rupaka (iv) Nihsara (v) Astatala The same is the case with ‘Vidyapati’ padas (in praise of Shiva, Durga, Krishna, Radha, Gopals) and love songs of Chandidas had adopted many lines from ‘Vidyapati’. Three or four centuries- the whole of Eastern India resounded with a new type of literature ‘padavali’. From Bengal the name of ‘Vidyapati’ as a vaisnava singer spread to Orissa and Assam. The new literature was written in ‘Brij-bhasa’ of which the base was ‘Maithili’ language of ‘Vidyapati’. Three great vaisnva devotees of east are – Chaitanya of Bengal, Sankaradeva of Assam and Ramanand Raya of Orissa were inspired by the love songs of ‘Vidyapati’. His hymns addressed to Durga are still recited in ‘Maithili’ homes.
‘Vidyapati’ was born in 1360 A.D. in Darbhanga district in Bihar. In 1403 A.D. he was at the court of Raja Shiv Singh of Tirhut. Most of the padas of his ‘padavalis’ are of ‘sringara’ rasa in which Radha and Krishna are nayika and nayaka. Sankaradeva described above as one of the three great vaisnava devotee of the east. Born in 1449 in Bardowa village of Nowyong district of Assam, he was a Kayastha. After visiting some holy places like Puri, Gaya, Mathura, Vrindaban etc. he composed some selection of his most popular work ’Kirtan-Ghosa’ which contained tales from “bhagabat-Purana and other holy text. The form of Vaishnavism evolved by him is known as ‘Religion of prayers with ultimate refuge to God. He left behind a very rich legacy of classical tradition in music and dancing’ to his people. There are songs such as ‘ghosa(couplet), bar-gita(a type of song tuned to different melody- modes). ‘Kirtan ghosa’ sometimes forming a part of the long narrative. He wrote a number of works in which stories of ‘Bhagavata Purana’ and other puranas are retold in simple verses; besides six dramas containing a number of songs which are still popular, ‘Chandidas’, a great Vaishnava poet of Bengal also flourished at that time. He preceded ‘SriChaitanya’ who listen to his poem along with ‘Vidyapati’ and ‘Jaiev’. His works are known as ‘Sri Krishna Kirtana’ wrote numerous songs deal with divine power of Krishna and Radha. The songs of ‘Chandidas’ are often sung in solo followed by chorus before gathering of devotees. The fifteenth.century was surprisingly rich in producing saint composers in all parts of India giving rise to what is known as ‘Bhakti Movement’. The contribution of these saints to music was profound, though some cases not at the classical level. Among these we may also mention about ‘Tallapaka Annandamachariya’(1424) of Andhra Pradesh. He was regarded as a devotee of ‘Venkateswara’ and composed many ‘slokas’, besides writing a number of works. He regarded his songs as flower offerings to the God. They are ‘Samkirtana’- since they all praise the God. His love for his God is profound and so personal that at some songs he converses with him. A large number of his songs are full of ‘madhur- bhakti’ but he keeps balance between the sensual and spiritual. Each ong comprises ‘pallavi’ state the theme of the song very occasionally an ‘anupallivi’ and usually three musically identical four-lines’charana’. ‘Pallivi’ state the theme of the song which the’charanas’ elaborate.His listeners felt that he was ‘Narada’ or ‘Tambura’ reborn. Unfortunately there is no living tradition of singing his songs, although after several decades after him, his songs were sung daily at ‘tirumala’ and ‘Bhajanakutas’. Some copper plates mention only raga of the song, but musical form and tala which ‘Annamayya’ has assigned to it is not known. In his songs ‘sahitya’ gets precedence over music unlike ‘kritis’ of Tyagaraja and others. He also composed ‘suladis’ through only one ‘desi suladi’ is available having both ‘Talamalika’ and ‘Ragamalika’. It begins with ‘Malavgaud’ and ends with ‘Sri’. In between there are closely related ragas such as ‘Ramakriya’,’Varti’,’Bouli’Padi’,’and ‘Nata’ are employed.
Lalit’ Gauri, Kedar, Kanada etc. in which ‘Stutis’ composed by him were to be sung, but their raga forms used in his time are not precisely known. Surdas knowledge of music was simply astonishing. In a single composition describing,’Shyam-Shyama-Krishna’ was there. He mentioned 6 ragas and 36 raginis. Sur sagar’ we find the mention of composition in raga Bilawal only 630 padas, in raga Sarang 605 in malhar – 328, In Ramkali – 245 and other ragas were also there. His ‘dhamar’ gitas are suitable for being sung in ‘dhruta laya’. He has sparsely mentioned the tala of his pada. Only 5 padas composed by him are in ‘tritala’. Surdas has a thorough understanding of fundamentals of Indian Classical music. He calls it one of the 64 kalas. He has discussed the concept of Nada in many of his pada and knew the importance of 22 srutis and sapta svaras. It is clear from his padas, that he knew about the concept of murchana, grama, tala, six ragas and thirty six raginis, alapa, tana etc. Bilawal, Sarang, Dhanasri, Malhar, were the favourite ragas of Sur. His ‘Sur-sagar’ begins with ‘Bilawal and ends with ‘Bilawal’. Being morning raga suddha svaras are most suitable for prayer. Some of the ragas which Sur has used for his verse are not in practice any more. He choose the raga keeping the theme in mind – like Sarang, Dhanasri, Kalyan etc. is used for Krishna lila, Panaghata lila, and Krishna pranks. Raga ‘Bilawal’, ‘Asavari, Lalit, Bhairav, Todi etc. are used for joyful occasion, when Krishna would be woken up by gentle singing uses ‘Lalit’, ‘Bhairav’, ‘Todi’, etc. and late in the night for Krishna sayana seva, ‘Adana’, ‘Maikauns’, ‘Kanada’ etc are used.
