Festivals like Dhrupad Vaibhav play a significant role in upholding the classicism of the form

hrupad, the pristine musical form of Hindustani classical music, is derived from the ancient chhandprabandh gayan. Dhrupad offered a compositional structure to the abstract raag. Swami Haridas and Tansen and later Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior popularised it in the 15th and 16th centuries. The musical form retained this exalted position till about the mid19th century before khayal singing, with all its embellishments, took precedence under royal patronage.

Despite a decline in its popularity, dhrupad continues to hold its position as the epitome of classicism. Institutions such as the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal revived its wide appeal and established its contemporary relevance. Apart from training young enthusiasts, it organised dhrupad festivals. With gurus such as Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar, the Dhrupad Kendra was run by Bharat Bhavan under the insightful guidance of Ashok Vajpeyi, who now looks after the Raza Foundation.

Dhrupad Vaibhav, a festival celebrating the unhurried and immersive style of this form, is organised by the Raza Foundation. The third edition of this festival was held recently in Delhi in collaboration with India

International Centre and NaadChakra Trust of Pt. Nirmalya

DThe festival opened with a rudra veena recital, without which an ode to dhrupad can never be complete. It was also a tribute to Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, a exponent of the instrument. The artiste of the evening was Carsten Vicke from Germany. A senior disciple of Asad Ali Khan, who belongs to the Khandar bani of dhrupad. Carsten displayed the nuances of the bani right from his aalapjodjhala, which had melodic phrasings and raag elaboration with complete rhythmic patterns. Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma accompanied on the pakhawaj and Sujanya

Arvindan on the tanpura.

Carsten began with the rare raag Adbhut Kalyan. ‘Adbhut’ means extraordinary or exceptional, and it was an exceptional raag without both the madhyam and pancham swaras, the two main pillars to hold any musical scale. Omitting these two main swaras implied sweeping through the whole octave in one slow leap. Carsten’s meends and gamakas were sure and secure in a rigorously conceived alaap, jod, jhala, and a dhrupad rendition set to Chautaal. He also played a dhamar in Hindol, which is a raag of the spring season. “It’s a lifetime’s work to study and play this instrument,” said Carsten.

Kaberi Kar, a senior disciple of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, was the second artiste of the inaugural evening. She opened her vocal dhrupad recital with Jaijaiwanti. Her welltrained disciple Nisha Pal provided vocal support while Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma was on the pakhawaj.

The introductory alaap created the melodious aura of the raag before Kaberi presented a dhrupad in Chautaal. Next came a dhamar in Shankara. Finding her subtle understatements lost in pakhawaj’s sound, she politely said, “Mohan ji is playing with me after two decades, and this sangat develops by sitting together and conversing with each other.” She continued, “I think the swar should be seen with closed eyes, and then presented with reverence.”

Since it was the month of Falgun and Holi, Kaberi also presented her guru’s dhamar composition ‘Hori khelungi saanvare ke sang’ in raag Bahar, before concluding with her own composition in Sooltaal.

On the second day, Ashok Vajpeyi recalled anecdotes about Bade

Ustad and his inimitable music. The evening opened with a surbahar concert by Saurabhbrata Chakraborty.

Opening with raag Yaman, Saurabhbrata played detailed alaapjodjhala and a dhrupad composition in Dhamar taal, accompanied on the pakhawaj by Shubhasheesh Pathak and Dipanvita Sharma on the tanpura.

Yaman, one of the most melodious evening raags, was played with great elan.

Saurabhbrata concluded with a Sooltaal composition in raag Basant, apt for the Spring season.

Perfect choice of songs

The festival concluded with the concert of Pt. Premkumar Mallick, the 12th generation dhrupad vocalist from Darbhanga gharana.

The renowned son and disciple of Pt. Vidur Mallick, Premkumar is equally at ease with khayal, thumri, dadra and bhajan. A Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, he is also an author and a professor of music at Allahabad University.

He offered the choicest gems from his treasure trove, especially dhamars in different raags. A style allied to dhrupad, dhamaar compositions are mostly in Braj bhasha, and sung in Dhamar taal of 14 beats time cycle.

Preceeded by a detailed alaap in Puriya, a late evening raag, the first dhamar went as ‘Aaj rasa been liye, kar duffmridanga sab gwal baal’, where the elaboration in the lower octave was striking. Describing the Holi festival, the second dhamar came in Khamaj, ‘Aaj khelat moson hori’. The raag continued in the third one — ‘Braj mein dhoom machyo hai’ and also the fourth, ‘Lal mose khelo na hori’. Instead of continuing the same raag, Premkumar could have brought in variety by singing dhamars in raags such as Kafi, Pilu and Sindura.

Pt. Premkumar Mallick concluded with the dhamar ‘Aai basant bahar’ in Shankara, a Veer rasa raag, motivated by the combative pakhawaj of Gaurav Shankar Upadhyaay.

The festival opened with a rudra veena recital, an instrument that defines dhrupad’s inherent qualities