The tradition of Hindustani music dates back to Vedic times where the hymns in the Sama Veda, an ancient religious text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. It diverged from Carnatic music around the 13th-14th centuries CE, primarily due to Islamic influences. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition originating from the South, Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical. Vedic philosophy and native Indian sounds but also enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughals. Classical genres are dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra, and there are also several semi classical forms. In the earlier days, when Indian music was just coming of age, the music was devotional in nature. It was restricted only to temples and used for ritualistic purposes. It is said that the sound that pervades the whole universe, i.e. Nadabrahma, itself represents the divinity. Organized Indian music owes its origin to the Samaveda. The Veda has all the seven notes of the raga karaharpriya in the descending order. The earliest Raga is speculated to be 'Sama Raga'. Theories and treatises began to be written, how the primitive sound 'Om' gave rise to the various notes.
Arjuna Kumar Mishra (born on 29th August, 1973 in Bhagalpur, Bihar) is a teacher of sociology. He had earlier taught at Patna University, Patna. He achieved his degrees M.A. (Sociology) and PhD (Sociological analysis of Indian religion) from BHU, Varanasi. He has specialized in Indian mythology, dance and music. He has authored more than a six books and over twenty research papers and articles published in national and international journals. He has travelled widely teaching Indian philosophy.
The tradition of Hindustani music dates back to Vedic times where the hymns in the Sama Veda, an ancient religious text, were sung as Samagana and not chanted. It diverged from Carnatic music around the 13th-14th centuries CE, primarily due to Islamic influences. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In contrast to Carnatic music, the other main Indian classical music tradition originating from the South, Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions, historical Vedic philosophy and native Indian sounds but also enriched by the Persianperformance practices of the Mughals. Classical genres are dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra, and there are also several semi-classical forms. In the earlier days, when Indian music was just coming of age, the music was devotional in nature. It was restricted only to temples and used for ritualistic purposes. It is said that the sound that pervades the whole universe, i.e. Nadabrahma, itself represents the divinity. Organized Indian music owes its origin to the Samaveda. The Veda has all the seven notes of the raga karaharpriya in the descending order. The earliest Raga is speculated to be 'Sama Raga'. Theories and treatises began to be written, how the primitive sound 'Om' gave rise to the various notes. Then later on forms like 'Prabandh Sangeet', which was in sanskrit, and 'dhruvapad', in hindi became popular. With the coming of the Gupta era, which is considered as the golden era in the development of Indian music, the music treatises like 'Natya Shastra' and 'Brihaddeshi' were written.
Indian music got divided after the 14th century. Hindustani music seems to have been profusely influenced by the music of Persia and Arabia. It emphasizes on the musical structure and the possibilities of improvisation in it. The main architect of the existing system of Hindustani music was Pandit VN Bhatkhande, who was responsible for the classification of the Ragas into the 10 'thats'. Hindustani music has a number of embellishments and ornamentations or Gamaks like Meend, Kana, Murki, etc. which enhances its aesthetic appeal. The tabla plays a very important role in maintaining the rhythm during a Hindustani concert. There are a number of Tals like Ek-Tal, Jhap-Tal, Dadra, Teen-Tal and so on. Each Tal has its own characteristics.
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