Gwalior Gayaki: article by Pt Madhavbua Ingle
About the author: Pt. Madhavbua Ingle is a stalwart of the Gwalior gharana. His grandfather, Pt. Gundubua Ingle passed on the Gwalior gaayaki to his father, Pt. Keshavbua Ingle, which was then further passed on to him. Thus, he has three generations of Gwalior musicians behind him.
Gwalior gaayaki
Any discussion on Gwalior gaayaki would first need to begin with how this style originated, who started it and when, and how it spread far and wide. It is also essential to understand what the distinctive features of this style are, such that it became so popular.
It would be helpful to first look back at who created this style. Essentially, two vocalists are considered to be its originators: Haddukhan and Hassukhan. In fact, many of the gharanas in Hindustani classical music are said to have its roots in Gwalior gaayaki. There is no documented history of the Gwalior gharana. However, this is a brief account of what is indicated in the available records. Sadarang set the stage for khyal-gaayan at the court of Mohammadshah (1719-1748), the ruler of Delhi. Records suggest that Ghulam Rasool also lived in the 18th century. So it would be safe to infer that these musicians came within a gap of 10-20 years after Sadarang. Ghulam Rasool, who was from Lucknow, was an exponent of dhrupad style. However, he was particularly fond of khyal-gaayaki, which had just begun to find its roots. He liked to compose new khyals and to sing them. He is credited with having made khyal-gaayaki popular among the masses. Ghulam Rasool’s son, Ghulam Nabi (Shaurimiya) had a good grounding in khyal-gaayaki. But his voice was thin, and he was especially keen on taans; therefore, he created the tappa style, and made it popular. Ghulam Rasool had a younger sister, who was married to a singer. But her husband died early; she, therefore, entrusted the responsibility of her sons’ (Shakkarkhan and Natthanpirbaksh) music education on her brother, Ghulam Rasool. Both the boys were immensely talented, and Ghulam Rasool took it upon himself to teach them; thus, they matured into good singers within a few years’ time. They later came to be known as Shakkarkhan and Makkhankhan, and soon, their fame spread far and wide.
Shakkarkhan’s son, Bade Mohammad Khan, was employed with a good salary at the court of Gwalior, and he was famous as an exceptional vocalist. Makkhankhan (Natthanpirbaksh) had two sons: Kadarbaksh and Pirbaksh. The former also had a place of honour at the Gwalior court, just like Bade Mohammad Khan, whereas Pirbaksh was engaged at the court of Lucknow. Kadarbaksh was a very talented singer, because of which Bade Mohammad Khan was jealous of him. This story is probably apocryphal, but it is believed that out of jealousy, the latter fed Kadarbaksh a lion’s moustache through his food and killed him. Daulatrao Maharaj, the ruler of Gwalior was greatly pained to hear the news of Kadarbaksh’s death. However, he did not wish to lose a singer like Bade Mohammad Khan either. Therefore, Daulatrao Maharaj hatched a plan to teach Bade Mohammad Khan a lesson. Kadarbaksh had three sons: Hassukhan, Haddukhan and Natthukhan (aged 8, 6 and 4 respectively), who are considered to be the originators of the Gwalior style. Daulatrao Maharaj wanted to train these children in music, and get them to defeat Bade Mohammad Khan in a contest. With this in mind, Maharaj called Pirbaksh (the children’s uncle) from Lucknow, and shared this plan with him. Pirbaksh, in turn, promised the Maharaj that he would teach the children music for 20 years and make them ready. However, Daulatrao Maharaj died within this period and Jankoji Maharaj ascended the throne of Gwalior. The latter, too, was a great connoisseur of music, and thus, Pirbaksh told him of Daulatrao Maharaj’s wish, which Maharaj promised to fulfil. When Hassu and Haddukhan had finished their training, Pirbaksh told Jankoji Maharaj that they should be able to listen to Bade Mohammad Khan singing, so that they are not found to be lacking in any aspect. According to this wish, for six months, Maharaj hid the children behind the curtains in the court so that they could listen to Bade Mohammad Khan. In this short span of time, Hassu and Haddukhan imbibed the music of Bade Mohammad Khan, and following the plan, beat the latter in the contest. However, in this contest, Hassukhan injured his ribcage while singing a thundering (kadak bijli) taan, because of which he died in 1850. Hassukhan’s grandson, Mehndi Hussain, was also a good vocalist. Bannekhan, the elder Balkrishnabua (blind), Vasudevrao Joshi and Baba Dikshit are also considered to be his prominent disciples. Haddukan too, is very famous. His sons were Chhote Mohammad Khan and Rahimatkhan (who gained immense popularity in Maharashtra). Haddukhan died in 1875. Their youngest brother, Natthukhan, who was adopted by Pirbaksh, had been further trained in music. Natthukhan then trained his sister-in-law’s son, Nisar Hussain. Pt. Ramkrishnabua Vaze of Maharashtra and Pt. Shankarrao Pandit of Gwalior were disciples of this very Nisar Hussain Khan.
The complete credit of bringing Gwalior gaayaki to Maharashtra goes to Pt. Balkrishnabua Ichalkaranjikar. He went to Gwalior, and with great difficulty, brought this gaayaki to Maharashtra, after having learnt with Vasudevrao Joshi. He had trained his only son, Annabua, in music very well. Unfortunately, Annabua died young. Apart from his son, Balkrishnabua also trained many other students. Important among them are Pt. Gundubua Ingle (Aundhkar), Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Pt. Anant Manohar Joshi and Pt. Mirashibua. Pt. Gundubua Ingle further passed on his knowledge to Pt. Keshavbua Ingle (the father of the present author), and I, after having learnt with my father, Pt. Keshavbua Ingle, am trying to keep the tradition alive. There is no need to detail the prolific work of Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in the field of music. He opened music schools in places like Mumbai and Lahore, and trained many students there. He also wrote a number of books on music, and thus helped spread this gaayaki. He can be credited with having given a high status to music in society. Pt. Mirashibua and Pt. Anantbua Joshi also trained some students, authored books like ‘Bharatiya Sangeetmala’ and ‘Khyal-gaayaki’ (Mirashibua), and thus kept this tradition alive.
Now let us enumerate the characteristic features of Gwalior gaayaki.
It is customary in Gwalior gaayaki to present a couple of raag-defining aalaps in the beginning, and then to sing the complete asthai and antara of the khyal. There is a wealth of many stylish compositions in this gaayaki, even with a number of them in the same raag having different kinds of mukhdas and structures. The raag-vistaar (elaboration) begins only after the asthai and antara have been presented clearly. Therefore, one has to be able to immediately tune the voice in all the three octaves, according to the structure of the raag. Every gaayaki has its own specific way of voice training and delivery. This is true of Gwalior gaayaki as well. In this style, the voice is expected to be full-throated. Apart from this, great importance is given to straight, clear and palledaar (coming in waves) taans and boltaans in laya and taan (threading the words of the bandish into the taan / laykari). For this purpose, gamak in the voice is very important, the training for which is introduced right at the beginning with different kinds of swar exercises and dhrupad-dhamar. With this practice, the voice becomes clear, pinpointed and palledaar. This gaayaki places prime importance on singing in the natural and pinpointed voice. Similarly, a lot of practice in the kharja (lower octave) is recommended, so as to give the voice a certain weight and quality.
It is very important here to sing in a clear, natural and rounded voice with gamak. Just like it is essential to sing the bandish in a clear and pinpointed voice, it is also important to keep it faithful with the taal. The bandishes that have been passed down from the guru to shishya (student) traditionally are meant to be sung in exactly the same way through the generations – both in terms of sur as well as taal.
After the rendering of the bandish, it is customary to sing aalap in aakar, followed by bol-aalap. Due to this, the way the bandish fits in with the raag, and the beauty of the swar in the raag is highlighted. Since the words of the bandish are intertwined with the aalap, there is a natural laya (tempo) to it. In this manner, every aalap unconsciously carries the laya. When singing the aalap, aakar, ikar, ukar, etc. are used according to the words of the bandish to hold the swar. Even if the aalap is slow, it is never lethargic, weak or unstructured. The aalaps are sung keeping the taal and laya in mind, i.e. the singer can use even half or one-fourth of the beat (matra) to dwell on and to begin the aalap. Also, the duration of the swar can be short or long. Meend and khatkas (staccato) with gamak resonate in the aalap, which gives it a certain weight. When the swar (particularly shadja or pancham) is stretched, a khatka like ‘Sa Sa’ or ‘Pa Pa’ after that sounds fitting. Varieties of this with the use of gamak are as follows: ‘SaReSaSa, PaDhaPaPa, MaPaDhaDhaPaMaPa, DhaDhaPaMaPaDhaPaMaPa’, etc. Such khatkas demonstrate the mastery of the singer over the swar. After presenting aalap with the asthai, it is customary to start the antara and then sing palledaar taans with it. These taans are replete with khatkas, gamak and double swars. With the use of double swars in the taan, the skill and clarity of delivery of the vocalist becomes clear. These kinds of palledaar and straight taans require a lot of practice. It is a misconception that straight taans are easier. In fact, sometimes, it is simpler to sing a vakra taan, as one can occasionally use single swars here, which is not acceptable in a straight taan.
For example: Bhoop – vakra taan – ‘SaReGaPa GaReGaPa DhaSaDhaPa GaReSa’,
Bhoop – straight taan – ‘SaReGaPa DhaSaSaDhaPaPaGaReSa.
Thus, it is clear that it is more difficult to use the double swar in a taan intermittently. Instead of the double swar, the use of single swar in a straight taan (i.e. ‘SaReGaPaDhaSaDhaPaGaReSa’) sounds weak. Therefore, it is essential to have a good breath-span to sing taans in this gaayaki. One can hear many different kinds of taans here: for example, aarohi, avrohi, vakra, and complex or kut-taans , as well as taans that go together with the laya, and fast taans as well. After presenting taans in the antara, it is customary to complete the antara, come back to the asthai, and then raise the tempo (laya) a little for boltaan. Almost no other gharana uses boltaans as much as in Gwalior gaayaki. Boltaans in laya and taan (weaving the words of the bandish into the taan) are sung in various tempos: slow, double, quadruple, offbeat, five times, six times, ten times, twelve times, etc. These different kinds of boltaans establish the laya in various ways. Similarly, it is also common to show different layas in the same boltaan. Because of this range of different layas, it is necessary to master the pronunciation of the words of the bandish, short and long swars, the chalan of the raag, etc. for effective presentation of the boltaan. Only if the singer is totally immersed in the laya will he/she be able to successfully perform the boltaan. The various styles of boltaan also give the accompanying tabla-player the chance to fill in the taal according to the laya. In this manner, after the khyal is presented with all this embellishment, the tritaal begins. In the beginning, the mukhda of the bandish is presented in various ways: for example, with aaghat (on the beat), anaghaat (off-beat), and avsaane (without showing the sam) of the laya, as also with different combinations of swar, just as in a boltaan. Subsequently, small taans, and aalaps and bol-aalaps that would suit the fast tempo are presented. Then, small taans are sung with the antara. After this, the antara is completed, and the singer returns to the asthai. Then, the tempo is increased for boltaans in laya and taan.
Another important feature of this gaayaki is the clear voice and pleasant facial expressions of most singers while performing, in keeping with ‘sudh baani, sudh mudra’. The accompaniment usually consists only of two tanpuras (tuned to the pancham) and the tabla. Singers sit in padmasan for a recital.
To summarise, a Gwalior gaayaki performance begins with a stylish bandish, followed by aalap and then behelave (a taan with gamak in the style of an aalap) with the use of words. Subsequently comes the taan in the laya of the antara. After finishing the antara, the laya is increased for boltaans of various kinds, and finally comes the fast taan. Thus, one encounters various styles in this gaayaki. With this, the raag emerges in its full form. It is not obligatory to follow the above-given order to the letter; different layas, small taans, boltaans and aalaps can also be employed occasionally according to the mood of the raag, and to make the performance interesting.