Sangeet Paddhati in the period of Sharangdev - Sangeet Ratnakar

Sangeet Ratnakar was created around 1210-1247 A.D, in a place called Devgiri in Maharashtra. Sharangdevs' father was a Kashmiri Brahmin. After shifting from Kashmir to Maharashtra he collected information about various types of Sangeet that were prevalent during the time, and all of this information was put together to form the ‘Sangeet Ratnakar’.

There are 7 chapters in Sangeet Ratnakar in all. They are as follows:

1. Swaradhyay: which includes the study of swara, shruti, gram, murchana and Jaati.
2. Raag Vivekadhyay: includes information about the graha, ansha, nyaas of the ragas.
3. Prakirnakadhyay: Here there is information given about the qualities and abilities of a singer, gamaka, aalapti (rupakaalapti and raagalapti).
4. Prabandhadhyay: this chapter is a detailed study about the ‘Prabandha’.
5. Taaladhyay: A study of the prevalent taals in this era like Margataal, Deshitaal etc.
6. Vaadyadhyay: as the name suggests this is a detailed study about the existing musical instruments (Vaadya), the process of instrument making and the way they were supposed to be played.
7. Nrityadhyay: The study of the various expressions and poses in the Nritya, the bhav that is created using certain poses and the Rasa or feelings that the dance form brought about.

Prabadha

The concept of Prabandha was first introduced in the 8th century by Matanga Muni. The attributes of Prabandha are known as the ‘Dhatu’ and ‘Anga’. This was Nibadhdha Gayan, meaning it was a defined singing style that included singing a song with definite lyrics. We will study the concept in much detail later. So in short, Prabandha is a singing style that is formed using the Dhatu and Anga. Vastu is the format which has Dhatu and Anga. Roopak is the poetry which has Raag and Taal in it. This Roopak includes Raag Aalapan meaning Aalapti which has 2 types : Raagalpti and Roopakaalpti.

Prabandha Dhatu: The different parts of a Prabandha are called the Dhatu of a Prabandha.

1. Udgraaha: The part where a prabandha begins is called Udgraaha.
2. Dhruva: The part where the important meaning is described which can be either musical or literature intensive is called the Dhruva.
3. Melaapak: The part that joins the Udgraaha and Dhruva is called Melaapak.
4. Antar: the part of the song that joins the Dhruva and the Aabhog (meaning the ending part). This is the part which is called the Antara in recent times.
5. Aabhog: This means the completion. This is the part that ends the song.

It is not necessary that all of the above mentioned parts have to be present in Prabandha Gaayan. It was required that a Prabandha should be at least Dwidhatuk (has two parts) or Tridhatuk (has three parts).

Prabandha Anga

1. Swara: When the Swara are used with their specific names i.e Sa Re Ga Ma etc in a song it is called the Swara. The Sargam geet is included in this part.
2. Pada: The words that explain the meaning (lyrics) of the song is called Pada.
3. Tena: Words(adjectives) that express auspiciousness are called Tena.
4. BiruDa: When there is usage of words like Dayanidhi, or Kripasindhu etc meaning words that sing praises of Ishwar, Raja, or Brave soldiers, etc.
5. PaaTa: Musical instrument notes like diga diga, tirakita, or gadigana.
6. Taala: The taal or rhythm structure in which the song is defined or composed is called the Taala.

Of the above, Swara and taala are the musical influences while Pada, Tena, PaaTa and BiruDa are the Literature influences.

Raag gaayan during the period of Ratnakar
Raag gaayan was done in two ways; Anibadhdha and Nibadhdha.
Here the raag aalapti and Roopakaalapti are considered independent.

Anibadhdha Gaayan- Raag aalapti

When mukta aalapi is done without the use of a Roopak meaning Bandish it is called Anibadhdha Gaayan. This does not have a taal constraint. The Artist does the Swara vistaar according to his/her free will. There is no breakup of the words and there are no Taal constraints. In spite of this there are certain rules that one has to abide by:

1. The entire raag aalapi is done considering Shadja sur (Sa) as the base.
2. If singing is commenced without singing the Shadja swar it is called the Sthayiswara. For e.g Raag Marwa, Raag Shree where Komal Rishabh is used to begin. Some times in certain Raagas like Bihag, Yaman, etc the shudhdha mandra Nishad is used as the starting point.
3. Raag aalap are based on the jaati specifics. Pakad is Jaati specific.
4. Varna, Alankaar are used in Anibadhdha Gaayan.

Difference between Raag aalap and Raagalapti

Raagaalap: Raag Hameer

S G M D D ~ P | M` P G M D ~ N S* |
S*G*M*R*S*| S*N D P, G M R S |

Raag Aalapti: Sequential vistaar.
S G M D ~ P | P D P P G M R R S |
S D” P” S S | S ~ G M R S |
R G M D ~ P | P G M R S |