Kirana gharana

Kirana Gharana is one of the most prolific Hindustani khyal gharanas.

The name of this school of music derives from Kirana or Kairana, a village near Kurukshetra in Haryana . It is the birthplace of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937), who was one of the most important musicians of this gharana and of Hindustani music in general in the twentieth century, and considered by some to be the real founder of the Kirana Gharana, while the roots of the tradition can be traced back to his great-grandfather Ghulam Ali and Ghulam Maula, the brother of Ghulam Ali. A frequent visitor to the Court of Mysore, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was influenced by Carnatic music.

Much to the credit of Abdul Karim Khan, today most Hindustani musicians from Karnataka are exponents of Kirana Gharana and Kirana Gharana has imbibed many of the features of the Carnatic tradition. Particularly the culturally fecund border region between Karnataka and Maharashtra is famous for its tradition of the Kirana school of singing.

Another towering figure of this gharana in the early 20th century was Ustad Abdul Karim Khan’s cousin Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan (1871?-1949). Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is considered to be the foremost representative of the Kirana school of music today.

It was late in the nineteenth century that the two ustads Abdul Karim Khansahab and Abdul Waheed Khan Sahab revolutionized the very concept of khayal gayaki by introducing the vilambit or the slow tempo method to delineate the raga note by note.

In the Kirana Gayaki, the individual swaras (notes) of the Raga are considered not just random points in the scale but independent realms of music capable of horizontal expansion. Mind blowing, emotion drenched Pukars in the higher octaves form a part of the musical experience. Another unique feature of this gharana is the highly intricate and ornate use of the Sargam Taan, (weaving patterns with the notations themselves) which was improvised by Ustad Abdul Karim Khansahab as a direct influence of the Carnatic Classical style.

Performers from this gharana have established their indelible mark on certain Ragas so much so that both the audience and the performer desire the Ragas time and again. Ragas like Todi, Lalit, Multani, Patdeep, Puriya, Marwa, Shuddha Kalyan, Darbari Kanhara,Komal-Rishabh Asawari and many others have acquired new dimensions under the Kirana Gayaki.

Noted Marathi thespian PuLa Deshpande has very rightly pointed out that Performers from the Kirana gharana have had a "soft corner" for the Komal Rishabh note in the Indian Classical Music scale. The ragas mention above as Kirana favorites surely second this observation.

Leading members of the gharana

Bande Ali Khan Abdul Karim Khan Abdul Wahid Khan Ganpath Rao Gurav Roshan Ara Begum Sureshbabu Mane, son of Abdul Karim Khan Hirabai Badodekar, daughter of Abdul Karim Khan Saraswati Rane, daughter of Abdul Karim Khan Sawai Gandharva Kaivalyakumar Gurav Sangameshwar Gurav Bhimsen Joshi Shreepathi Padigar Gangubai Hangal Basavaraj Rajguru, a mix of gharanas Pandit Channulal Mishra Rasiklal Andharia

Balkrishnabuwa Kapileshwari, disciple and biographer of Abdul Karim Khan Firoz Dastur Niaz Ahmad Khan & Faiyaz Ahmad Khan duo Yeshwant-rai Purohit Manik Verma, a mix of styles, disciple of Hirabai Barodekar Pran Nath Shakoor Khan Amir Khan, who later developed his own style, sometimes known as the Indore Gharana Prabha Atre Shrikant Deshpande Madhava Gudi Pranati Mhatre Mashkoor Ali Khan Meena Faterpekar Shrinivas Joshi A.T. Kannan MRS ANUPAMA AJIT MANGALVEDE Nagaraja Rao Havaldar Arshad Ali Khan Jayateerth Mevundi Sanjoy Banerjee [[[GAYATRI GUDI]] PADMASHRI KULKARNI [[[SHRI PRASANNA GUDI]] This musical style is based on (and most famous for) slow, elongated notes to emphasize serenity, to produce purely sweet, non-technical music. Further reading Kirana, by Roshan Ara Begum. Published by Gramophone Co. of India, 1994. References External links Musical Nirvana