Press Release
The second day of the 3-day classical music programme entitled ‘Dhruvpad’ being held at the Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) began with an open symposium. The participating artistes included Dhrupad vocalists Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick, Om Prakash Nair and Shyam Sundar along with Shabana Dagar and Imran Dagar.
Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick of ‘Darbhanga gharana’ talked about the history of his gharana. He informed the audience about the origin of Dhrupad and various types of vaanis like Gaural, Khandar, Dagar and Nauhar that form Dhrupad. These vaanis are developed from five geetis that are ‘Shuddha’, ‘Bhinna’, ‘Gauri’, ‘Vegswara’, and ‘Sadharani’. Pt. Mallick also added that Dhrupad is a difficult genre of Hindustani classical music and demands time and patience.
Disciples of Dr. Madhu Bhatt Tailang- Om Prakash Nair and Shyam Sundar also shared the journey of their guru who is Rajasthan’s first female Dhruvpad singer. Her compositions are based on the poems of Meera, Kabirdas, Tulsidas, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore and are an evolution of the old traditions with new styles.
Hailing from the Dagar Gharana, Shabana Dagar and Imran Dagar – who are the founders of ‘The Dagar Archives’ were also a part of the symposium. They talked about the history and traditions of their gharana. They also added that the archives play an important role in preserving the theoretical and practical knowledge of maestros who have contributed greatly to music.