Pandit Govindrao Burhanpurkar and other Pakhawaj Maestros of Yesteryears

Elder Dagar Brothers with Pt. Govindrao Burhanpurkar on Pakhawaj

The grand old man with the elegant bordered cap on the pakhawaj in this photo is none other than great pakhawaj maestro of yesteryears Pt. Govindrao Burhanpurkar.

Guruji Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar once identified him to me in this very photograph which I had got printed then from the Sangeet Natak Akademi archives in connection with my work on the Mewar CDs. He reminisced about his magnificient playing with his father Ustad Rahimuddin Dagar and said that pakhawaj players like Govindrao Burhanpurkar and his contemporary Pt. Ayodhya Prasad used to play the ‘Angs‘ of singing on the pakhawaj and because they could anticipate these ‘Angs‘,  it was possible to do very long and gradually unfolding developments of compositions with their accompaniment.

Another contemporary pakhawaj player of Govindrao Burhanpurkar  he mentioned and also showed me a photo of,  wearing a similar cap was S. V. Patwardhan, who played brilliantly with the Elder Dagar brothers in their great Darbari Kanada L.P. Unfortunately I never managed to make a copy of that photo. Wish I had since that might be the only picture around of this great pakhawaj player who also passed away in the 1960′s soon after the untimely death of Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar. That brilliant accompaniment in the Darbari/Adana L.P. and a few recordings of his sangat in A.I.R broadcasts with the Elder Dagar Brothers assures him a place in the pakhawaj roll of honour.

Unfortunately this is a poor reproduction from the L.P and does not bring out S.V. Patwardhan’s beautiful resonant bell like sound that I had heard with very good L.P. players and reproducing equipment. I hope H.M.V does a good remastering and releases it again.

What I loved about his sangat was the grand way he gave theka in the beginning and restrained his tremendous virtuosity and speed – only gradually bringing in the fireworks, and all the time  following the ‘Angs‘ of the singing with incredible closeness and anticipation.

I found a picture of this L.P. on this unbelievably named  blog “Anthems for the Nation of Luobania” – which gives photos of the vinyl disc too and also discusses the merits of different pressings…which ones have low surface noise etc. !!! Real Dhrupadiyas among L.P. collectors I must say, to pay such attention to nuances . The blog is a must see for all vinyl L.P. lovers!!

Incredibly enough I googled and found a youtube video with Burhanpurkar Ji’s solo playing taken from an old 78 rpm record. The playing is very virtuosic,  but of course with the tinny sound of a 78 rpm shellac recording, we can only get a distant glimpse of what it would have sounded like in real life- a rare example of pakhawaj solo on shellac. That HMV released it showed the stature that Govindrao Burhanpurkar had among his contemporaries. Hats off to Warren Senders for uploading this and other  78 rpm gems.

Another rare recording of pakhawaj sangat that I have is of Pt. Ambadas Pant Agle  - grandfather of Sanjay and Chitrangana Agle accompanying Rudra Veena player Ustad Abid Hussain Khan of Janjira – a relative and elder of Late Ustad Asad Ali Khan.

Govindrao Burhanpurkar, S. V. Patwardhan, Ambadas Pant Agle – all belonged to the Nana Panse school of pakhawaj,  which emphasized a kind of soft,  sensuous and poetic style of playing as opposed to the  more manly and forceful Kudao Singh style . The Nana Panse style was more prevalent in Maharashtra and Central India while the Kudao Singh style of which Ramashish Pathak and Ayodhya Prasad  are fine  examples  is found in the North and in Bihar.

A Tribute to Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar

A Tribute to Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar

Came across this old interview of Ustad Z. F. Dagar where he talks about his creation – The Dhrupad Kendra, Bhopal. It is truly wonderful how reasoned, trenchant and lively Ustad’s observations are in all his public pronouncements.

Directorship of the Dhrupad Kendra was an opportunity and a challenge, and it was this man’s utter unorthodoxy and willingness to break rules in an intelligent manner that allowed him to overcome adversity and very trying circumstances and do what none of his Gharana members would probably have done…. which is to develop new innovative and unorthodox ways of teaching under new circumstances, to spread the knowledge outside the confines of the Gharana and still keep as true to the tradition as possible.

Everything has its pros and cons and today I raise a toast to the genius of Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and what he achieved in his life. Like all geniuses Chote Ustad and indeed all his brothers of the Dagar Gharana are complex, charismatic and truly lovable personalities. Despite their fierce and often bitter mutual rivalries and the difficult circumstances after Indian independence, the descendants of Zakiruddin and Allabande Khan  – The Dagar Brothers – managed to keep the essence of their knowledge and art alive ,  often making great personal sacrifices and  stoically enduring the disdain and neglect of a society  that did not value a contemplative  form that  did not strive to entertain or please.

Meeting them was like coming across a slice of history, of suddenly walking into another age. Hearing myself speak today I realize that I have subconsiciouly imbibed after all these years of sitting in front of them trying to catch every word they utter – their rich Hindi Urdu Sanskrit blend – in the words of Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar “mili jhuli ganga jamni zabaan”. I consider myself truly fortunate to have been able to know and observe my Gurus from fairly close. Looking back at all the ups and downs of my complex relations with them, I can only be filled with great awe, love and respect. How could I have been chosen to come into contact with something so old and so deep. Just my destiny or random chance I guess.

After my recent appointment as director of the Dhrupad Kendra Bhopal, the position held by Ustad for many years during which he single handedly reworked the future of the tradition, my job over the next few years would be to strengthen the institution he founded and use it to further the interests of the Dhrupad tradition with fairness, objectivity, impartiality and above all with kindness and humility.

The rate of attrition of knowledge in Dhrupad in recent times has been exponential. Only 20 or 30 years ago a huge repertoire of compositions still remained with some known and many obscure Dhrupad singers, most of whom were struggling to keep singing and at the same time earn a livelihood. I recently tried to locate disciples or recordings of Dhrupad singer Bharatji Vyas (1923-1983) who lived in Baroda, and I came up on a blank wall. Nothing remains except a few recordings of rare compositions in rare ragas with the Sangeet Natak Academy.

Although I am a singer of the style of Dhrupad practised by Ustad and his brothers, I consider it my duty to also work for the preservation of all traditions of Dhrupad and hope that this job will help me in addressing this task as well. Much of the composed repertoire of Dhrupad was common to all the traditions. One hears different versions of the same composition being sung by singers of vastly different traditions.

There are many more names I need to look into: T. L. Rana, Gajanana Thakur, Hari Shankar Mishra, Radheshyam Dagur of Tikamgarh…. to see if they left behind a few recordings or taught a few students or notated at least some of the compositions in some handwritten manuscript gathering dust and mould or being devoured by termites somewhere.

Some handwritten manuscripts I have located are being zealously guarded by family members of departed musicians who expect to be paid considerable sums of money to part with them. Yet seeing the colossal amounts being mentioned in connection with corruption scandals I cannot blame them. What they expect in comparison for true gems of our heritage is absolute peanuts!

Most of that composed repertoire of Dhrupad – little fixed models of Ragas created by master Dhrupad singers of the past to encapsulate the various concepts of classical music and pass them on from generation to generation has now gone to the grave, because the state system failed to reach out to these people and support them and record for posterity the precious bits of knowledge they carried. The recently enlivened debate on corruption and the abuse of power and misuse of public institutions has yet to permeate into the realm of art, culture and heritage management but is sorely needed there. It will also come. Everyone is waiting for someone to stand up and bell the cat.

All said and done a lot of knowledge has been lost in the last few decades and yet a lot still remains thanks to the efforts of individual Gurus like Ustad Z. F. Dagar and others who dared to take the initiative and do what they believed should be done in the vastly changed circumstances after independence when the entire class of highly cultivated and musically sophisticated royal patrons literally disappeared overnight. To quote one of my gurus (Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar) – “yeh sab to bas jhaadan hai. khazane to sab chale gaye. lekin yeh bhi kafi hai.” – These are all just leftovers … the real treasures are all gone.. but still this is enough.

In many systems redundancy makes it at least theoretically possible to reconstruct the whole from fragments. Lets hope that the same would be possible for Dhrupad.

ref – Dhrupada – Indurama Shrivastava 1980 Motilal Banarasidass

- Ashish Sankrityayan

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar – Jaijaiwanti Kanada

I have two recordings of Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar singing this chowtal composition in  Raga Jaijaiwanti Kanada – This one shows the melodic lines of the composition without tala or  pakhawaj accompaniment and is  from 1990 in Bhopal. The Raga being a blend of two Ragas has a complicated structure.  A version of this composition can also be found in the book Marifunnagamat, attributed by the author and compiler Muhammad Nawab Ali Khan to the Dhrupad singer Abban Khan of Saharanpur – a relative and disciple of Baba Behram Khan.

CDs and DVDs  of Dhrupad on Cdbaby –  Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Recording from the personal archives of Ashish Sankrityayan

Pandit Ramashish Pathak – Pakhawaj Solo

Pandit Ramashish Pathak of Amta ( Near Darbhanga Bihar) Plays pakhawaj solo in Adi Tala ( 16 beats) acccompanied by his students. Ramashish Pathak one of the most reputed pakhawaj players of India plays in the Kudau Singh style.

CDS AND DVDS OF DHRUPAD ON CDBABY– Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Nasir Aminuddin Dagar – Bangal Bhairav

Elder Dagar Brothers Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar

This is a very rare composition in Raga Bangal Bhairav – an uncommon Raga -sung by Nasir Aminuddin Dagar without pakhawaj accompaniment in the 1980′s at a concert in Delhi. The photo shows Aminuddin Dagar (left) with his elder brother and singing partner Ustad Nasir Moinuddin Dagar.  After the death of Moinuddin Dagar in 1966 Aminuddin Dagar sang alone – only rarely teaming up with some other cousins. He also changed the pitch of his singing far lower than what he used to sing in with his elder brother. As can be seen in the recordings here.

CDs and DVDs  of Dhrupad on Cdbaby –  Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Recording from the personal archives of Ashish Sankrityayan

Nasir Aminuddin Dagar – Sawni Barwa

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar sings a composition in Chowtal ( 12 beats) in Sawani Barwa.From a concert in Delhi in the1980′s.

CDS AND DVDS OF DHRUPAD ON CDBABY– Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

recording from the personal archives of Ashish Sankrityayan

It is interesting to compare this with another performance (below) of the same composition in 1991 in Bhopal where he sings a different ornamentation in the beginning and also in other places. Orally transmitted compositions probably mutate a lot in this way.

Dhrupad Alap – Raga Bageshree

Dhrupad Alap in Raga Bageshree – excerpt from a concert – Ashish Sankrityayan

CDS AND DVDS OF DHRUPAD ON CDBABY– Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Elder Dagar Brothers Raga Desi

Here is a recording made from a radio broadcast in 1965 of Ustads Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar singing Raga Desi – Alap followed by the Dhamar ‘udho tuma jaaye kaho hari paas tuma bina kaiso phaaguna maas’. This recording is from the collection of Maharawal Mahipalsinghji Sab of Dungarpur.

CDs and DVDs of Dhrupad on Cdbaby

– Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Dhrupad Chowtal – Raga Yaman – Ashish Sankrityayan

This is a composition attributed to the legendary Dhrupad singer Tansen who sang in the court of Emperor Akbar… It is addressed to the Saki of Hauz-e-Kausar or the giver of nectar in paradise.. a term used by Sufi mystics  to describe the prophet..yet it makes a reference to the Hindu belief of  rebirth.  The singer declares himself to be a servant of the Saki of Hauz-e-Kausar since many births!!

CDS AND DVDS OF DHRUPAD ON CDBABY– Miya Ki Malhar –Abhogi and Lalit — Yaman and Malkauns

Pakhawaj Solo – Pandit Dalchand Sharma

Pakhawaj Solo in Chowtal – Pandit Dalchand Sharma of the Nathadwara Tradition of Pakhawaj playing.