India Travel Info

Indian Music

Hindustani Vocal Music
Hindustani Classical Vocal Music, which was intimately associated with the north-Indian temple rituals, traces back its existence in the Shastras or ancient treaties in Sanskrit.

Rich contributions were made during the Muslim rule of the Moghuls. It reached the climax during the rule of Akbar in whose court Mian Tansen performed the best of Hindustani Classical Vocals.

It maintained accuracy of pronunciation, chastity of voice production and the chant-like intonation movement of the songs in the spirit of magical rites.

The raga or scale in Hindustani music is in combination of fixed notes, ascending and descending within the octave. The content of the raga is completely improvisatory - dependent upon the virtuosity of the artist. There is a great deal of resemblance between the moods of nature and man and so these ragas are sung at an appointed hour of the day and night.

Customize Your Tour Plan...

Carnatic Vocal Music
The Carnatic music of India consists of the music of the region south of the Vindhya mountains in India. The Deccan region combining Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka played the important role in the development of Carnatic music down the centuries.

Bharat's Natya Shastra, Illango's Silappadikaram and Sanggadeva's Sangeeta Ratnakar form a triad that contains fragments of Carnatic Music wrapped in poetry, romance and philosophy.

The fusion of Aryan and Dravidian cultures in the South took place before the dawn of the Christian era. It wove music into the life of the community. Today, the peninsular south of India is a region where music is inseparable from life and literature.

The most popular among Carnatic Ragas such as Sankarabharana, Kharaharapriya, Todi, Kalyani etc are survivals of the Golden age of Tamil civilization in the First century A.D.

Customize Your Tour Plan...

Indian Instrumental Music
India has a vast heritage of musical instruments popular amongst artists all over the world. The prominent ones include

Sitar
The invention of Sitar is commonly credited to Amir Khusrau, a courtier of Alauddin Khilji in the 13th century. The name Sitar was derived from Persian 'sehtar' meaning "Three Strings" which the instrument originally had. But the modern Sitar has 7 strings. The instrument is played by means of a wire plectrum worn on the forefinger of the right hand. It was instrumental in introducing western audiences to Indian classical music.

Sarod
Although the origin of Sarod is not known it is supposed to have descended from the rabab of the Middle East. Some believe that this stringed instrument might have originated from the Greco-Budhist area of Gandhar (modern Afghanistan).

The modern Sarod is made of wood with one end being rounded and covered with parchment. There are six main metallic strings fastened to pegs at the neck of the instrument. It is played with a plectrum held in the right hand while the fingers of the left hand are used to play the nodes.

It is a fretless instrument with sympathetic strings. Sarod has secured an important in Hindustani Classical music for its deep and rich tone, and a distinctive sound.

Santoor
Santoor which was originated from the Vedic Vana Veena is characteristic of the Kashmir valley, and is neither seen or played anywhere. The Vana Veena also had strings and was played with sticks.

The modern Santoor is made of a trapezoid wooden box. There are 30 bridges and a set of 4 strings of metal tuned to the same note, is stretched over each pair of bridges. It is played with a pair of flat wooden pieces, curved at the striking ends.

Today, Santoor is played with all Indian ragas and is very popular with film musicians.

Sarangi
Sarangi is another stringed instrument mainly popular as folk instrument and probably made its first appearance in the late 17th century. The ability to play all types of gamakas gave it a prominent place in the Hindustani Classical music

It is made by hollowing out a single block of wood and covered by parchment, and has four strings. Four tuning pegs are fixed to the hollow head and a bridge is placed on the hide covered belly in the middle. The player places the instrument on the lap and placed it with a horse hair bow in the right hand and fingers and nails of the left hand.

The tone of the sarangi is very near to the human vocal chord.

Shehnai
Considered to be an auspicious instrument, Shehnai belongs to the category of aero phonic instruments. It is said to be of Persian origin and is a one reed instrument with six holes yielding soft and melodious sound.

Made of a smooth dark grained black wood, the tube is narrower on the top and widens towards the bottom affixed in a cup.

All the tunes of full tone, half tone and sharp notes can be played on this instrument through breath control. The notes are continuous and is generally used in classical and light classical music.

Flute
This wind instrument of ancient India was very common with Lord Krishna and the religious music of the Buddhists. Even the frescoes of Ajanta Ellora depict this flute or bans Uri as an accompaniment to vocal and instrumental music.

Being an instrument of great antiquity, its construction remained constant over the years. It is made of a cylindrical bamboo pipe of uniform bore, containing six holes for movement of the fingers and a bigger hole for blowing air. It is handled in an oblique position and air is blown with the upper lip into the main hole. Different octaves are produced by covering the holes with the fingers.

Tabla
Tabla an evolution of the oldest percussion instrument - the damru of Lord Shiva, is believed to be an innovation of Amir Khusrau (a courtier of Allauddin Khilji in the 13th century). It is said to be derived from a kind of Arabian drum called Tabl.

It consists of two drums - Dayan (Right) or the Tabla being made of black wood and the Bayan (left) or the Duggi being made of wood, clay or copper. Both are hollowed from inside and covered with skin fastened to leather straps which are stretched over the body of the drums by means of leather braces.

Ghatam
Ghatam, one of the ancient percussion instruments, often heard in Carnatic Music concerts, is a mud pot carefully kneaded and uniformly fired. The mouth of the Ghatam is open and is played with two hands, wrists, fingers and nails.

The mouth is pressed against the stomach so that when strokes are given, the air inside is set in vibration and gives a deep tone. The player can elicit various volumes and tonal colors by giving the finger strokes at the neck, center and bottom of outer surface.

Veena
The Southern Veena was brought into use by Raghunatha Naik, a ruler of Tanjavour consisting of twenty four fixed frets. The body is hollowed out of a block of wood. The neck is attached to the stem having a weird figure like the head of a dragon. There are seven strings in all.

The Vichitra Veena of the north and a rare instrument, was introduced by Ustad Abdul Ajij Khan, a court musician at Indore. It is of comparatively recent origin. It has a broad stem and six main strings are fastened to wooden pegs fixed to the other end. It is played by means of a plectrum on the right hand finger.

Customize Your Tour Plan...