Abdul Karim Khan

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan lived from November 11, 1872 to 1937. He is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in Hindustani music of the 20th century. Abdul Karim Khan was born in Kirana (Uttar Pradesh, North India) in to the Kirana musical family which traced its roots to musician brothers Ghulam Ali and Ghulam Maula. His father, Kale Khan was the grand son of Ghulam Ali. Karim Khan received training under uncle Abdulla Khan and father Khale Khan. He also received guidance from another uncle Nanhe Khan. Apart from vocals an ...

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Kirana Gharana is one of the most prolific Hindustani khayal gharanas. Some of it's more famous performers include Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan. This musical style is based on (and most famous for) slow, elongated notes to emphasize serenity. ...

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Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is generally acknowledged to be one of the foremost contemporary vocalists of Hindustani music. Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi was born on February 14, 1922, in the village of Gadag, in the Dharwad district of Karnataka in South India. Born to a conservative school-master, he was drawn to music from a young age, but his father insisted that he get a sound education in a ...

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The word "Dharwad" means a place of rest in a long travel or a small habitation. For centuries, Dharwad acted as a gateway between Malenaadu (western mountains) and Bayalu seeme (plains) and it became a resting place for the travelers. Another theory is, during Vijayanagara rule of Dharwad, there was a ruler by name "Dharav" (1403) and Dharwad got its name from him. There are some inscriptions that refer to Dharwad as Kampana Sthana. Inscriptions found near Durga Devi temple, in Narendra (a village near by) and the local RLS high school date back to 12th century and have references to Dharwad. This p ...

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Dharwad, Dharwad - History, Dharwad - Dharwad District, Dharwad - Culture, Dharwad - Education, Dharwad - External link

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Despite the fact that instrumental music is better known outside India, Hindustani classical music is primarily vocal-centric, insofar as the musical forms were designed primarily for vocal performance, and many instruments were designed and evaluated as to how well they emulate the human voice. Some of the best known vocalists are Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi, Kumar Gnadharva, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Gangubai Hangal, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Shubha Mudgal and Parveen Sultana . ...

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Hindustani classical music, Hindustani classical music - History, Hindustani classical music - Instrumental music, Hindustani classical music - Vocal music, Hindustani classical music - Types of Compositions, Hindustani classical music - Principles of Hindustani music, Hindustani classical music - Other personalities

Read more here: » Hindustani classical music: Encyclopedia II - Hindustani classical music - Vocal music

Dharwad is the cultural nerve center of Northern Karnataka. It has contributed to some of the greatest exponents of Hinudstani music - Sawai Gandharva, Mallikarjun Mansur, Bhimsen Joshi (now living in Pune), Basavaraj Rajaguru, Kumar Gandharva and Gangubai Hangal. Dharwad is an unlikely outpost of the Kirana Gharana. Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was a frequent visitor to Mysore Darbar, where he had been conferred the title of Sangeet Ratna. On the way to Mysore, he used to stay with his brother in Dharwad, where he taught his most famous disciple, Sawai Gandharva. Sawai Gandharva in turn was the guru to Gangubai Hangal, Bh ...

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Dharwad, Dharwad - History, Dharwad - Dharwad District, Dharwad - Culture, Dharwad - Education, Dharwad - External link

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Dharwad District has an area of 427 sq. km., and a population of 1,603,794 (2001 census), a 16.65% increase from the 1991 census. The district is bounded by Gadag district on the northeast and east, by Haveri district on the south, by Uttara Kannada district on the southwest and west, and by Belgaum district on the northwest and north. Before 1997 the district had an area of 13738 sq. km. In 1997, the new districts of Gadag and Haveri were created out of Dharwad's former territory, and a portion of Dharwad district was combined with lands formerly part of three other distric ...

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Dharwad, Dharwad - History, Dharwad - Dharwad District, Dharwad - Culture, Dharwad - Education, Dharwad - External link

Read more here: » Dharwad: Encyclopedia II - Dharwad - Dharwad District

The two main streams of Indian classical music, Hindustani and Carnatic, have the same structuring principles. The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called tala. The melodic foundations are "melodic modes" called ragas. Ragas may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swara. Hindustani musicians name these pitches using a system called sargam, the equivalent of Western movable do sol ...

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Hindustani classical music, Hindustani classical music - History, Hindustani classical music - Instrumental music, Hindustani classical music - Vocal music, Hindustani classical music - Types of Compositions, Hindustani classical music - Principles of Hindustani music, Hindustani classical music - Other personalities

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Music has long been important to Hinduism, especially for many Vaishnavite sects. The advent of Islamic rule under the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire over northern India caused the traditional musicians to seek patronage in the courts of the new rulers. These Islamic rulers had strong cultural and religious sentiments focussed outside of India; yet they lived in, and administered kingdoms which retained their traditional Hindu culture. This helped spur the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas to make qawwali and khayal. Perhaps the ...

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Hindustani classical music, Hindustani classical music - History, Hindustani classical music - Instrumental music, Hindustani classical music - Vocal music, Hindustani classical music - Types of Compositions, Hindustani classical music - Principles of Hindustani music, Hindustani classical music - Other personalities

Read more here: » Hindustani classical music: Encyclopedia II - Hindustani classical music - History

Outside of India, pure instrumental Indian classical music is more popular than vocal music, possibly because the lyrics are not understandable. A number of musical instruments are associated with Hindustani classical music. Some of the most famous instruments are the sitar, a string instrument, the tabla, a percussion instrument, and other instruments like the sarod and sarangi. The most famous modern performer is undoubtedly sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar, who helped popularize Hindustani ragas outside India. Alongside the sita ...

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Hindustani classical music, Hindustani classical music - History, Hindustani classical music - Instrumental music, Hindustani classical music - Vocal music, Hindustani classical music - Types of Compositions, Hindustani classical music - Principles of Hindustani music, Hindustani classical music - Other personalities

Read more here: » Hindustani classical music: Encyclopedia II - Hindustani classical music - Instrumental music