Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi

In news- Birth centenary of Bhimsen Joshi was observed on February 4, 2022.

About Bhimsen Joshi-

He was an Indian vocalist from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
He was born on 4th February 1922 in Ron, Gadag district, Karnataka.
He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music.
He belongs to the Kirana gharana tradition of Hindustani Classical Music.
His first guru was Channappa of Kurtakot, later he trained under Pandit Shyamacharya Joshi.
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi trained with Sawai Gandharva and stayed at his house following the guru-shishya parampara in 1936.
His first album of devotional songs was released by HMV in 1942.
He was the first musician from India whose concerts were advertised through posters in New York city, United States.
Pt. Joshi is remembered for his famous ragas including Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki Todi, Puriya Dhanashri, Multani, Bhimpalasi, Darbari, Malkauns, Yaman, Asavari Todi, Miyan Ki Malhar and others.
He was instrumental in organizing the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival annually, as homage to his guru, Pandit Sawai Gandharva.

In 1998, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.
Subsequently, he received the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 2009.
He died in 2011 at the age of 88.

What is Gharana?

In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a gharānā is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular musical style.
The word gharana comes from the Hindi word ‘ghar’ which is derived from the Sanskrit word Griha, which means ‘house’.
It typically refers to the place where the musical ideology originated; for example, some of the gharanas well known for singing khyals are: Agra, Gwalior, Indore, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, and Patiala. Four famous kathak gharanas are: Lucknow, Jaipur-Atrauli, Benares and Raigarh.

Kirana gharana-

Kirana gharana is one of the most prolific Indian classical khayal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes(awara)
In the 19th-century the Kirana gharana coalesced around Miyan Bande Ali Khan, a player of the rudra veena.
The gharana’s style was further developed, and established as one of the prominent styles in modern Indian classical music in the late 19th / early 20th centuries by the musicians Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan
The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tuning and expression of notes.
In the Kirana Gayaki (singing style), the individual notes (swaras) of the raga are considered not just random points in the scale but independent realms of music capable of horizontal expansion.
Highly emotional 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) introduced by Abdul Karim Khan under influence from the Carnatic classical style.
In the late nineteenth century Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan revolutionized the khayal gayaki by introducing the vilambit (a slow tempo section) to delineate the structure of the raga note by note.
Frequently performed ragas by musicians of the gharana include Todi, Lalit, Multani, Patdeep, Puriya, Marwa, Shuddha Kalyan, Darbari Kanhara, and Komal-Rishabh Asavari