Dhrupad - Family and Style

Family and Style

There are said to be four broad stylistic variants (vanis or banis) of classical dhrupad – the Gauri (Gohar), Khandar, Nauhar, and Dagar, tentatively linked to five singing styles (geetis) known from the 7th Century: Shuddha, Bhinna, Gauri, Vegswara, and Sadharani. But more importantly, there are a number of dhrupad gharanas: "houses", or family styles. The best-known gharana is the Dagar family, who sing in the Dagar vani. The Dagar style puts great emphasis on alap and for several generations their singers have performed in pairs (often pairs of brothers). The Dagars are Muslims but sing Hindu texts of Gods and Goddesses. Some of the best dhrupad singers outside the Dagar family, such as Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal and the Gundecha Brothers, also belong to the Dagar vani.

From Bihar state come two other gharanas, the Malliks (Darbhanga gharana) and the Mishras (Bettiah gharana). The Malliks are linked to the Khandar vani and emphasize the composed song over improvised alap with variety of layakaris. Pt. Ram Chatur Mallik, Pt.Vidur Mallick, Pt.Siyaram Tiwari were the famous exponent of Darbhanga gharana in the last century. Today the senior performer of the Darbhanga gharana is Pt. Prem Kumar Mallick. Shri Prashant Kumar Mallick and Nishant Kumar Mallick (Mallick brothers) are Dhrupad vocalist among young generation of Darbhanga tradition. The Mishras practise both Nauhar and Khandar styles with some unique techniques for nomtom alap. This gharana flourished under the patronage of the kings of Bettiah Raj. The most famous exponents of the Bettiah gharana today are Pandit Indrakishore Mishra and Pandit Falguni Mitra. The form of dhrupad prevalent in Darbhanga and Bettiah is known as the Haveli style. In Pakistan dhrupad is represented by the Talwandi gharana, who sing in the Khandar style.