Lucknow gharānā, also known as "Purab gharâna", is one of the six main gharānās or styles in tabla. It is characterized by the presence of full resonant sounds, and the use of ring and pinky fingers on the dayan (right hand drum).
The gharana branched out of the Delhi gharānā when the two brothers Modu and Bakshu Khan moved to Lukhnow. There, the Nawabs (Muslim princes) would mainly patronize Kathak, a classical dance form of the North accompanied with the pakhavaj, the still living ancestor of tabla.
Modu and Bakshu Khan collaborated with the performers of these arts and ended up in creating a unique style of tabla playing adapted from Kathak and pakhavaj compositions. Among these upgrades, "Gat" and "Paran" are two types of compositions that are very common in Lucknow gharānā. Lucknow style has also conceived its very own item, known as "Raon": it consists of extremely fast, delicate and colorful fillings inside basic rhythmic patterns called Chalan".
Prominent names in this gharānā include Khalifa Abid Hussain Khan, Wazid Hussain Khan, Afaq Hussain (son of Wajid Hussein Khan), Ilmas Hussain (son of Afaq Hussain Khan), Hiru Ganguly, Santosh Krishna Biswas, Anil Bhattacharjee (disciple of Wajid Hussain Khan), Biswajit Bhattacharjee of R.B.U. (son of Anil Bhattacharjee), Swapan Chaudhuri (disciple of Santosh Krishna Biswas), Anindo Chatterjee, Nibedita Bhattacharjee (daughter of Anil Bhattacharjee).
Lucknow gharana has given birth to two other gharanas: Banaras and Farukhabad.