SOUVIK CHAKRABORTY
THE MAN WHO PUT INDIAN MUSIC TO PAPER
The passion for quality art forms has been universal and timeless . Even after centuries of erosion many legends are still afresh and remembered by the masses . This is one such story of an incredible man , a devoted music researcher , and a true lover of music . Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was a practicing lawyer with a tremendous zeal for our classical music . He would soon take off and travel the length and breadth of the country with his mission to bring Indian music to the world .
Since most of the traditional system of music propagation involved oral practices where a disciple would be trained from her Guru and then propagate it further ; there remained hardly any available text for teaching and propagating this knowledge across boundaries and timelines . Though there were individual efforts at preserving the musical culture of the gharanas at some nawaabi durbars , there remained no unification and consolidation of the information .
Bhatkhande , traveled to far southern and northern Indian provinces to meet various musicians and their gurus . He would often ask them to share their in-depth understanding of the grammar and the compositional virtues of the music they were masters in . Owing to the cultural practices , many would often refuse and delay the process of research for Bhatkhande . Nevertheless , he pursued this expedition for knowledge across the different musical reservoirs of the country .
He traveled to Madras to meet Thiruvottiyur Tyagier and Tachur Singaracharya . He traveled to Ramanathapuram to meet Srinivasa Iyengar . His extensive tours fetched manuscripts like the Chaturdandi Prakasika of Venkatamakhin and the Svaramelakalanidhi of Ramamatya . His understanding of the music , the studies , and research would yield one of the most standardized texts on music- Hindustani Sangeet Paddhathi . He would also define the system of thaats . He devised this to arrange the structure of both the ragas and the singing style of the Carnatic music . He reportedly created at least 23 short pamphlets to testify and put forward the findings of his musical research . This would later become important chronicles of study for scholars through universities of music . The Swaramalika , Geet Malika , Grantha sangeetam , Bhavi Sangeetam , Lakshya Sangeetam and Abhinavaragamanjari , and the Abhinavatalamanjari are some of his notable works . His inspiration would channel many young minds and artists into pursuing the expedition of knowledge in places like Gwalior , Lucknow , Nagpur , Bombay and Baroda .
Bhatkhande found many obstacles on his path , but he had also found his patron in the rulers , or nawabs of the time . Importantly , there was a Maratha ruler , Sayajirao in Baroda , Gujarat who had invited him and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar to his court . The ruler owing to his refined taste in music and performing arts , ordered Bhatkhande to build up an academic curriculum for his Gayan Shala . He was reportedly asked for creating a system of gradation and evaluation for both the scholars and the artists of the time .
Bhatkhande capitalized on this association and came back with more interesting ideas . One of the most important developments of this time would be the suggestion for a National level music conference . As per the suggestion of this devoted musical researcher , Sayajirao would organize the grandest musical conference for the first time ever . It hosted different artists and scholars from across the various genres of music in the country . All of a sudden , there were about 400 talented musicians at one place singing to the glory of Indian classical music . Bhatkhande ’ s name would go into history forever , and scholars would learn and try to emulate his love for music , for many generations to come .
The Marris College of Lucknow , set up by the Avadhi Taluqdar , Rai Umanath Bali , would go onto become the muchcelebrated Bhatkhande Institute , in 1948 . This would be a sought after place for academic research and studies of music . His efforts would eventually lead to a major figure of 1800 compositions of various singing styles across the subcontinent . Thus many crowning jewels rusting within the confines of the temples and courts were finally saved from being lost in oblivion forever .
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