INDIAN 
MUSIC 
 

ORIGIN 

Di
Divi
vine
ne or
orig
igin
in
 First sound- ´OM
OMµµ ²
Manifestation of  Brahma
 Brahma
 In beginning only devotional
and restricted to religious and
ritualistic purposes
 

 Indian classical music is based on the

ragas ("colors")
 T umburu
umburu was the first singer;
 S araswati
and wasand
learning; the goddess of music
  Bharata was the first to draw up rules
 for theatre, of which music was a major 
and integral part.
 

 In beginning music was

devotional in content and was
restricted to religious and
ritualistic purposes and used


only in temples.
Indian music developed from
 the ritualistic music in
association with folk music
and other musical forms of 
India and gradually derived
its own musical
characteristics.
 

 Indian classical music is based

on the ragas ("colors·)
 T he
he main difference with
western classical music is that
 the Indian ragas are not
"composed"
were createdbyviaa acomposer,
lengthy but
evolutionary process over the
centuries. T hus
hus they do not
represent mind of the composer 
but a universal idea of the
world.
 

 H industani (North Indian)

ragas are assigned to specific
 times of the day (or night) and
 to specific seasons.
 T here
here are thousands of ragas,
but six are considered
 fundamental: Bhairav,
Malkauns, H indol,
indol, Dipak,
Megh and Shree.
 A raga is not necessarily
instrumental, and, if vocal, it
is not necessarily
accompanied.
 

 T he
he main instrument of the

 ragas
Indianisclassical
the sitar.music is
mainly a vocal (not only
instrumental) art.
 Miyan T ansen,
ansen, who lived at the
court of the Mughal emperor 
 Akbar in the 16th century,
c entury, is
credited with codifying
H industani (north Indian)
vocal music, notably the
dhrupad style that he learned
 from his teacher Swami
H aridas.
aridas.
 

RIG VEDA SAMAVEDA HYMS

RAGAS JATIS SAMAGANA

MELODICALLY RAGAS

RHYTHMICALLY TALAS
 

VE DIC MU SIC
 Music formed an important part of 
 the rituals, which structured sacrifice.
 Singing, instrumental music and
dance were described as divine in
Vedic literature.

 Music in India has been passed on in

a tradition best described as Guru-
Shishya Parampara
 

 A
R  M AYAN A
 500 BC ² 200 BC
 T he
he first Indian epic, R amayana, was
composed by the sage Valmiki. It was
written in shloka
shloka form.
 form. T he
he word shloka
refers to a particular kind of easy tempo
and lilting rhyme.
 T he
he knowledge of music was widespread.
R avana
avana the demon-leader was proficient


in music.
Mahabharata used the term gandharva
instead of sangeet.
 

M AHA BHAR TA
TA
 Mahabharata used the term gandharva
instead of sangeet.
 T he
he science of music was called
gandharvashastra.
gandharvashastra.
  Both gandharva and their consorts, the
apsarasÄ were experts in singing,
 playing musical instruments and
dancing.
 Arjuna had learnt these musical arts
 from Chitrasen gandharva.
 

 BUDDH ISM- MU SIC
 Jatakas are stories written in
Pali around 300 BC about the
 previous births of Buddha.
 T he
he jatakas describe Buddhist
monks
 to singing and dancing
the accompaniment of 
instruments like the veena
 Sculptures based on Buddhist
lore are a major source of 
information on music.
Sculptures in Bharhut (200-
1 50 BC) and Sanchi confirm
 that music flourished during
  the Buddhist eriod.
 

Natyashastra
T he Science of T heatre
 Authored by Bharata sometime between
200 BC and 200  A
AD.

 Natyashastra
 theatre, devotes
dance and itself
music
music. . mainly to
 Gandharva music, the techniques of 
 playing musical instruments are
explained.
 

T he
he Gupta period

 Kalidasa 3 -6  BC
00 was
alidasa,, who 00in the court of 
Vikramditya (380-413  AD),

epitomises the artistic

accomplishments
 period. of the Gupta
 H e was a lyrical poet and a writer 
of epics and plays. T he
he poem
'Meghadoot', the epic
'R aghuvamsha'
aghuvamsha' and the play
'Shakuntala' are some of his
creative masterpieces that adorn
 the Indian literary tradition.
 

 K
alidasa's works
instruments mention
like the musical
Parivadini vina,
Vipanchi vina, Pushkar, Mridang, Vamshi

and Shankha,
 V atsyayana wrote his famous manual,
Kama sutra (400  A AD) during this period.
In it, he lists 64 'Kala's or arts essential
essential to
refined living, which include singing,
 playing musical instruments and
dancing .
 

 T he
he Gupta king H arshavardhan
arshavardhan
(606-648 AD), was himself a singer.
T here are references to music making
in his plays, 'Nagananda',
'R atnavali'
atnavali' and 'Priyadarshika'.  A 
'Panchatantra'' (fifth
story in the 'Panchatantra
century), one of the most celebrated
compilations of fables ever produced
by mankind, also refers to music.
 T he
he tradition of Indian art music
 flourished in four kinds of 
 performing spaces: sacrificial areas,
 temple precincts, stages and platforms
and princely courts.
 

T ansen
ansen
 T ansen, the legendary musician of 
 Akbar's court.
 Among the many works are a
R 
 treatise nameddescribing
many 'Dohas' the ' agamala',
the
'lakshanas' or the attributes of ragas,
'Sangeet Saar', and 'Shri Ganesh
S totra'.
 T ansen
ansen reduced the 4000 ragas into
a system of 400. H e is said to have
created many ragas like 'Miyan
Malhar' and 'Miyan ki todi'
 

MU SIC IN  AK B AR µS COU R 

   
RT 
T
 During the Mughal period, and
especially under  A
 Akbar's reign, temple
music took a back seat and Darbar 
Sangeet came into being.
 T here
here were numerous musicians in the
court, H indus,
indus, Iranis , Kashmiris and
T uranis,
uranis, both men and women. T he he
musicians herewere
orders. T here wasdivided
one forinto
eachseven
day of the
week.
 

 H eaded
eaded by the legendary T ansen,
ansen,
 there were 19 singers, three who
chanted and several instrumental
musicians
 T he
he main instruments were the
sarmandal, bin, nay, karna and
 tanpura
 Akbar's court was witness to a

complete fusionsystems.
Indian music of the Persian and
 

MODER N PER IOD
IOD
 T his
his modern period saw an
increasing number of 
musicological works in
Persian,
other Urdu,languages,
regional H indi
indi and
instead of Sanskrit.
 T he
he modern period saw the
birth of many of the
musical forms dominant
 today, like Khayal and
 thumri.
 

MU SIC AL  
INST R 
RUM
  ENTS
 

 B ANSU R 
RI 

N AGESHWAR  AM

SH EH N AI
 

HAR MONIUM
 

DR UM
UMS &
PER CU 
CU SS
SSION

DH OLAK

GHATAM
(south India,
Punjab)

M ADG A
 

KACCH I DH OL 

KAN
   JIR  A
Smallsouth
indian frame drum

KH OL 
 

MR ID
ID ANG AM
Most important in
Karnatic music

M AD AL 

P AKHAWAJ
North indian
counterpart
 

T havil
havil

T abla
abla
Queen of drums
 the Bayan (big bass
drum) and the Dayan.
 

SAR OD
OD

. Next to the Sitar,

 the Sarod is the most
well-known and
most important
Indian stringed
instrument of 
classical northern
Indian music«  Ali
 Akbar Khan
 

S tringed Instruments

SITAR 

DOTAR 
 

R 
SANT OO
T he
he Indian Santoor 
which is played with
sticks has developed
out of the folk music
in Kashmir. It took a
long time for it to
 find acceptance also
in classical Indian
music...
T he
he Santoor virtuoso
Shivkumar Sharma.
 

EKTAR 
 A

E k means "one" and T ar  ar 

means"string". T hehe Ektar or 
-as it is
is often
often calle
calledd - the
Gopi Yantra, is a simple
instrument that is mainly
used in Bengal as a folk
instrument. It is made of 
dried pumpkin, wood or 
coconut to which a split
bamboo cane is attached as a
neck.
 

R UDR  A VIN A
UD
T he
he R udra-
udra-Vina is a very
old instrument around
which many legends of 
magic powers
developed. Mosthave
of the
instrument makers refuse
making a R udra-
udra-Vina
because
bad luckthey
to dobelieve
so. it is
 

SAR  ASWAT I-
I-VIN A
T he popularity of the Sitar 
in the north of India
corresponds more or less to
 the Saraswati-Vina in the
southern Indian tradition.
It is regarded as belonging
 to the classical solo
instruments and is
similarly structured as the
Sitar. T he
he whole instrument
is manufactured from one
 piece of wood.
 

R 
SU  M AND AL 
T he
he Swarmandal mainly
serves to accompany female
singers in India who stroke
 the open strings with their 
 fingers, similar to harp
 playing,
 they wantespecially
to bridge when
short
intervals.
 

 Bowed Instruments
SAR  ANGI
One of the most impressive
 timbres of Indian

instruments
 the Sarangi. is produced by
With its unique keen, slightly
nasal, melancholic sound it
has been a less important
melody instrument for a
long time which was used
mainly for singing and
dancing performances.
 

ESR 
 AJ
T he
he Esraj is a stringed
instrument that is mainly
 popular in Bengal and is
used for instance for 
accompanying T agore
agore
songs whereas it is hardly
ever played as a solo
instrument in Itclassical
Indian music. has six
 playing strings and 1 5  
resonance strings.
 

TANPU R 
R A
 

It is usually
with 4 or  5  stringed
 5  metal
strings (rarely with
6 strings) and it is a
basic note Male- length of 
instrument and as 140 - 150
such an important
component in
classical Indian
music« an ideal
companion for 
musical meditation
Female
 

MU SICI A
 ANS
 All musicians are poor 
are poor ; this is the law,
but the
they
y have
have a rich tradition to
tradition to fall
back on.
 

Ustad  Ali  Akbar Khan

Ustad  Ali  Akbar Khan
was one of the most
accomplished Indian
classical musicians,
admired all over the
world for his brilliant
compositions and his
mastery of the sarod.
 

Ustad  Amjad  Ali Khan

Ustad  Amjad  Ali Khan
was born at Gwalior 
Madhya Pradesh in
194 5 , and is the sixth
generation sarod player 
in his family.Infact , it

is said histhe
invented family
sarod.
 

H ariprasad Chaurasia
Pandit H ariprasad
ariprasad
Chaurasia, is a world-
renowned exponent of 
 the bansuri or bamboo
 flute. H e is one of those
rare classical
musicians who
expanded the peripheries
of classical music by
 taking it to the
common masses.
 

MS Subbulakshmi
M S Subbulakshmi was a
legendary Carnatic
musician. She was
 popularly known as
Nightingale of India. H er 
er 
rendering of bhajans
(devotional songs) was
divine and used to enthrall
and transfix listeners, and
 transport them into a
different world
 

Ustad Bismillah Khan

T he
he legendary shehnai
 player, Ustad
 Bismillah Khan was
one of India's most
celebrated classical
musicians. Bismillah
Khan has been credited
with taking the
shehnai from the
marriage mandap to

 the concert hall.

 .

Pandit R avi Shankar 

R avi
avi Shankar is a
legendary sitar player 
and one of India's most
esteemed classical
musicians. Pandit
R avi
avi Shankar has
made a major 
contribution in
 popularizing Indian
classical music in the
West
 

Shiv Kumar Sharma
Shiv Kumar Sharma's
name is synonymous
with santoor, Indian
classical music
instrument. Pandit
Shiv Kumar Sharma

is creditedmaking
handedly with single-
the
santoor a popular 
classical instrument.

.
 

Z akir H ussain
ussain
Zakir H ussain is a

classical tabla virtuoso

and the most famous
 tabla player in India
 today. H is
is contribution
in the field of percussion
and in the music world
at large is highly
appreciated
 

 AR  R ahman
ahman
 Allah R akha
akha R ahman,
ahman,
who is better known as
 AR  R ahman,
ahman, is a world-
class musician of India.
 Born as  A. S. Dileep
Kumar on 6   January
1967 at Chennai in
T amil
amil Nadu,  AR  
R 

 forahman
totallyholds the credit
overhauling
 the style in which music
was being made in
India.
 

 Pandit Debu Chaudhuri

also known as Debu, is
 the leading Sitar 
exponent and
 prominent a
personality
in the field of Indian
classical music in India.
T he Indian government
 presented him with the
coveted Padma Bhushan
award.
 

 Annapurna Devi
 Annapurna Devi, was
born as R oshanara
oshanara
Khan in 1926 was a

secluded maestro of 

Surbahar or the bass
Sitar in the classical
music genre.
 

HA ES WEEK T 
POP
WEEC NG TH   T O   O
K, MON
MONTH . BU 
BU T 
T  GR E AT  
MU SIC IS L IKE 
ER  R E  
.

L IT   AT U 
-R  AVI SHANKAR