Monday, June 12, 2000
Two Variants of Raga Bihag and Thirakhwa's Tabla
Solo
Rajan P. Parrikar
Rajan P. Parrikar is a recognized expert on Indian
Classical Music and shares his
knowledge freely with those interested in the subject.
He has written a
series of articles
on Indian Classical Music some of which have been archived on Sawf.
Click here to read Rajan's archived
articles.
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Namashkar.
In this feature two variants of Raga Bihag,
namely, Bihagda and Pat Bihag, are addressed. I expect to keep the commentary
terse and precise. Throughout the discussion,
M = shuddha madhyam and m = teevra madhyam.
At the end of this article, an unpublished 1964 Pune mehfil recording of the
great Tabla maestro Ahmad Jan 'Thirakhwa' is offered.
Raga Bihagda
The key idea in this rAga is the introduction of the komal nishAd into
the Bihag flow. This is accomplished chiefly through two tonal sentences of
the type:
G M n D P, G M G
G M P D n D P, G M G
Raga Bihagda may thus be seen as an offshoot of Bihag with strands of
Khamaj spliced in. Although the influence of Bihag preponderates, a few
special
prayogas carve out an independent identity for Bihagda. To wit,
S G, GMPMP G (R)S
S G M D, D P, GMPMP G, D M P N, N S"
As in Bihag, the gandhAr is very strong (nyAsa swara); so is the
nishAd. Similarly the measured avarohi glide from G to S
grazing R en route is inspired by Bihag.
Likewise the
movement from N to P. The teevra madhyam is
eliminated or rendered weak (alpatva) in almost all treatments. With this
brief and essential background we
now march into the audio theatre. There we shall have opportunities aplenty to
isolate and examine
the deployment of the komal nishAd.
In the mid-1960s Jitendra Abhisheki composed a magnificent
Marathi Natyageeta based in Bihagda for YAYATI-DEVAYANI and then callously
handed it over to amcho Ramdas Kamat to molest. Ramdas-bab's tAns remind us of
the first
cries of a freshly-baked baby struggling to cope with life
outside the amnion. I have masterfully edited the clip to
spare you the trauma: mee mAnApamAnA -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/kamat.ram
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's approach retains a strong Bihag presence, including
graces of the teevra madhyam.
This, from an unpublished mehfil -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/bgak_vil.ram
A variety of strategies and ucchAraNa is observed in the clusters laden with
the komal nishAd. For instance, Shaila Datar sings a composition
of the late Master Krishnarao that is sparing in its use
of the komal nishAd. Also note some of the peculiarities in
the poorvAnga -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/datar.ram
The gifted musician and composer of the Khurja Gharana, Zahoor Khan, is
not a familiar name to the current generation of rasikas. He was a
polyglot comfortable in Sanskrit, Braja, Farsi and Urdu. Trained by Tanras
Khan,
he adopted the mudrA 'Ramdas' for his Braja poetry and 'Mumkin' as his
Urdu takhallus. Prabhudeo Sardar presents a beautiful vilambit Khayal
composed by him: mA'i ri -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/sardar_vil.ram
Prabhudeo Sardar took tAleem from Jagannathbuwa Purohit ('Gunidas') and next
serves
the hugely popular cheez of 'Gunidas' composed in honour of the latter's guru
Vilayat
Hussain Khan: sakhi mandarwA, Aye nahiN preetam pyAre -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/sardar_druta.ram
The Atrauli-Jaipur musicians have reified Bihagda, elevating it
to heights unscaled before their time. We are pleased to have in attendance a
battery of
the leading lights of that school. Who better to begin with than Alladiya
Khan's prized pupil Kesarbai Kerkar? The first half of the clip finds her in a
leisurely
gait, before her eruption into a cannonade of magnificent tAns. Take stock of
the interplay
of the two nishAds. The composition is Alladiya Khansahib's favourite:
pyAri paga hole -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/kesarbai_bihagda.ram
The next two items figure Alladiya Khan's other star pupil, Mogubai
Kurdikar, in an unforgettable
display. I would like to draw attention to the explicitly intoned teevra
madhyam in this rendition.
This is not an across-the-board feature of the Atrauli-Jaipur conception of
Bihagda. The phraseology
supporting the teevra madhyam advanced by Mogubai briefly creates an AvirbhAva
of Raga Nand. The
first clip below elaborates on pyAre paga hole, the second is the
well-known cheez
mohe jAne de -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/mogubai_bihagda_vil.ram
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/mogubai_bihagda_druta.ram
Sardarbai Karadgekar, a disciple of Nathhan Khan (nephew of Alladiya
Khansaheb), has her
say -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/karadgekar_bihagda.ram
Mallikarjun Mansur reprises the standard Atrauli-Jaipur bandish but with a
touch attributed to his guru Manji Khan (son
of Alladiya Khansaheb): the placement of the sam on the pancham -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/mansur_bihagda.ram
Tha Jaipur-Atrauli folks also sing a variation of Bihagda, called the
"Ek Ni Bihagda," where, as the name suggests, only one nishAd (shuddha) is
employed.
The brightened (i.e. deergha) dhaivat and its interplay with the shuddha nishAd
make for a fascinating discourse. Mallikarjun Mansur's masterful display in
this
rAga is all too well-known. Notice the beautiful bandish structure and its
manner of resolution within the vilambit Jhaptala setting: bairana re -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/mansur_eknibihagda.ram
Unlike her mother Mogubai, Kishori Amonkar takes just one nishAd (shuddha)
in
in mohe jAne de and delivers her Ek Ni Bihagda in a breathtaking
performance. There is nobody in the world today who can sing like this.
Verify for yourself -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/kishori_eknibihagda.ram
One seldom hears instrumental renditions in Bihagda. Vilayat Khan tries to
generate some
enthusiasm but meets with very limited success -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/vilayat.ram
We conclude the Bihagda tableau with an elegant vilambit
Khayal composition of Pandit Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang": rasiyA mero -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/jha_bihagda.ram
Raga Pat Bihag
Pat Bihag is developed by appropriately pruning Bihag. That is to say, it
comes about through a chalan-bheda on the parent Bihag. Pat Bihag uses
all the shuddha swaras (the teevra madhyam may occasionally present itself
as a kaN-swara) and most of its mannerisms are Bihag-like. The notable
departure is the striking nature of its shuddha madhyam - deergha and mukta.
A sample Pat Bihag chalan is formulated below (variations in detail
prevail across Gharana boundaries):
S G (R)G M, M, P G, S P G (R)G M
G M P S" P, GMPN (D)N S", S" P, P D M P G (R)G M, P G M G (R)S
This time Jitendra Abhisheki does right, entrusting his beautiful
composition for
KATYAR KALJAT GHUSLI to Vasantrao Deshpande -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/deshpande.ram
K.G. Ginde improvises on a superb composition of the
extraordinary musician, vidwAn, vAggeyakAra and shAstrakAra, Pandit
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (his mudrA 'chatura' is embedded in the antarA):
sAjana nAye ri -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/ginde_patbihag.ram
The Atrauli-Jaipur musicians purvey a maverick version of Pat Bihag that
recruits both the komal gandhAr and the
komal nishAd. Kishori Amonkar makes this lamentably clear in an old recording:
dhana dhana mangala gA'o -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/kishori_patbihag.ram
Ulhas Kashalkar also has a komal gandhAr tucked into his busy rendition -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/kashalkar_patbihag.ram
We end this brisk tour with a delectable composition of the
exceptionally gifted vAggeyakAra and vidwAn, Pandit Ramashreya
Jha "Ramrang." His Pat Bihag is conceived differently from the
ones preceding (can you see how?): E banA byAhana Ayo -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/jha_patbihag.ram
Ahmad Jan 'Thirakhwa' - solo in Ektal (1964, Pune):
Ahmad Jan 'Thirakhwa' (1891-1976) was the greatest Tabla master of the 20th
century. He earned the onomatopoeic sobriquet "Thirakhwa" in his childhood, so
the story goes, on account of the magical manner in which his
fingers moved over the Tabla. He was formally trained in the
Farrukhabad idiom but was a whole, consummate maestro adept in all the
major styles. A few moments spent in his company are manna for the soul -
http://www.sawf.org/audio/bihagdapat/thirakhwa.ram
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