Thumri (Devnagari: ठुमरी, Nastaliq: ٹھمری) is a common genre of semi-classical Indian music.

The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna. The lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Poorbi and Brij Bhasha. Thumri is characterized by its sensuality, and by a greater flexibility with the raga.

Thumri is also used as a generic name for some other, even lighter, forms such as Dadra, Hori, Kajari, Saavan, Jhoola, and Chaiti, even though each of them has its own structure and content — either lyrical or musical or both — and so the exposition of these forms vary. Like Indian classical music itself, some of these forms have their origin in folk literature and music.

Format[link]

Some of the most commonly used ragas are Pilu, Kafi, Khamaj, Gara, Tilak Kamod and Bhairavi. The compositions are usually set to kaherava taal of 8 beats, addha tal of 16 beats, dipchandi of 14 beats or jat of 16 beats and in "dadra' tal of 6 beats.

Origins[link]

Thumri arose in popularity during the 19th century in the Lucknow court of nawab Wajid Ali Shah. At that time it used to be a song sung by courtesans accompanied by dance. That was the bandish ki thumri or bol bant ki thumri. When this style of thumri went out of vogue, a new style became more popular, which is known as bol banao, sung in Varanasi.

Noted Thumri artists[link]

Purab Ang[link]

Famous artists of the 'Purab Ang' thumri' of the Benaras gharana or Banaras gayaki are Badi Motibai, Rasoolan Bai, Siddheshwari Devi, Girija Devi and Pandit Channulal Mishra.^[1]

Classical Thumri[link]

Other famous singers of thumri are Gauhar Jan, Begum Akhtar, Shobha Gurtu, Noor Jehan and Prabha Atre. Shobha Gurtu is often regarded as the thumri queen. The bol banao style has a slow tempo and is concluded by a laggi, a faster phase where the tabla player has some freedom of improvisation.

Another stalwart in the genre of thumri was Naina Devi, who was married to a royal family but later devoted her life to the singing of the song of Tawaifs. For a member of the royal family to take such a step in those days meant fighting countless social stigmas that had enough power to totally alienate someone from the society, but she had the support of her husband.^[2]

Some khyal singers took an interest in thumri and sang it their own way, as in the case of Abdul Karim Khan, Nazakat-Salamat Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Prabha Atre ^[1] The popular Thumri is Ka Karoon Sajni Aye Na Baalam popularised by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and sung in raaga, Sindh Bhairavi.

Today thumri is sometimes sung at the end of khyal concerts as a concluding item. Besides the tabla and the tanpura, other typical instruments in thumri are sarangi, and swarmandal.

Lyrics[link]

Many classical singers pay considerable attention to the lyrics, though they may be difficult to follow in the ornamented enunciation. This is especially where the focus is on love, and many lyrics deal with separation or viraha. Krishna's ras leela or love play with Radha and other gopis of Vrindavan appear frequently. As an example, here are the lyrics of a thumri composed by the medieval poet Lalan, celebrating Krishna's flute - how its tunes are driving Radha mad. Braj or Vrindavan is where Krishna is indulging in this love play; Radha is the "girl of Braj".

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dance in Thumri, by Projesh Banerji. Published by Abhinav Publications, 1986. ISBN 81-7017-212-8.
• Thumri in Historical and Stylistic Perspectives, by Peter Lamarche Manuel. Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989. ISBN 81-208-0673-5.
• Thumri, Tradition & Trends, by Ramanlal Chhotalal Mehta, Published by Indian Musicological Society, 1990.
• Hindi Poetry in a Musical Genre: Thumri Lyrics, by Lalita Du Perron. Published by Routledge, 2007. ISBN 0-415-39446-5.

External links[link]

• IndoClassical.com - Classical Indian music
• [1]

Bibliography[link]

• Thumri in Historical and Stylistic Perspectives by Peter Manuel

v t e Hindustani Classical Music Concepts Swara · Tala · Laya · Raag · Shruti · Bandish · Alankar · Riyaz · Gharana Instruments Sitar · Sarod · Veena · Bansuri · Santoor · Shehnai · Harmonium · Sarangi · Tanpura · Tabla · Violin · Pakhawaj Genres Dhrupad · Dhamar · Khyal · Tarana · Sadra Semi-Classical Genres Thumri · Dadra · Tappa · Kajri · Chaiti · Sawani · Hori · Bhajan · Abhang · Natyageet · Qawwali · Ghazal Thaats Bilawal · Khamaj · Kafi · Asavari · Bhairav · Bhairavi · Todi · Purvi · Marwa · Kalyan

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Kaushiki Desikan
Background information
Birth name	Kaushiki Chakrabarty
Born	1980 (age 31–32)
Origin	Kolkata, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	singer
Years active	1992–present
Website	http://www.kaushiki.net

Kaushiki Desikan (née Chakrabarty) (Bengali: চক্রবর্তী) (born 1980) is a prominent Indian classical vocalist.

Chakrabarty was born 1980 in Kolkata, India. She is the daughter of Chandana Chakraborty and the renowned Indian classical singer Ajoy Chakraborty. At age seven, she started learning Indian classical music at the academy of Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, joining later ITC Sangeet Research Academy.

In 2002, she graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated undergraduate women's college of the University of Calcutta, in Kolkata with a first degree in philosophy.^[1]

Kaushiki has participated in many major concerts, including the Dover Lane Music Conference, the ITC Sangeet Sammelan in India, the Spring Festival of Music (California), and Parampara Program (Los Angeles).

She is married to Partha Desikan.

Awards and recognitions[link]

• Jadu Bhatta (1995)
• Outstanding Young Person (2000)
• BBC Award (2005)^[2]

Kaushiki singing in Pune in 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kaushiki Chakrabarty

• Artist website
• Kaushiki Chakrabarty at Allmusic
• Kaushiki Chakrabarty at the Internet Movie Database
• Leicester International Music Festival
• Georgia World Congress Center

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Ustad Rashid Khan
Background information
Born	(1966-07-01) July 1, 1966 (age 45)
Origin	Badayun, UP, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	Classical Vocalist
Years active	1977–present

Ustad Rashid Khan (born 1 July 1966) is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Joyeeta Bose, from the family of Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose.

In a story told in several versions, it appears that Pandit Bhimsen Joshi said at one point, that Rashid Khan was the "assurance for the future of Indian vocal music".^[1][2] He was awarded the Padma Shri, as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006.

Early life[link]

Born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. He received his initial training from his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909–1993). He is also the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

As a child he had little interest in music. His uncle Ghulam Mustafa Khan was among the first to note his musical talents, and for some time trained him in Mumbai.^[3] However, he received his main training from Nissar Hussain Khan, initially at his house in Badayun. A strict disciplinarian, Nissar Hussain Khan would insist on voice training (sur sAdhanA) from four in the morning, and make Rashid practice one note of the scale for hours on end.^[4][5] A whole day would be spent on practising just a single note. Although Rashid detested these lessons as a child, but the disciplined training shows in his easy mastery of taan (arpeggios) and layakaari today. It was not until he was 18 that Rashid began to truly enjoy his musical training.^[4]

Career[link]

Rashid Khan gave his first concert at age eleven, and the following year, 1978, he performed at an ITC concert in Delhi. In April 1980, when Nissar Hussain Khan moved to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA), Calcutta, Rashid Khan also joined the academy at the age of 14.^[1] By 1994, he was acknowledged as a musician (a formal process) at the academy.

Musical style[link]

The Rampur-Sahaswan gayaki (style of singing) is closely related to the Gwalior gharana, which features medium-slow tempos, a full-throated voice and intricate rhythmic play. Rashid Khan includes the slow elaboration in his vilambit khayals in the manner of his maternal grand-uncle and also developed exceptional expertise in the use of sargams and sargam taankari (play on the scale). He is influenced with the style of Ustad Amir Khan and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi .

He is also a master of the tarana like his guru but sings them in his own manner, preferring the khayal style rather than the instrumental stroke-based style for which Nissar Hussain was famous. There is no imitation of instrumental tone. His mastery of all aspects tonal variations, dynamics and timbre adjustment leave very little to be desired in the realm of voice culture.

His renderings stand out for the emotional overtones in his melodic elaboration. He says: "The emotional content may be in the alaap, sometimes while singing the bandish, or while giving expression to the meaning of the lyrics."^[4] This brings a touch of modernity to his style, as compared to the older maestros, who placed greater emphasis on impressive technique and skillful execution of difficult passages.

Rashid Khan has also experimented with fusing pure Hindustani music with lighter musical genres, e.g. in the Sufi fusion recording Naina Piya Se (songs of Amir Khusro), or in experimental concerts with western instrumentalist Louis Banks.^[4] He has also performed jugalbandis, along with sitarist Shahid Parvez and others.

Discography[link]

• Poore Se Zara Sa Kam Hai - Mausam
• Jab We Met
• The Song of Shiva
• Morning Mantra
• Allah Hi Rahem - My Name Is Khan
• Yatra - A Journey of Rabindrasangeet & Hindustani Classical Bandish, with Nachiketa Chakraborty
• Naina Piya Se
• Raga Bageshri / Desh (1991)
• Raga Yaman / Raga Kirwani (1994)
• Khyal (1996)
• Live In Concert: Moreton Centre (2000)
• The Genius of Rashid Khan (2000)
• The Song of Shiva (2000)
• In London (2000)
• Voice of India (2002)
• Morning Mantra (2003)
• Yearning (2006)
• Reflection (2006)

Awards[link]

• Padma Shri (2006)
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2006)
• Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) (2010)
• Maha Sangeet Samman Award (2012)

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Padmashree Rashid Khan". ITC SRA. http://www.itcsra.org/sra_news_views/sra_news_views_links/awards.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09. The SRA site gives the Bhimsen Joshi accolade as: "One of the most notable torchbearers of the Hindustani classical tradition in the twenty first century"
2. ^ Music Label fusion3.com
3. ^ "Rashid Khan Biography: Background". http://www.ustadrashidkhan.com/biography_backg.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-09. This page is at the (poorly updated) official Rashid Khan website ustadrashidkhan.com
4. ^ ^{a b c d} G. Jayakumar (2006-09-22). "An offering to the Almighty". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/09/22/stories/2006092200610200.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-09. 
5. ^ "Artist of the month: Rashid Khan". ITC Sangeet Research Academy. 2002-09-01. http://www.itcsra.org/aom/artist_ofthe_month.asp?aomid=11. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Background information
Also known as	Sabrang
Born	April 2, 1902, Kasur, Punjab, British India
Died	April 25, 1968, Hyderabad, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	singer
Years active	? - 1967
Labels	HMV, Times Music

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (Devanagari:बड़े गुलाम अली खान, Shahmukhi: بڑے غلام علی خان) (c. 1902 – 25 April 1968) was a Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala Gharana.^[1]

Early life and background[link]

Bade Ghulam Ali was born in Kasur, then in the Punjab province in British India; after partition, Kasur became a part of Pakistan.^[2] His father was a famous singer, Ali Baksh Khan, in a West Punjabi family of musical heritage.

At the age of seven, he learned sarangi and vocal from his paternal uncle Kale Khan, who was also a singer and composer of repute, and after his death he picked up a few compositions from his father who had re-married by this time.^[3] This tenure lasted for almost three years. It was at this juncture that he improvised the musical instrument "Kanoon" to the present "Swaramandal" which became his trademark. When he was about 21 years old, he moved to Benaras where he accompanied a courtesan named Zarabai on the sarangi and started to perform in public.

Singing career[link]

Though Khansahib started his career by accompanying female singers on the sarangi, he also used to sing a few compositions of his late uncle. He was also a disciple of both Ustad Akhtar Hussain Khan and Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan, two scions of the Patiala Gharana.^[4] He became popular as a vocalist after his debut concert in Kolkata. Khan amalgamated the best of four traditions: his own Patiala-Kasur style, the Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the gyrations of Jaipur, and the behlavas (embellishments) of Gwalior. His voice had a wide range, spanning three octaves, effortless rendition, sweetness, flexibility and ease of movement in all tempi.^[5] His raga expositions were brief, contrary to convention, and while he agreed that the beauty of classical music lay in leisurely improvisation, he believed that the audience would not appreciate long alaps, and he had to sing for the masses and change the music to what the audience wanted.^[6]

After the partition of India in 1947, Khan went to his home in Pakistan, but returned to India later to reside permanently. He did not approve of the partition, stating: "If in every home one child was taught Hindustani classical music this country would never have been partitioned." In 1957, with the help of Bombay chief minister Morarji Desai, he acquired Indian citizenship and moved to a government-provided bungalow at Malabar Hill. He lived at various times in Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta, and Hyderabad.

For a long time, Bade Ghulam Ali stayed away from singing in films despite requests and persuasions from well known producers and music directors. However, he was coaxed and convinced by K. Asif to sing two songs based on ragas Sohni and Rageshree for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, with the music directed by Naushad. He demanded a very, very high price, reportedly Rs. 25,000/- per song, when the rate for popular and star playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi was below Rs. 500/- per song.^[7]

Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1962.^[8][9]

Khan died in Hyderabad at Basheerbagh Palace in 1968, after a prolonged illness which left him partially paralysed in his last years. He continued to sing and perform in public with the support of his son Munawar Ali Khan (1930–1989) until his death.

The legacy[link]

Today, the Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Yaadgar Sabha, founded by his disciple Malti Gilani, keeps his music and memory alive. It aims to promote Hindustani classical music and organises many concerts to this end. Its primary aim, however, is to provide medical aid to ailing musicians. The Sabha organises a Sabrang Utsav every year in the memory of the maestro. Under his pen name, Sabrang, Khan left numerous compositions.

Khan was married to Ali Jiwai, who died in 1932. His son Munawar was a classical singer. His grandson, Raza Ali Khan, is also a classical singer.

Many years after the death of his first wife Allah Jiwai, he married an issueless widow, Allah Rakhi, who survived him and died on 11 August 1996.

The main street at Basheerbagh is named Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Marg in his honour.

Discography[link]

• Mehfil - Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - Times Music
• Golden Milestones - Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
• Classical Vocal - Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
• Sab Rang

References[link]

External links[link]

• Manuel, Peter L (1990). Ṭhumrī in historical and stylistic perspectives. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. ISBN 978-81-208-0673-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=PlNShmx3x68C. 

Girija Devi
Devi performing in Pune in 2006
Background information
Born	1929 (age 82–83) Varanasi, United Provinces, British Raj
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Instruments	singing
Years active	1949–present

Girija Devi (Hindi: गिरिजा देवी; IAST: Girijā Devī) (born 1929) is an Indian classical singer of the Banaras gharana. She performs classical and light classical music and has helped elevate the profile of thumri.

Early life[link]

Girija Devi was born in Varanasi, India in 1929.^[1] Her father played the harmonium and taught music, and had Devi take lessons in singing khyal and tappa from vocalist and sarangi player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five.^[2] She starred in the movie Yaad rahe aged nine and continued her studies under Sri Chand Misra in a variety of styles.^[2]

Performing career[link]

Devi made her public debut 1949 on All India Radio Allahabad, after getting married to a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother, because it was traditionally believed that no upper class woman should perform publicly.^[1][2][3] Devi agreed not to perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951.^[2] She studied with Sri Chand Misra until he died in the early 1960s, worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage.^[2] Devi often toured and continues to perform in 2009.^[2][4]

Devi sings in the Banaras gharana and performs the purabi ang thumri style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate.^[3][5] Her repertoire includes the semi-classical genres kajri, chaiti, and holi and she sings khyal, Indian folk music, and tappa.^[3][6] The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians states that her semi-classical singing combines her classical training with the regional characteristics of the songs of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.^[2]

Awards[link]

Devi was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 and the Padma Bhushan in 1989, received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2010.^[7][8]

• Maha Sangeet Samman Award (2012)
• Sangeet Samman Award ( Dover Lane Music Conference)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Mishra, Yatindra (2006). Girija: A Journey Through Thumri. Rupa. ISBN 81-291-0857-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=EbPIAAAACAAJ. 

External links[link]

• Girija Devi at Allmusic