Though many musicologists believe to have originated much earlier and one of the oldest schools of Indian Classical Music originated probably in the late eighteenth century, yet primarily shot into fame from the North Indian Town of Kirana -in Haryana, near Kurukshetra, birthplace of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937).
Founder & Genealogy:
Though Ustad Bande Ali Khan is said to be the source of the Kirana elegance, yet it was Ustad Abdul Karim Khan who can be termed as the founder of its modern day style. The gharana"s ancestors go back to many generations before him, the most notable predecessor being the legendary Beenkar Ustad Bande Ali Khan and Rehman Baksh Khan (the grandfather of Faiyaz-Niaz Ahmed Khans). Essentially they were vocalists and Beenkars, but after Bande Ali Khan, the successors took to sarangi and vocal including Abdul Karim Khansaheb. Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Khansaheb's descendants were his daughters Hirabai Badodekar and Saraswati Rane and son Sureshbabu Mane all three having trained under Wahid Khan. Another brilliant singer was Roshanara Begum who died recently in Karachi and had learnt from both Karim Khan and Wahid Khan. Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, founded a school in Dharwar, Karnataka : Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal and Kumar Gandharwa all came from that school.
Genre:
Another notable feature of this gharana is that it is one of the few that includes the "thumri" (a light classical vocal form) as part of its khayal performance. However the Kirana Thumri is different from the 'purabi' (north Indian) style of the thumri, as it does not use the concept of 'laggi' or doubling of the tempo, in course of the thumri. Purists therefore feel that the Kirana Thumri lacks the lilt and emotive appeal of the north Indian thumri as it lays relatively less emphasis on laya.
The Peerless & Illustrious:
Ustad Wahid Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Hirabai Barodekar, Dr. Gangubai Hangal, Sarwaswati Rane, Bhimsen Joshi, Vasantrao Deshpande, Basavaraj Rajguru, Pandit Channulal Mishra, Sawai Gandharva ,Roshanara Begum, Prabha Atre, Phiroz Dastur are some of the great exponents of this gayaki.
The Torchbearers:
Rasiklal Andharia, Saraswati Rane, Jitendra Abhisheki and Nachiketa Sharma, Child prodigy Arshad Ali.
Anecdotes and Comments:
Presence of this gharana noticable in the Deccan plains of Maharashtra and Karnataka, as Abdul Karim Khansaheb migrated as a young musician to Baroda, from where he moved to Mysore.
This gharana derives its name from a place called Kirana near Kurukshetra, the birthplace of one of the most revered names in the Indian classical world, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937). However, the gharana"s ancestors go back to many generations before him, the most notable predecessor being the legendary Beenkar Ustad Bande Ali Khan and Rehman Baksh Khan (the grandfather of Faiyaz-Niaz Ahmed Khans). Essentially they were vocalists and Beenkars, but after Bande Ali Khan, the successors took to sarangi and vocal including Abdul Karim Khansaheb.
Although the gharana was named after a North Indian town, its influence is more dominant in the Deccan plains of Maharashtra and Karnataka. This was because Abdul Karim Khansaheb migrated as a young musician to Baroda, from where he moved to Mysore.
Abdul Karim Khan"s style delineated from the then existent schools. He stressed on clearly intoning notes, the swara, and a serene unfolding of the raga. The maestro"s gayaki was highly influenced by the ‘tantakari ang’- the distinctive style of playing the "been", with emphasis on the resonance of notes and sustaining a note through techniques such as ‘meend’ and the ‘gamak’. Contrary to the Gwalior style, this school emphasized alaap and a use of the vilambit laya (slow tempo) to present the khayal. The influence of the sarangi can be felt very strongly in the style of this gharana. The Kirana gharana, assigns a significance to the alaap when presenting the raga, rather than emphasizing on the bandish. It also stresses on ‘swara sadhana’ i.e the individual emphasis on each note of the raga to bring forth its melody. Thus it can be said that the style of the Kirana gharana is slow, easy-paced and calm in its movement through the raga.
Another notable feature of this gharana is that it is one of the few that includes the "thumri" (a light classical vocal form) as part of its khayal performance. However the Kirana Thumri is different from the ‘purabi’ (north Indian) style of the thumri, as it does not use the concept of ‘laggi’ or doubling of the tempo, in course of the thumri. Purists therefore feel that the Kirana Thumri lacks the lilt and emotive appeal of the north Indian thumri as it lays relatively less emphasis on laya.
A contemporary and nephew of Abdul Karim Khan was Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan who settled in Lahore and actually represents the original flavour of Kirana gayaki which later came down to Faiyaz Ahmed Khan and Niaz Ahmed Khan (the latter still singing) and their nephew Mashkoor Ali Khan (son of sarangia Shakoor Khan) the youngest and most important representative of the original Kirana Gharana today.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Khansaheb’s descendants were his daughters Hirabai Badodekar and Saraswati Rane and son Sureshbabu Mane all three having trained under Wahid Khan. Another brilliant singer was Roshanara Begum who died recently in Karachi and had learnt from both Karim Khan and Wahid Khan. Prominent exponents include Basheer Ahmed Khan, Sawai Gandharva, Firoze Nizami (of Lahore and his disciple Nikhil Ghosh), Shakoor Khan, Faiyaz Ahmed and Niaz Ahmed Khan, Hafizullah Khan, Tarapada Chakravarty, Gangubai Hangal, Firoz Dastur, Bhimsen Joshi, Prabha Atre, Manas Chakravarty and Mashkoor Ali Khan.
