Rajan Mishra and Sajan Mishra

Just as the names Rajan and Sajan convey a sense of harmonious bonding, so do these two Mishra brothers render musical strains in the jugalbandi tradition of Indian classical music.

Jugalbandi, an ancient musical form where performers render the same note in their distinct styles, has evolved over the years with different gharanas adding exclusive dimensions to it by way of adapting it in their own unique styles and attributes.

Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra belong to the famous Banaras gharana, which has produced music maestros credited for taking the Indian classical music to great heights. The two brothers, who excel in the jugalbandi style of singing, have undergone strenuous training with single-minded devotion towards continuing their tradition and propagating it in various parts of the country and abroad.

"What used to be called Yugal Gaan earlier is now popular as Jugalbandi. It is based on a very simple philosophy that if two brothers sing together, they will always love each other and the family will not disintegrate. We have been brought up under this tradition and have never sung solo since our first stage performance," says Pt. Sajan Mishra, five years elder to Pt. Rajan Mishra.

Their father Pandit Hanuman Mishra, a well-known classical singer himself trained both his sons when they were still very young and the brothers made a stage appearance at a tender age. Besides specialising in Khayal gayaki, they are equally comfortable rendering light classical forms such as Tappa, Tarana and Bhajan.

Says Pt. Rajan Mishra, "Each gharana has its own distinct attributes and they all have contributed and enriched Indian classical music. Banaras gharana gives equal importance to swar, shabd and laya."

The lyrics should come out very clearly when one performs Khayal gayaki, explains the younger brother Rajan. With basic training, a vocalist specializing in this school of style is expected to develop his own distinctive way of singing, which takes shape after numerous performances and practice, he adds.

Khayal gayaki emerged in the Mughal era. Some of the Mughal emperors who had keen interest in classical singing encouraged various gharanas and patronized their respective vocalists. Flexible in form, Khayal gayaki gives enough scope to an individual to adapt it with mannerisms unique to him/her.

"The words originate from traditional poetries of all kinds and sung primarily in Brij Bhasha or in various regional languages like Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri etc," says Pt. Sajan Mishra.

Starting from small town Banaras, Mishra brothers have held several stage shows both within and outside India. Jugalbandi, which was not too popular in the West, owes a lot to Mishra brothers for its popularity abroad. On numerous occasions, they have held the audience spellbound while performing in the United States of America, Germany, Great Britain, France, etc.

Their contribution has been honoured with various national and state-level awards. The Prime Minister conferred upon them the coveted Sanskriti Award for musical excellence in 1979. They were honoured with the title of Sangeet Nayak from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, Sangeet Ratna from Allahabad and Sangeet Bhushan from Banaras.

The duo has also composed and sung for the Girish Karnad directed film Sur Sangam. "The film songs became very popular. We get so many offers but we turn them down for we do not want to sing for commercial films," says Pt. Sajan Mishra.

To continue with the tradition, Pt. Rajan Mishra"s two sons - Ritesh Mishra and Rajnish Mishra - are getting trained under the duo"s auspices. To train their disciples, the Mishra brothers have opened a centre called "Viram - the Gurukul" in the natural landscape of Dehradun, where they spend their summers.

"During summers each year, we have around 10 students coming from various parts of the country. They stay with us and get trained. It is based on the age-old guru-shishya tradition and hence they are not charged any formal fee. At the end of the training, they pay anything as guru dakshina," says Pt. Sajan Mishra. "In July mid, we will leave for London, where we have a lot disciples who take lessons in Indian classical," he concludes.

View Schedule