Birth centenary year special: Kumar Gandharva was a supernatural seeker of classical music

[ad_1]

Kumar Gandharva birth centenary year special: Kumar Gandharva’s stature in the world of Indian music is so huge that hardly anyone can touch it. He had a wonderful talent for music since childhood. Kumar ji definitely received music education, but his musical prowess was beyond teaching. Being free with the understanding of the traditions of classical music, he took his singing to the top, where like a pole star, his music, his ragas will always show the way to the new seekers of music. Special presentation of Prabhat Khabar on birth centenary of Kumar Gandharva.

Pandit Kumar was a supernatural seeker of Gandharva music

Music has been described as the result of thousands of years of penance and hard work of sages and saints. Pandit Kumar was a supernatural seeker of Gandharva music. For Kumar ji, Tanpura was an integral part of his music like a live accompanist. In the world of Indian music, his ideas about raga, thumri and tarana were quite different from the traditional singers. He had amazed everyone in his childhood with his singing talent. He started singing only from the age of seven. When he was nine years old, he raised the flag of his singing skills on stage in places like Allahabad, Kolkata, Lahore, Karachi, Sakkhar, Hyderabad. Kumar ji, who was a mine of talent, also saw many ups and downs in his life. Born in a village in Karnataka and lived there for 10 years. Then came to Maharashtra at Prof. BR Deodhar’s house for music education. Stayed at his house for 14 years and learned music. However, his musical prowess was natural beyond teaching. Then in the year 1948, at the age of just 24, he came to Dewas due to tuberculosis and stayed there. During this, from 1948 to 1953, he remained in musical silence.

Composition of new ragas other than tradition

Excellent Bandishes, Taranes, Jod Ragas, Dhun Ugam Ragas, Bhajans, Folk Music and Seasonal Music. Kumar ji’s infinite creations are those selected pearls of the ocean, listening to which you will be forced to get lost in the other world. He performed his first concert in the year 1953 after his recovery from tuberculosis. Although tuberculosis had left him, but his body was greatly affected. Because of this also he had to change his traditional method of singing and experimented with ragas. Experimenting with traditional Hindustani classical music, he composed several new ragas, which he collectively named ‘Dhun Ugam Ragas’. At that time, due to these experiments, where he got fame on the one hand, he also had to face criticism from many people, but he did not stop, did not get tired and became so involved in the world of music that even the sky became smaller. Today his ragas like Madhasuraja, Ahimohini, Saheli, Todi, Behad Bhairav, Lagan Gandhar, Sanjari and Malavati are widely accepted and practiced by many raga musicians. Kumar ji also produced a series of concerts, in which theme based folk songs and ragas of the seasons were selected. According to the seasons, Geet Varsha, Geet Hemant and Ritu Raj were some of the subjects chosen by him. Kumar ji had the art of seeing the melody from all sides. This is the reason that every presentation of his was unique.

His courage and spirit are exemplary

Kumar Gandharva has mainly used Hindi, Braj and Malvi languages ​​in his bandishes. In one context, he has written that when I was sleeping on my bed in Dewas, a bird had built a nest on a tree in front of it. She used to chirp so much that it used to disturb her sleep. Kumar ji thought that a small bird has so much power that it does not let me sleep, so can’t I sing again. Because of that silence there was a big change in his music. During this, he discovered the folk singing of Malwa, did research on the combination of ragas in them. He also embraced the research work done during the period of silence. The special thing is that even after staying away from singing for six years and recovering from tuberculosis, there was no bitterness in his music. His music was oozing with joy. As long as Kumar Gandharva was alive, his connection with music did not break. Different meanings open up on repeated reading of Kabir, similarly hearing Kumar ji’s singing again and again gives a special experience. While Kumar Gandharva gave new dimensions to Malvi songs by singing them in a courtly manner, on the other hand, by singing the verses of Sur, Kabir and Meera, he sent them to the general public through Swar Sarita. He composed Gandhi Malhar ragas. He also taught music to music lovers by writing a book named Anoop Raag Vilas.

Discipline had snatched childhood

Kumar ji’s entire musical journey has been full of examples of discipline. At the age of 10, he had so much ability that he used to sing continuously for hours on stage without stopping and the audience used to get mesmerized by his singing. The elders used to think that this child sings so beautifully, but singing was not a great pleasure for that child. The gatherings went on throughout the night. Many a times, he would be woken up from his sleep and made to sing. Kalapini Komkali tells that Kumar ji’s childhood was completely different from other children. They never got the chance to play, roam, eat ice cream, do mischief like other children. He often mentioned that he never got to eat Panipuri because of singing. His father Siddaramaiah Komkali did not allow him to eat Panipuri because he was afraid of sore throat because of sourness.

His passion for food was unique

Kalapini Komkali says that Kumar ji was very fond of food, but he used to eat very little, to say he used to peck like a bird, that too with great interest. The special thing is that he liked home food only. Wherever he used to go in the country, those who were his own acquaintances used to stay there and he liked the delicious food of the house. For them, eating in hotels was a low class art.

Kumar Gandharva an introduction

Original Name: Shivputra Siddaramaiah Komkali
– Wife: Bhanumati Kansa, Vasundhara Shrikhande
– Guru: Prof. BR Deodhar, Anjanibai Malpekar
Nickname: Kabir of Music
Son: Mukul Shivputra
Daughter: Kalapini Komkali
– Born: April 8, 1924
Birthplace: Sulebhavi, Belagavi, Karnataka
– Died: January 12, 1992, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
– Book: Anupragvilas
Creation of Ragas: Dhun-Ugam Raga- Ahimohini, Malavati Saheli, Todi, Laganagandhar, Nindiyari, Bhavmat Bhairav, Gandhi Malhar Raga etc.
– Favorite Musician: Ustad Alladiya Khan Sahab, Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Kesarbhai Kerkar, Omkarnath Thakur, Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan Sahab, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan Sahab etc.
Honors: Padma Bhushan (1977), Padma Vibhushan (1990), Sangeet Akademi Award, Kalidas Award, issued a stamp in his honor on September 3, 2014

Books written on him: Triveni Gayan, Kaljayi Kumar Gandharva, Singing Emptiness (in English)
– Film and documentary made on him: The Life Story of Kumar Gandharva, Hans Akela

[ad_2]

Source link