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Gauhar Jan
Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930) was an Indian singer and dancer from Kolkata. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the Gramophone Company of India and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India". Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as ''thumri'', ''dadra'', '' kajri'', and ''tarana'' during the period. Early life Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, to a family of Armenian descent. Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria herself, was the daughter of Hardy Hemmings, a British soldier and a local Hindu woman named Rukmini in Allahabad and had a sister Vela ...
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Azamgarh
Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the state capital Lucknow and 809 km from the national capital, Delhi. History Azamgarh, one of the easternmost districts (a district in Purvanchal sub-region) of Uttar Pradesh, once part of the ancient Kosala kingdom, except its north-eastern part. Azamgarh is also known as the land of the sage Durvasa whose ashram was located in Phulpur tehsil, near the confluence of Tamsa and Majhuee rivers, north of the Phulpur. The district is named after its headquarters town, Azamgarh, which was founded in 1665 by Azam, son of Vikramajit. Vikramajit was a descendant of Gautam Rajputs of Mehnagar in Pargana Nizamabad who like some of his predecessors had embraced Islam. He had two sons, Azam and Azmat. While Azam gave his name to the town of A ...
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Banaras
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism.* * * * * Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site. Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the ...
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Ghazals
''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry. It spread into the Indian subcontinent in the 12th century due to the influence of Sufi mystics and the courts of the new Islamic Sultanate, and is now most prominently a form of poetry of many languages of South Asia and Turkey. A poem of ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which are independent, but are linked – abstractly, in their theme; and more strictly in their poetic form. The structural requirements of ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In style and content, due to its highly allusive nature, ghazal has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression ...
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Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition. It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from ''dhruva'' (ध्रुव, immovable, permanent) and ''pada'' (पद, verse). The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text '' Natyashastra'' (~200 BCE – 200 CE), and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the ''Bhagavata Purana'' (~800–1000 CE), where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized. The term denotes both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung. It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination. Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual ...
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Birju Maharaj
Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 17 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist. After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, Kalashram', also in Delhi. Birju Maharaj was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, in 1986. Early life Maharaj was born Brijmohan Nath Mishra, on 4 February 1938 into a Hindu Brahmin family at Handia of Allahabad district. His father was the Kathak exponent, Jagannath Maharaj, p ...
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Ali Baksh Jarnail
Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail Khan (1850 – 1920) was an Indian classical singer. Together with his friend Fateh Ali Khan, he founded the Patiala Gharana in the 19th century. They used to sing together as a team back then and were called ''Aliya-Fattu'' duo. Biography Patiala gharana has claimed to combine the musical traditions of Delhi gharana, Gwalior gharana and Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Patiala gharana has many notable pupils including Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1902–1968), Malika Pukhraj (1912 – 4 February 2004), Gauhar Jan (1875–1930) and the renowned ghazal singer of Pakistan Ghulam Ali. Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail regularly sang with Fateh Ali Khan in late 19th century and early part of the 20th century. They both were trained in music by Tanras Khan and Kalu Khan of Delhi gharana as well as Haddu Khan and Hassu Khan of Gwalior gharana. Before the partition of India in 1947, Ali Baksh Jarnail was the court musician of the Maharaja in Patiala. Ali Baksh Jarnail had ...
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Patiala
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Blessed Castle') constructed by a chieftain Ala Singh, who founded the royal dynasty of Patiala State in 1763, and after whom the city is named. In popular culture, the city remains famous for its traditional ''Patiala Shahi Pagg, Patiala shahi'' turban (a type of headgear), ''Punjabi Paranda, paranda'' (a tasselled tag for braiding hair), ''Patiala salwar'' (a type of female trousers), ''jutti'' (a type of footwear) and Patiala peg (a measure of liquor). Patiala is also known as the Royal City and the Beautiful City. Etymology The name ''Patiala'' may mean either "great land" or "land of Ala Singh", the city's founder. History Patiala city was established in 1763 by Ala Singh, a Jat Sikh chieftain, who laid the foundation ...
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Hindustani Classical Music
Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' literally means classical music, and is also used to refer to Indian classical music in general. It is played on instruments like the veena, sitar and sarod. It diverged in the 12th century Common Era, CE from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of Southern India. While Carnatic music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit, Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Hindi, Urdu, Braj Bhasha, Braj, Awadhi language, Avadhi, Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri, Bengali language, Bengali, Rajasthani languages, Rajasthani, Marathi language, Marathi and Punjabi language, Punjabi. Knowledge of Hindustani classical music is taught through a network of classical musi ...
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Wajid Ali Shah
Mirza Wajid Ali Shah () (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known as Khas Mahal () because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi wives. His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh. His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under a treaty, was annexed by the EIC on 11 February 1856, two days before the ninth anniversary of his coronation. The Nawab was exiled to Garden Reach in Metiabruz, then a suburb of Kolkata, where he lived out the rest of his life on a generous pension. He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts. He introduced Kathak, a major form of classical Indian dance as a court dance after the decline of Mughal ...
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Agra
Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the fourth-most populous city in Uttar Pradesh and List of cities in India by population, twenty-third most populous city in India. Agra's notable historical period began during Sikandar Khan Lodi's reign, but the golden age of the city began with the Mughals in the early 16th century. Agra was the foremost city of the Indian subcontinent and the capital of the Mughal Empire under Mughal emperors Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Under Mughal rule, Agra became a centre for learning, arts, commerce, and religion, and saw the construction of the Agra Fort, Sikandra, Agra, Sikandra and Agra's most prized monument, the Taj Mahal, constructed between 1632 and 1648 by Shah Jahan in remembrance of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. With the decline ...
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