Purandaradasa By S. Rajam

Khayal Singing with Kannada Compositions

In the Hindustani system of Indian classical music, the changeover from the austere and rigidly structured dhrupad style to the free-flowing romantic style of khayal-singing came about in the 18th century. Within a very short period, khayal became very popular as it gave free rein to imagination and it has held the stage ever since. The compositions, however, continued to be in Brajbhasha and the Hindi then prevalent. The introduction of Hindustani music in Karnataka is of recent origin, about a century old. It is a matter of history that great maestros of the North were invited to the Mysore durbar during Dusserah celebrations and a few were also appointed as asthana vidwans. On their way back home, some of them were detained for 2-3 weeks by aficianados in Dharwar. One of them, Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale, settled down in Dharwar at the turn of the century and started teaching. It was only a question of time before the place became a cradle of Hindustani music in the South, and a base for four major gharana-s, namely, Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur and Kirana. Thus it is that Karnataka produced Hindustani musicians of the calibre of Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva, Basavaraj Rajguru, Gangubai Hangal and Bhimsen Joshi.