Intangible Art

Music

Many  Artists,  musicologists,  and  Scholars  enriched  Indian  Music  by  their  endless efforts. Various Yogis and Religious Gurus also made contributions to enrich Indian Musical Tradition.

Evolution of Indian Music

• Vedic Period
  • Samaveda – Sama refers to melody and Veda means knowledge.
  • Samaveda is collection ( samhita ) collection of hymns called Samagana ( sung by priest while offering libations to various deities ).
  • Music as a form of Meditation : to activate specific Chakras in the path of Kundalini of human system.
  • Restricted to religious purposes and used in temples only.
• Theory of Rasa by Bharata in Natyasashtra.
  • 9 emotional states – Navarasas ( Shringar, Hasya, Karun, Raudra, Veer, Bhayanaka, Vibhatsya, Adbhut and Shant )
  • Gradual attachment with folk music and other musical forms.
• Gupta Period
  • Works of Kalidasa and Vatsyayana.
• Bhakti Period
  • 9th Century Sufi Music.
  • Ashtachap and Haveli sangeet along with the Bhajan and Kirtans.
  • Using the regional language, Braj, Awadhi or whatever, as the vehicle, saint-composers were able to reach to people in social strata otherwise impervious to the influence of art and music.
• Mughal Period
  • Temple music was largely overshadowed by the Durbar Sangeet, in which music was composed mainly to eulogize patrons.
  • Qawwali was reintroduced in Mughal courts.

Factors that influenced Indian Music:

• Social Organisation
  • Economic Patronage
    • For example, Muslim rulers, especially Akbar, patronized music. Many Hindu musician converted to Islam.
  • The styles (Dhrupad-Dhamar), which had received characteristic sophistication and colour in the Vaisnava temples underwent subtle changes. The Dhrupad style gradually lost interest in the literary-religious import of the pada, and paid greater attention to the musical aspects.
• Nature
  • Phenomenon of Organic order : during Vedic period the music was very simple and natural.
  • Raaga – Season linkage, Raaga – hours/periods linkages.
  • Agriculture and harvest festivals.
• Iconography
  • The raaga dhyanamurtis and later picturisation of raagas and raginis are the result of iconographical view of music and the paintings require to be understood in terms of the influence of iconography on music as well.
• Language
  • Music demanded vowelization of the words used by language,  language itself produced many such forms of words with phonetic contents suitable for exploitation by the vocal art.

The impact of Indian Thought and Philosophy on Indian Classical Music and of the various customs on the external and internal natural aspects of our melodic musical culture has ever been one major expression of our cultural heritage.