The Benaras Gharana by Sunanda Sharma (Talk)

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2016 on 17th September, at London’s Southbank Centre Musicians: - Rajan & Sajan Mishra (khayal vocal) - Kumar Bose (tabla) - Dharam Nath Mishra (harmonium) - Priya Sharma (tanpura) - Seetal Dhadyalla (tanpura) Raag Megh; Thaat: Kafi; Samay: Monsoon “We belong to a 300-year-old legacy of the Benaras gharana. Our music has to have the intrinsic qualities of this ancient city.” (Rajan & Sajan Mishra) Rajan & Sajan Mishra live, breathe, and sing the essence of Varanasi. They grew up there, receiving initial training from their great-uncle Bade Ramdas Mishra, a vocalist, and from their father Hanuman Prasad Mishra and uncle Gopal Prasad Mishra, both eminent sarangi players. The family’s music represents a deeply devotional tradition stretching back three centuries, and the brothers made their debut as part of a haazri [musical ritual] at the famous Sankat Mochan Temple. “Surrender and bhakti is the essence of Benaras from where we hail...The city has become crowded and the traffic, chaotic, yet there is sukoon [peace]. I still hear the strains of my father’s sarangi when I step into this lane. We often walk along the ghats singing to the Ganga or sipping chai from a kulhad. The river has been our constant companion; with Her we have shared our dreams and woes.” (Rajan & Sajan Mishra) The Malhar family of ragas are associated with rejuvenation, heroism, and growth, and are said to summon monsoon rains if sung correctly. Legend has it that Emperor Akbar once asked Miyan Tansen to sing Deepak, the light-bringing raga, which caused all the lamps near him to ignite and burn so brightly that Tansen’s body began to be scorched. Later, it was his daughter Saraswati, who sang Raag Megh and doused the fires. Megh Malhar is one such Malhar variant, typically based on a pentatonic pattern [SRmPnS]. ‘Megh’ translates to ‘cloud’, and the raga features fluid slides and glides, particularly between Re-Pa, Ma-Re, and Ni-Pa. Sa and Pa are the vadi and samvadi [king and queen notes]. It is an ancient raga with a correspondingly strong dhrupad influence, and somewhat resembles Raag Madhumad-Sarang. Subscribe to the Darbar Player to access the full, uncut performance.