Pandita Gangubai Hangal

Hindustani Khayal Vocal

Pandita Gangubai Hangal

3 minute read

Pandita Gangubai Hangal (26 March 1913 – 21 July 2009) was a legendary vocalist of the Kirana gharana, celebrated for her powerful, emotive voice and deep command of khayal. Born in Dharwad, Karnataka, she displayed vocal promise early on, defying societal norms to pursue rigorous training. Gangubai honed her craft under maestros like Sawai Gandharva and continued to evolve her style through personal exploration of raga and rhythm, ultimately becoming renowned for her soul-stirring renditions of long vilambit improvisations that would bring audiences to emotional heights.

Across her prolific career, Gangubai received every major national honor: Padma Shri (1970), Padma Bhushan (1981), and Padma Vibhushan (2002), as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Fellowship. Revered for her concert performances spanning India’s major festivals—from Dover Lane to Sawai Gandharva—she also performed internationally, carrying the Kirana tradition abroad. Collaborations with fellow vocal stalwarts like Kumar Gandharva and Bhimsen Joshi enriched her approach and cemented her reputation as a giant of Hindustani singing.

A pioneering guru, Gangubai trained a generation of vocalists, including her granddaughter Rashmi Ramesh and disciples like Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar and Sandhya Kalliel, who have continued performing at major festivals, including Darbar. Her deep, introspective style inspired artists like Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar and Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar and lent emotional veracity to countless performances. Through her recordings, memorial concerts, and the continued presence of her students at festivals worldwide, Gangubai Hangal’s legacy endures as a pillar of powerful devotional expression and authentic Kirana voice.

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Rakesh Chaurasia & Pandit Anindo Chatterjee | Raag Jog

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2016, on 16th September, at Royal Festival Hall, at London's Southbank Centre. Musicians: - Rakesh Chaurasia (flute) - Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (tabla) Alap, Jod, Jhalla & a composition in Matta Taal Raag Jog; Thaat: Kafi; Samay: Night Raag Jog comprises one of the most enduring musical mysteries of all time in Hindustani classical music. Its meend-laden phrases and the chromatic use of the pure and flat 3rd (shuddh and komal Ga) is a heady combination that creates a trance-like state in the listener’s mind. Acclaimed the world over for his superlative melodic mastery, sharp sense of rhythm and an astonishing ability to embrace, dive into and reinterpret music across wide range of genres, Rakesh Chaurasia’s approach to ragas is eclectic. In this concert from 2016, he presents an alap, jod, jhalla and a composition in Raag Jog. Accompanying him on the tabla is the veteran from of the Farrukhabad gharana - Pandit Anindo Chatterjee - who is deeply respected the world over for solid aesthetics and his rich contributions to the gharana. Chaurasia keeps the alap technically simple but breathes life into the phrases by interconnecting octaves through invisible threads between the phrases to weave layers of harmonies. He arranges the major and minor tonal sentences by pairing, intertwining and binding them with each other to create a grandiose structure of Jog. He plays a madhyalay composition in a 9-beat cycle called Matta Taal. Pandit Chatterjee’s tabla accompaniment starts with a calm and easy delivery whereby he delves into the immersive intimacy created by Chaurasia. The intricately woven rhythmic phrases intersperse the spaces in between Chaurasia’s melodic discourse and are delivered with unparalleled technique and regal gait. A pleasing and popular raga, Raag Jog is a more recent addition to the pantheon of Hindustani ragas – it is about one hundred years old. The most popular version of this raga employs both shudh and komal Ga (G and g) and komal Ni (n). It is similar to Raga Nattai in Carnatic Music. Jog is derived from Khamaj thaat and its jati is audav-audav. Its vadi swar is Ma and the samvadi swar is Sa. Jog omits Re and Dha (2nd and 6th) altogether from the scale. Its arohana and avarohana are as follows:     S G M P n S’ S’ n P M G M g S The other version of the raga deploys shuddh Ni (7th) as well. The treatment of the raga, as visualised by Ustad Amir Khan, lays great emphasis on Ma (4th) that adds deeper shades of pathos to its intrinsic desolate mood. In recent times the chromatic use of both Ga is in vogue. This is not permissible in Hindustani classical music, but a judicious phrase is accepted as the ‘poet’s liberty’.  