Khayal vocal · Kairana, Uttar Pradesh
Kirana gharana
A vocal lineage known for slow, note-by-note unfolding of a raag.
What the name refers to
The Kirana gharana is one of the major khayal vocal traditions of Hindustani music, named after Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh. It became widely known through the rudra veena player Bande Ali Khan in the nineteenth century and was established as a modern vocal school in the early twentieth century by his relatives Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan.
How it grew
Awareness of the Kirana musicians grew with Bande Ali Khan's standing as a beenkar at the Gwalior and Indore courts in the mid-nineteenth century; though he taught few pupils directly, musicians from several other gharanas claimed descent from his influence. The vocal style was developed and popularised by Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan, and the tradition is usually traced through four broad lines: those of Bande Ali Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Abdul Wahid Khan, and the brothers Fayyaz Ahmed and Niyaz Ahmed Khan. Its later singers include Sawai Gandharva, Sureshbabu Mane, Hirabai Barodekar, Gangubai Hangal, Bhimsen Joshi, Roshanara Begum and Prabha Atre. Earlier ancestry is often traced to the Gauharbani dhrupad lineage of medieval musicians; that stretch of the account rests on oral tradition rather than documentary record.
What it sounds like
The central concern of Kirana singing is swara — the individual note — and above all its exact tuning and expressive weight. In Kirana gayaki a note is treated less as a point on a scale than as a space to be inhabited and expanded. Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan are credited with giving the vilambit, or very slow, section of a khayal its modern importance, unfolding the raga note by note before any display of speed. Emotional pukars, or calls in the upper octave, are characteristic, as is the ornate sargam taan — fast passages sung using the note names themselves — which Abdul Karim Khan is said to have adapted under Carnatic influence. Frequently sung ragas include Miyan ki Todi, Lalit, Multani, Marwa, Puriya and Darbari Kanada, with a marked fondness for the komal rishabh (flattened second) note.
Documented teaching lineage
Read from the top: the earliest documented teachers come first, and each later entry follows the teacher it descends from.
Sawai GandharvataughtPandit Bhimsen Joshi
Bhimsen Joshi trained with Sawai Gandharva at Kundgol.
Bhimsen Joshi — WikipediaSawai GandharvataughtGangubai Hangal
Gangubai Hangal trained with Sawai Gandharva.
Gangubai Hangal — Wikipedia
Only relationships with a source are shown. This is not a complete family tree, and a teaching link is never inferred from a shared surname.
Researched lineage
Musicians documented within this tradition by the archive's lineage research. Where someone has a page here, their name links to it; where they do not, the entry stays as text until a sourced profile can be written.
The voice that defined Kirana singing on early recordings and carried it across western India.
Taught by Kale Khan
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Abdul Karim Khan — Wikipedia · Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (1872–1937) - Vocal
The other founding Kirana figure, known for extremely slow, meditative development.
No teaching relationship was proposed for this musician, so no relationship check was run; biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Abdul Wahid Khan — Wikipedia · Kirana gharana · Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan were the ...
Also written Rambhau Kundgolkar
The teacher through whom Kirana reached Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Taught by Abdul Karim Khan
No continuous-text source was read for this musician in the research run, only search result listings, so both the teacher checks and the wider biography remain unchecked.
Sources: Sawai Gandharva
Daughter of Abdul Karim Khan; one of the first women from the tradition to sing widely in public concerts.
Taught by Abdul Wahid Khan
No continuous-text source was read for this musician in the research run, only search result listings, so both the teacher checks and the wider biography remain unchecked.
Sources: Hirabai Barodekar · Hirabai Barodekar
Son of Abdul Karim Khan and an influential teacher in Pune.
Taught by Abdul Karim Khan
No continuous-text source was read for this musician in the research run, only search result listings, so both the teacher checks and the wider biography remain unchecked.
Sources: Sureshbabu Mane
Concert and stage singer from the same family line.
Taught by Sureshbabu Mane
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Saraswati Rane — Wikipedia
The most widely heard Kirana singer of the twentieth century.
Taught by Sawai Gandharva
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Bhimsen Joshi — Wikipedia
A deep-voiced Kirana singer whose career opened the concert stage to women of her background.
Taught by Sawai Gandharva
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Gangubai Hangal — Wikipedia
Kirana singer and long-serving teacher in Mumbai.
Taught by Sawai Gandharva
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Firoz Dastur — Wikipedia · Down the Dastur Lane · The Gentle Giant - Pt. Firoz Dastur
Kirana singer, composer and writer who also taught the tradition academically.
Taught by Sureshbabu Mane, Hirabai Barodekar
Relationship checking is complete against the source text read for this musician; wider biographical research is still outstanding.
Sources: Prabha Atre — Wikipedia · Dr. Prabha Atre · Gaana Prabha Dr. Prabha Atre
- Kaivalyakumar Guravborn 1966Khayal vocalNo page yet
Contemporary Kirana singer from Belagavi.
Taught by Sangameshwar Gurav
No continuous-text source was read for this musician in the research run, only search result listings, so both the teacher checks and the wider biography remain unchecked.
Sources: Kshitija - Singing teacher in Mumbai - ₹3466/h · Pandit Kaivalya Kumar Gurav
Sources for this research
Selected listening
A few performances by the gharana's most significant players, one each, to give the ear a sense of the style before reading further.
Piya nahin aaye
Patdeep · Recorded 1947 · Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan Trust & Academy
One of the three surviving pieces from the 1947 broadcast, posted by the trust founded in his name.
Raga Asavari — khayal
Asavari · Saregama · Saregama Hindustani Classical
Raga Ramkali — khayal, vilambit and drut in teentaal
Ramkali · Saregama · Bhimsen Joshi - Topic
Tapasya — with Bhimsen Joshi and Jasraj
Sony Music India Classical
Three singers in one concert, from the label's own channel.
References
Know this lineage better than we do? Corrections and sourced additions are welcome.
Continue exploring
- Ustad Bande Ali KhanA musician documented within the Kirana gharana.
- Ustad Abdul Wahid KhanA musician documented within the Kirana gharana.
- All gharanas & lineagesOther lineages, including those of different disciplines sharing a city's name.
- InstrumentsHear what the musicians of this khayal vocal lineage play.