Which is the oldest gharana of khayal singing in Hindustani classical music?
- A.Gwalior gharana
- B.Kirana gharana
- C.Agra gharana
- D.Jaipur-Atrauli gharana
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, the Gwalior gharana. Gwalior had been a seat of music since the Tomar rulers patronised dhrupad, and when khayal took the place of dhrupad as the leading form the city produced the first of its gharanas. The Gwalior style teaches a plain, full-voiced delivery with the raga unfolded clearly and without ornament for its own sake, and the gharanas that came later grew out of this training.
Option B, the Kirana gharana, is named after Kairana in Uttar Pradesh and is known for its slow, note-by-note unfolding of the raga. Option C, the Agra gharana, keeps much of the weight of dhrupad in its khayal. Option D, the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, is known for complex and uncommon ragas. All three are genuine gharanas, and all three are later than Gwalior, which is the single fact the question turns on.
Read the full article: Folk Dances, Music and the Tansen Samaroh of Madhya Pradesh
Practice Questions
View allTansen, counted among the navratna of Akbar's court, was born at Behat near which city?
- A.Ujjain
- B.Gwalior
- C.Indore
- D.Bhopal
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Tansen was born Ramtanu Pandey in the village of Behat near Gwalior, learnt from Swami Haridas of Vrindavan and from the Sufi Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior, served the court of Rewa and was then taken by Akbar into his own court, where he was counted among the nine jewels.
Read the full explanation →The Tansen Samaroh, the state's best known music festival, is held every year at
- A.Khajuraho
- B.Behat and Gwalior
- C.Ujjain
- D.Maihar
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The Tansen Samaroh is held in the winter at the musician's birthplace of Behat and at his tomb in Gwalior, and the National Tansen Samman for Hindustani classical music is conferred during it.
Read the full explanation →In the reign of which ruler of Gwalior was the music treatise Man Kutuhal compiled?
- A.Raja Man Singh Tomar
- B.Raja Bhoj
- C.Vikramaditya
- D.Jai Singh
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Man Singh Tomar ruled Gwalior at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century and was the great patron of dhrupad, drawing singers to his court and encouraging composition in the spoken language rather than in Sanskrit alone.
Read the full explanation →The Matki dance, performed by women with an earthen pot balanced on the head, belongs to which region?
- A.Bundelkhand
- B.Malwa
- C.Baghelkhand
- D.Mahakoshal
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Matki is danced by the women of Malwa and the adjoining Nimar at weddings and other family celebrations, with an earthen pot held on the head while the dancer turns to the beat of the dhol.
Read the full explanation →The Rai dance, performed by a Bedni dancer to the nagariya drum, belongs to which region of Madhya Pradesh?
- A.Malwa
- B.Bundelkhand
- C.Nimar
- D.Jhabua
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Rai is the signature dance of Bundelkhand in the north-east of the state, danced by a woman of the Bedni community who whirls to an accelerating beat of the nagariya and the mridang while the audience calls for more.
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