The beautiful Durbar Hall in the erstwhile palace of Darbhanga, now the Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University, has been the venue for many musical concerts. The richly carved wooden peacocks connecting the walls to the ceiling are reminiscent of a bygone era. Similarly, the music that originated in Darbhanga, a city of great historical importance in North Bihar, has become a faded memory. But for Dhrupad exponent Malliks, Darbhanga would have lost its presence on the culture map of the country. The family began their journey as court musicians. Later generations including Pt. Ram Chatur Mallik, Pt. Abhay Narayan Mallik and Pt. Vidur Malik kept the legacy alive.

Now, a new generation of singers with renowned lineage are attempting to reach a wider audience.

Prashant and Nishant Malik (grandsons of Pandit Vidur Malik) have created a singing that has a contemporary feel while still being rooted in the authentic Dhrupad style. Well trained, with a vocal range of two and a half octaves, the brothers impress with their breadth meends,

With an investigative mind (both have doctorates), they have considered ways to broaden the repertoire, change presentation style, and revive elements lost over time. “Dhrupad is not as popular as khayal singing, and we wanted to change this perception. For example, many people find the aalap of dhrupad to be long drawn out and repetitive. Maintaining tradition is one thing, but helping it reach new audiences is also important. After all, an artist wants to be heard,” says Prashant.

change in style

Moreover, when he started singing about 25 years ago, Dhrupad was dominated by Dagar singing. A softer and more meditative style, Dagarvani found a worldwide audience, with many of its practitioners dominating the world of Dhrupad. Other styles of Dhrupad were rarely heard. Therefore, the audience was not familiar with the open throat (‘open throat singing’, where the voice is from the navel) dhrupad singing of the Mallikas.

Prashant and Nishant share that this type of singing can invoke ‘Nada Brahma’, which is why Dhrupad singers were called ‘Nada Yogis’ in the past. “The vigorous laykari and strong gamaka (they sing 15 types of gamaka) are also unique. Although the greats of our family are no more, we decided to popularize our style,” says Prashant.

The brothers also felt the loss Literature This was another important reason for the decline in popularity of Khayal and Thumri in Dhrupad. “I feel Literature Tone is important in music,” says Nishant.

Documentation of restrictions

For the last 50 to 60 years, Dhrupadiya has been singing the same set of popular compositions. This was not because there were only a few compositions; But because the approach to concert presentation was tiring. Around the year 2000, when the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA) was documenting bandishes in the same raga, Prashant remembered his father Pt. Prem Malik recorded more than 20 compositions in Raaga Aiman.

Specially curated concerts

Mallik brothers chose some verses of Swami Haridas and tuned them. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Prashant shared, “We have tried to introduce literature in our concerts. Apart from the works of Tulsidas and Ashtachhap saints, we also like the writings of poet Ashok Jamnani. We discovered some beautiful ‘Kelimal’ verses of Swami Haridas and set some of them to tune. Currently, we are recording verses from Guru Granth SahibOf course, it is a challenge to understand the lyrics, which are in archaic Punjabi, and then to compose the music in selected rare ragas described in the sacred text.

Brother is also composing the tune of the verses of Swami Muktanand (of Swaminarayan tradition). “It’s exciting to take on such challenges. Curated concerts are the future,” say the duo.

swami haridas pada book cover

Another area in which he brought changes was raga. Since recorded history, Dhrupad has always been sung in traditional ragas such as Bhairav, Todi, Aiman, Darbari and Malkauns (called ‘pure’ ragas). Prashant says, “I thought why not try singing in ragas like Charukeshi, Hemanta, Gauti and Patdeep.” “My grandfather Pt. Vidur Malik had started it on a small scale in the 1970s. We are doing this in a sustained manner. The audience should not feel that they have to listen to the same ragas in Dhrupad every time. I feel that the ragas used in Thumri like Bhairavi and Khamach Kafi should also be presented in the Dhrupad style,” he adds.

Popular rhythms in the Dhrupad repertoire

Dhamar (14 beat cycle) is one of the most popular talas in the Dhrupad repertoire, but most compositions based on it focus on the theme of Holi, and hence, are not sung throughout the year. Recently during a concert on Chaitra Purnima in Delhi, Prashant sang a beautiful composition on Raas, which describes the joyful dance of Krishna and the Gopis. The raga was also appropriately Sham Kalyan.

Prashant and Nishant are experimenting not only in singing but also in pronunciation of vowels. by comingPrashant says, “Our intention is not to dilute the essence and spirit of Dhrupad, we just want more listeners to discover this beautiful genre of music.”