Dhrupad Gurukul Kathmandu look forward to witnessing their listeners' imaginations soar as they play their kind of jazz
One of the performers at this year's Surya Nepal Jazzmandu is Dhrupad Gurukul Kathmandu - an ensemble that carries forward the ancient tradition of Dhrupad, a major form of Hindustani classical music that is distinguished by its emphasis on maintaining the purity of raagas and swaras.
Vishal Bhattarai trained in Dhrupad vocal under the Gundecha brothers, disciples of late Ustads Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar, established Dhrupad Gurukul Kathmandu with his Gurubhai Inoue Sou. The duo has been performing and teaching Dhrupad in Nepal for the last decade.
Joining the duo are Mukesh Shakya, a renowned pakhawaj player who trained under late Rabin Lal Shrestha, a legendary figure in Hindustani classical music, and two students training under Gurukul - Rajin and Keshab.
Bhattari, who for the last 10 years, has been performing and teaching Dhrupad, shares with The Himalayan Times the intricacies of Dhrupad music, as they look forward to the upcoming jazz festival.
Surya Nepal Jazzmandu 2024 is scheduled at various venues around Kathmandu Valley from October 24 to October 30.
WHAT IS DHRUPAD MUSIC?
Dhrupad is believed to be the prosperity of ancient traditional form of classical music in the Indian subcontinent that continues its essence from the guru-shishya parampara= (respected student-teacher culture). Its origin can be traced back to the chanting of Vedic hymns and mantras. Also said to be one of the special forms of the Gandharva Veda, the Vedic science of music, which is a branch of the Sama Veda, that have had been chanted with the help of melody and rhythm called Samgana. Gradually that was developed into other vocal styles called Chhanda and Prabandha with introduction of verse and meter. The fusion of these two elements led to the emergence of Dhrupad. The nature of Dhrupad music is spiritual - seeking not to entertain, but to induce feelings of peace and contemplation to the listener. One significant characteristic of Dhrupad is to emphasise the maintaining purity of the raagas and the swaras.
COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THE LINK BETWEEN DHRUPAD AND JAZZ MUSIC?
The climax of any kind of music is improvisation. This is more associated with sound and rhythm than words. The joy of jazz music also lies in this. The same applies to Dhrupad music, too. It feels as if the extension of the aalaap and rhythm in Dhrupad in itself is jazz. Therefore, these two genres basically have improvisation at their core, but in different styles. Our attempt is to take our audience to a space by creating a meditative mood via sounds where they are free and able to have their own imaginations.
YOU ARE TAKING PART IN SURYA NEPAL JAZZMANDU AFTER 2014. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK AFTER A DECADE?
Fantastic! Veteran tabala player Rabin Lal Shrestha introduced us to Jazzmandu for the first time in 2014. We had performed at the Gokarna Forest Resort under the name of Dhrupad Caravan then. This old memory has become new again as we are able to perform after a decade. We are equally excited to share our musical experiences of this one decade.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT THIS JAZZ FESTIVAL AND WHY?
Jazzmandu music festival is the foremost amongst the music festivals of international level that are held in Nepal. The continuity in its twentieth year in itself is the most beautiful and strongest aspect of Jazzmandu - such continuity is difficult in the context of Nepal. This is also a good opportunity for music lovers to listen to and understand the experiences of international artistes on a single stage. We hope this stage of cultural tourism promotion will help take Dhrupad - a kind of jazz that is older than jazz itself - to an international level, and that its listeners will increase.