PADAVALI KIRTAN  -- The birth and death of classical music of Bengal

Emperor Akbar and Miyaan Tansen Visit Swami Haridas 

INTRODUCTION --

In the deep scrub forests of Brindavan there lived a recluse sadhak named Haridas . Some years back he had found the deity of Vankim Vihaari in Nidhi-Van with whom he now spends most of his time in sadhana . Apart from his intense love of god , Swami Haridas was also famous for his prowess in Hindustani classical music . His most illustrious disciple was Miyaan Tansen , the musician of Akbar's court . Brindavan had been an important center for music for some time now and ancient ragas such as Brindavani sarang still bear the old names . 

And now , a young man from eastern Bengal had come to him , seeking his guidance in music . This young man who had become a renunciate was named Narottam Dutta , son of Krishnananda Dutta , the rajah of Kheturi in east Bengal . Under watchful eyes of Haridas , Narottam evolved into a musician par excellence , learning the finer nuances of the ragas , the rythm of the taalas and their application . After his long stay at Vraj , Narottam returned to Bengal . But being a vairagi , he chose not to re enter his palace . He built a straw hut at Kheturi and stayed there instead .


It was mughal times . Emperor Akbar  had managed to restore some peace in his empire . Bengal had been witnessing a dramatic socio religious movement from the last couple of decades -- The bhava andolan of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu . Every year , new people were coming under the aegis of Gaudiya Vaishnavism . Music and chanting of the names of Krishna is an important step in Vaishnav sadhana . But this music was not organised . 

Narottam summoned a conference of all vaishnavs at his native Kheturi village on the day of Phalguni purnima , to celebrate the 'pratistha' installation ceremony of six deities -- Sri Gouranga , Shri Ballabhikaanta , Shri Krishna , Shri Vrajmohan , Shri RadhaRaman and Shri Radhakaanta . All the leaders of gaudiya movement took part in this grand celebration which was funded from the royal estate of Narottam's father - Krishnanada Dutta . It would go down in gaudiya history as kheturi mahotsav .

Sankirtan movement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

The most important figure of this conference was Sri Jahnava Mata , the wife of Sriman Nityananda prabhu and the supremo of Gaudiya vaishnavas of the day . It was at this conference that , under the proposals put forward by Narottam , the rules of do's and dont's of kirtan was codified and sanctioned by all present Vaishnav acharyas . Prior to this , bengali kirtan was largely unregulated and disorganised . But this event would see the physical birth of the spectacular body of music and poetry , which would be known in later times as Padavali kirtan or Mahajan padavali .

But the actuall history of kirtan in Bengal starts way before Narottam , or even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu !

Kirtan at Raas yatra utsav , Shantipur

ORIGINS --- 

There have been isolated couplets and musical poetry in use since the Buddhist times in Bengal . But those cannot be classified as kirtan .The earliest work on Radha Krishna love lore on bengali soil is the much celebrated Geetagovindam by poet Jayadev . This work in Sanskrit rapidly gained popularity all across India and began to be sung at temples . This may be called the rightful origins of Kirtan tradition . In Chaitanya Charitamrita we find mention of Mahaprabhu listening to songs of Chandidas and Vidyapati , which indicates that some elementary form of padavali singing was already in practice before the life and times of Mahaprabhu . Chandidas’s book Shri Krishna kirtan shows strong influence of folk culture , especially Jhumur gaan .

In medieval Bengal the strongest literary and musical force was perhaps the ‘Mangal-Kavyas’ . These were big literary works composed by diverse authors over a long period of time , in simple poetry format which glorified a particular god or goddess . Songs from such works were sung in public as a part of religious excercise . They were called Mangal gaan . Chandi Mangal gaan , in glory of the goddess Chandi used to start on a Tuesday and continue for the next eight days upto the upcoming Tuesday . The remnants of this tradition can still be seen in ‘joy mangal baar vrata’ which Bengali ladies perform during summer months . For a long time , songs dedicated to shakti or the goddess used to be popularly called ‘Chandi’r Gaan’ . The terms ‘Shyama sangeet’ or ‘shakta geeti’ are of recent origin . Similarly mangal kavyas were written in honour of other gods too like Krishnamangal , Dharmamangal , Manasamangal etc . Chaitanya Mangal , in honour of Mahaprabhu is also a mangal kavya .  Mangal gaan can be said to be the true precursor to Vaishnav kirtan . And it is likely that mangal gan got merged into padavali style over the years .

The next most influential factor in Bengal’s padavali comes from neighbouring state of Mithila . From the famous poet Vidyapati .  Vidyapati was a poet par excellence .He composed his works in Maithili , the local dialect . Mahaprabhu was said to be very fond of his songs . In post Chaitanya times , the poets of Bengal would try to imitate the language and style of Vidyapati , giving rise to an entirely new literary language that was never spoken outside in real life ! This was called Vraja-buli – the tongue of Vraj . In reality however , Vraja-buli was not the spoken tongue of vraj ! It was a concocted language which took the essence of Vidyapati’s maithili language and mixed it with dialect of Vraj and colloquial Bengali . Vraja buli would continue to fascinate poets and lay men of Bengal throughout ages ... and it continues even today !

Scriptures assert – “Naam-leela-gunaadinam uchhairbhasaa tu kirtanam” . The chanting aloud of the name , pastimes and characteristics of lord Shri Hari is kirtan .Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered the father of sankirtan , not just within Bengal , but in the whole religious scenario of India . For it was he who worked upon this simple act of chanting and singing and turned it into a self sufficient and sure way of self realization . No one before had stressed the importance and beauty of kirtan as him . We find mention of Mahaprabhu’s men splitting in seven groups or sampradayas and taking part in kirtan during rathaytra in puri . This is a strong indication that kirtan music was already popular and somewhat organised during the time mahaprabhu . But the most important attempt to organise it was done by Narottam Dutta in Kheturi Mahotsav .

From now on , kirtan would begin with an ode to Gauranga , the supreme lord of Gaudiyas . This is usually an invocation to Guru , Gauranga , Nityananda and their main associates and is called ‘gaurachandrika’ . This would be followed by ‘Taduchita Gouranga’ – singing of the concerned leela in context of Mahaprabhu’s life . So if the kirtan is about hori leela , it would begin by describing the hori pastimes of chaitanya mahaprabhu in Nabadwip . From there the music would eventually enter from Gour leela into Vraj leela , by drawing parallels in the life of Govinda and Gauranga . This transition is almost effortless and spontaneous . Thereafter the music would take its main course in describing the leelas and dialogues of Krishna and Radha . At the end , the music starts reaching a crescendo and tapers off by describing the union of the divine couple accompanied by a small naam kirtan and haribol . Kirtan always ends with the union or ‘milan’ or the divine couple . In gaudiya philosophy , Radha and Krishna in combination forms the complete whole . 

Kirtan is of two types – The naam kirtan , which sings the holy names of Krishna and the leela kirtan – the music describing the pastimes of Krishna . When it comes to padavali kirtan it usually means the latter .

Contemporary leela kirtan performance 

Narottam Thakur ( Dutta ) was a musician of first order . He structured the kirtan style to follow rules of classical music .The two main shri-khol ( drum ) players of Narottam was called Gaurangadas and Devidas . The two accompanying vocalists ( dohaar ) were Shridas and Gokulananda . This pattern of kirtan as laid down by Narottam Thakur would be henceforth followed everywhere . His style of singing , heavily based on Dhrupad style would be known as ‘Gorerhaati gharana’ or ‘Goraanhaati gharana’ based on the name of the pargana ( Gorerhaat district ) in which Kheturi was situated .


The second major Gharana would evolve from Raardh desh ( region of bengal southwest of Ganges) , which had been an important site of musical learning since ancient times . This area have had its own style of music for long , the origins of which may be traced in Buddhist and Jain music traditions . After Mahaprabhu , the Vaishnava acharyas would found new institutions of education in these places and greatly restructure the local music , bringing it under the aegis of classical music as laid down in Kheturi conference . Srikhanda and Kandara was two such ancient places of musical learning . And Moynaadaal village went on to become the mecca of kirtan learning , attracting students from all over Bengal . It had its own paathshala where music students were taught the padas of kirtan as well as taal vaadya . All three was situated in Birbhum district . Kandara was situated in the Manoharshahi pargana , and this gave rise to the name of the second gharana of Kirtan music – Manoharshahi gharana or Manoharsaai gharana . It is compared to ‘khayal’ of Hindustani music .

The third Gharana would emerge from a small village called Reneti in Ranihaati pargana in Burdwan district . Famous singer Bipradas Ghosh named a local tune used in the region after the name of this place . This saw the birth of Reneti or Ranihaati Gharana of kirtan . This is similar to Thumri of Hindustani music . Although it was not as complex as the other two Gharanas , it had its own charm .

A few other types of tunes were also popular in old kirtan songs . Mandarini sur was an adaption of very ancient tunes once used to sing Mangal gaan . Jhaarkhandi sur bore influences of folk traditions .  In kirtan sabhas more than one kirtaniya used to sing on the same topic or leela . In such a situation a kirtaniya never described the union ( Milan ) of Radha Krishna towards the end of his performance but used to finish it off using short jhumur styled songs . The next performer would come on stage and start his version of the same leela . This would go on until the last performer draws the end by describing ‘milan’ and naam sankirtan haribol .

A typical Kirtan song has five limbs or angas . They are -----

1 – KATHAA ... meaning the main song . It also means short descriptions or dialogues which the kirtaniya uses to explain the bhava of the song or to link two different padas .

2 – DOHAA ... literally meaning two . We also find the word in Hindi literature . It may have given rise to the word Dohaar . After the main singer sings a pada , his attendants repeat a line or two. This act of repeating is called dohaari and persons who does them are called dohaars .

3 – AAKHOWR ... Aakhowr is a concept difficult to describe . Rabindranath Tagore described it as – “ a taan formed using words “ . It is unique to padavali kirtan and is a principle means to enhance the sweetness of the music and highlight the bhava of the topic . It may be described as a small phrase or a sentence which the kirtaniya uses in middle of his song , interrupting the flow of the original pada , but singing it in a emotive style , so as to highlight a particular emotion of the scene that he is describing but taking care not to break the emotional continuity of the original pada . Aakhor is not written down or codified like the padas . They are usually handed over from the guru to the shishya through generations . Sometimes , master kirtaniyas meditate on the pada and the bhava of the song and invent them . At yet another times they are impromptuously uttered right in middle of the concert by the kirtaniya ! It requires a complete mastery over the topic of the padavali and a thorough understanding of its music and talas .

4 – TUK ... Short isolated sentences or couplets , usually composed by anonymous poets are called Tuk . They are usually handed down by Guru parampara .

5 – CHHUT ... Rythm or Taal is also known as chhut .

Singers wanting to pursue serious music would often turn to padavali kirtan in those days . Rasik Das was one such famous kirtaniyaa . His fame spread to all corners of the state and other musicians used to refer to him as ‘boro mul gaayen’ – the great singer . Others famous names included Sachinandan Das, Krishnadayal Chanda and Nandakishore Das . We are unfortunate that these singers predated the advent of Gramophone , which is why we do not have a chance to listen to their voice today .

Boro mul gaayen Rasik Das

IMPACT ON BENGALI CULTURE ---

Kirtan has been hailed as the first music of Bengal . While there can be no denying that songs and music must have had existed even before , It was kirtan which gave Bengal a first organised body of music firmly based on Raagas and rules of classical music . Right after the demise of Mahaprabhu a renaissance took place in the social life of Bengal . This saw an outburst of literary activity , the crown jewel of which is the padavali sangeet .  Poets like Gyandas , Gobindadas , Lochandas and others started composing spectacular poems of madhura bhava . The body of padavali music started to swell by leaps and bounds . The universal appeal of padavali genre was in the fact that the poems were written in a way to appeal both the devotee and the lay man . For the devotee the songs are often a reflection of their own longing for Krishna . A lay man , on the other hand accepts padavali as the music of love . This interesting duality ensured its long popularity in the plains of Bengal .

The god of mangal kavyas is a fearsome god . Often wrathful and busy in propaganda . Padavali gave Bengal the first touch of a loving personal god . Someone who does not sit distant in heavens , but lives amongst us . The different leelas are nothing but a reflection of our own social life  . The characters are portrayed more as Bengali common folk than residents of Vraj  . Boraai buri or Bari maa is the quintessential benevolent old widow of the village . The gopis are nothing but cowherd maidens ( Gowyaalini ) . When Yamuna is described as swelling in high tide , it reminds the reader of the river systems of Bengal . Strong tidal waves and deluges are features peculiar to lower course of a river and not to be found in Yamuna which is basically in the middle course further upstream . Overall , padavali literature explores and paints a beautiful picture of medieval Bengali society . Padavali also gave Bengal its first romantic poetry , not only from the viewpoint of conjugal love ... but also the mystic romanticism of nature . 

It had a paramount influence in giving rise to another body of literature and music , which in modern times we call Shakta Padavali . Late 1700s onwards , a new style of music started rising in Bengal . These were ‘sadhan geeti’ . Songs written as a supplication of a sadhak to his chosen ishta , usually a form of the goddess . The trend received impetus after the massive popularity of Ramprasad Sen and it is a continuing tradition even today . Shakta padavali , like its vaishnava counterpart also explores the 'human' side of gods through the rich vaatsalya rasa of agamani songs and shyama sangeets .

Throughout the middle ages Kirtan and padavali enjoyed royal patronage of zamindars and royals . It was truly the music of all classes . With its abundant devotional themes it readily attracted the common masses . And its classical based tunes and lofty bhava gave it a loyal set of aristocrat admirers . Rich zamindars used to employ famous padavali singers in the temples installed by them . The singers were required to sing to the deities twice everyday .

DECLINE ---

However , in this temporal world , nothing is meant to last long . The massive popularity of Padavali started to dwindle from 20^th century . Several reasons may be attributed to this decline . A major cause was change in tastes of people due to the strong influence of western ideals . The rise of alternative non religious music was also responsible . Rabindranath Tagore was especially fond of padavali and his music has strong influence from the latter . However , in long run , Rabindrasangeet as a genre largely replaced the position of importance that padavali kirtan once enjoyed in the Bengali psyche .

Another major contributive factor was the apathy of Bengali intelligentsia in giving padavali its due acknowledgement . In late 1800s and early 1900s India was undergoing a period of transition . India was struggling to re piece its forgotten ancient history and culture . People were trying to pinpoint ‘classicality ‘ in Indian civilization , just as the west had catagorised a set of music as being ‘classical’ in 1850s .

The big question is –what is ‘classical’ and whats not ?! . Till date there hasn’t been any single satisfactory answer . But keeping all points in mind we may say that the word ‘classical’ is used in context of a golden era of ideal standards . Something ( arts , education etc ) which have been continuing for long under proper systemised way of conduct . Something that is aesthetic , polished and accepted as sophisticated by elite standards .

If these are the criterias of determining ‘classicality’ then padavali kirtan surely falls into the category . Just like Manipuri dance is very different from Bharatnatyam or kathakali and yet all three has been classified as ‘classical’ owing to its continuing legacy and codified laws of performance . Interestingly , Manipuri dance is also a product of gaudiya vaishnavism which grew in popularity in Manipur under patronage of its king . Hindustani classical also has influences from regional folk . Tunes which are accepted as ragas today were often folk in their origins ! 

Kirtan had also similarly imbibed and absorbed local traditions and tunes and evolved over the years . The final resultant form may be very different from the music of the hindi belt ( Hindustani ) , but by the previous logic , clearly qualifies to be deemed as classical . However the 20^th century Bengali musicians were reluctant to classify kirtan as ‘classical’ . Bengal had been a hot bed of Hindustani marg sangeet , owing to Islamic influence and patronage from numerous royals and feudal zamindars . With the massive popularity of Hindustani music , kirtan got sidetracked as ‘folk’ . No one cared to investigate if folk music could have gharanas or be based on ragas !

 1950s onwards there had been a rapid downslide in the popularity of kirtan . Kamala Jharia , Krishna Chandra dey , Rathin Ghosh , Radharani devi and Chhabi bandapadhyay were some of the last kirtan singers .Chhabi Bandopadhyay was the last great kirtan exponent of modern times . She led a life of celibacy and strict austerity . She was also an artist and used to sculpt clay idols for her personal worship . She had learnt Kirtan from  Nabadwip Chandra Brajbasi . With her death in 2012 , and entire era of Padavali music has come to an end .

Geetashree Chhabi Bandapadhyay , the last great kirtan
exponent sculpting a clay image .

In modern world interest in kirtan is shared by two classes – the inquisitive/urbanised researchers and the lay devotees from lower sections of the society . No modern truly talented musician attempts to learn kirtan . Ones that do , cannot rely solely on it as a profession . The result is a catastrophic fall in the singing standards . Modern kirtans by low grade singers sounds more like rustic story telling than fine music ! As with all dying art , a few talented singers still do survive . But they alone cannot take forward a tradition ailing from public apathy and ignorance .  Perhaps the era of padavali music has finally come to an end . But even if it is to go completely , introduction of gramaphones records , cassettes and Cds have made it possible to store away the voices of yesteryears . So we can still hope that these recorded music would continue to play , even after a lapse of a hundred years from now and enable the listeners of future to communicate directly with the haunting tunes and to soak in the spirit of Radha Govinda leela .

They say , nothing is completely exterminated in this universe . A bhava remains in dormant form and again revitalises itself when the time is ripe . If that is to be believed , we might as well hope and pray for a revival of Padavali . Who knows ? 

Govinda kripahi kevalam ....

A contemporay Padavali kirtan set up