A voice from the past
MANJARI SINHA
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L.K. Pandit enlightened listeners about his father Krishnarao Shankar Pandit’s singing style.
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Considered the master of layakari, he was equally at home with Khayal, Thumri, tappa, tarana and ashtapadis
Photo: Shanker Chakravarty
Priceless legacy L.K. Pandit, son and disciple of Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit.
The Immortal Voices Series of All India Radio Archives presented some of the rare recordings of Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit for an invited audience at the Akashvani Bhawan recently. Pandit L.K. Pandit was there to acquaint listeners with his leg
endary guru-pita (teacher and father) and his singing style. He opened his remarks with the great tradition of music in Gwalior from the times of Raja Mansingh Tomar who patronised Dhrupad, to the times of the Scindia dynasty that saw the Gwalior gharana of Khayal evolve under Pir Natthan Pir Baksh and his grandsons Haddu Khan, Hassu Khan and Natthu Khan. Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit served as a court musician with Madhav Rao Scindia and also as state musician in the erstwhile state of Satara, Maharashtra.
Born on 26July 1893 into an illustrious family of musicians, Krishnarao had his musical training under his father Shankar Pandit, who himself was a legend, being the disciple of the founder of the Gwaliar gharana Haddu Khan, Natthu Khan and his son Nisar Hussain Khan. Groomed meticulously, Krishnarao had a rich repertoire of compositions. Considered the master of layakari, he was equally at home with Khayal, Thumri, tappa, tarana and ashtapadis.
The first archival recording played at the event was of 1961, in which he had sung Desi. The bada khayal “Bansi much so” was set to Ek tala. The gradual development of the raga with behelawa, bol-alap proceeded to mote daane ki taan with gamak ang, followed by chhote dane ki taan. The chhota khayal “Mhare ghar aavo” set to Teen tala, also comprised the ashtang gayaki. His open throated voice traversed the three octaves with equal ease. Pandit Eknath Sarolkar and Narayan Pandit gave him vocal support, while Alladia Khan and Santram provided him accompaniment on the sarangi and tablarespectively.
Tap-thumri
This was followed by Kafi Hori, a recording of 1970. The traditional Hori “Ram Siya phaag machawat” was sung in thumri style set to Deepchandi tala, with the very conspicuous flourishes of tappa ang. L.K. Pandit catagorised it as tap-thumri later while answering queries of the discerning listeners. He was supported on the violin by K.R. Surane and Rajendra Prasad on the tabla. It was followed by a tappa in raga Bhairavi, a composition of Shori Mian, where the melodious sarangi of Abdul Latif Khan followed his impressive avaroh comprising all the komal and shuddha swaras in one go.
L.K. Pandit added some earlier recordings from his own collection belonging to the ’30s and ’40s. There was a Todi recorded in 1934 by Seth Lakshmi Chand of Karachi. Then there was a Jaijaiwanti of 1935, followed by a Darbari composition in vilambit Ek tala, a Gaud-Sarang khayal in Teen tala and a tarana in drut Ek tala. This section concluded with a Punjabi composition in Bhairavi, which used to be a must, he said, as the last farmaish (request) wherever Krishna Rao performed. All India Radio Archives deserve kudos for this admirable initiative.
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