HOME  | UMA`S PATH  |  DHRUPAD  |  LINEAGE | DHRUPAD/YOGA/THERAPY  |  WORKSHOPS  |  AGENDA       "Dhrupad is devotional music and its origins can be traced back to the sacred Sanskrit text, the Sama Veda, which is said to date from the 3rd century B.C. Dhrupad, is the oldest form of vocal and instrumental music in the Hindustani tradition that is being practised even today.    From the chanting of Aum (or Uma!) the sacred syllable and the source of all Creation, which is considered to have a physically and spiritually purifying effect on the person chanting it, it evolved in the rhythmic chanting of the Vedic Scriptures. Later still this developed into Chhanda and Prabandh with the introduction of verse and metre, Dhrupad emerged from the fusion of these two elements.    A sacred music, then, Dhrupad was sung in the temples, the singer seated facing the divinity, totally immersed in his prayer, completely unconscious of the presence or of the absence of an audience. All the compositions were prayers which took their inspiration from hymns addressed to gods in the Hindu pantheon.    Dhrupad as it is sung today has preserved its sacred character even though it is no longer a music confined to temples…The same purity of sound and the same accuracy that the singers of old brought to their chanting of Aum are now sought in the exposition and the linking up of the notes during the Alâp and the composition, but it is more directly perceptible in the former, which is the introductory part and takes the form of improvisation…Led by their desire to give an ever greater importance to Sound as the pathway to Divine Fusion, the members of the Dagarvâni have opted for pure prayer, without the hurdle of words, in the first part, so that the impact of the sound is stronger…Starting from the sounds AUM at the beginning of the Alâp, all the Art of the singer lies in the modulation of breath and volume in order to create a vocal flux, supported by vowels, while the consonants are used to punctuate and mould the vocal flow, channelling it in the direction most suited to evoke in the audience a mood akin to the mood of the Râga that has been chosen…"(From the Dhrupad society)    "Dhrupad is first mentioned as a fully evolved form in the late 15th century musical treatise Man Kutuhul compiled by the scholar-musicians of Râjâ Mansingh Tomar's court in Gwalior.    Unlike the glamorous Khayal tradition, Dhrupad is solemn, austere in character but graced by a grave and enduring beauty. The demands it makes on its practitioners, both vocalists and instrumentalists, are high.    Strict adherence to the architecture of the Râga, respect for the Tâla or beat cycle in a given composition, and organic or natural attainment of Bhâv are an absolute must. Emphasis is laid on tonal fidelity. The Dhrupadia must express himself through single notes that are clear, sustained, soft, sharp or flat and those that glide (Mînd) or vibrate (Gamak). Masters achieve intensity and equilibrium through judicious use of Shruti or microtones in their musical explorations".