H-M synthesis: The Ganesha Bhakta from Bijapur

by Guest Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:39 pm

It's only 6am. Unlike most of his neighbourhood that seems deep in slumber, Ustad Karim Sayyed's home in Bijapur, on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, is alive with the strains of the tanpura as he leads two disciples in a Lord Ganesh invocation. Isn't this unusual for a practising five-time namazi, particularly in today's times? The classical vocalist laughs in reply, "Who'd think that this would ever be a question in the land of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, who called himself the son of Lord Ganesh and the goddess of learning, Saraswati?"

Moving back and forth from Dakhani, the local Urdu dialect, to Kannada, he explains that the Ganesh invocation he is teaching is a composition from Ibrahim Adil Shah II, who ruled the sultanate of Bijapur from 1579 to 1626.

"This is from the Badshah's treatise Kitab-e-Navras (Book of Nine Rasas) in Dakhani, which has nearly 59 compositions and 17 couplets, many of which are dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses."

His only lament is that Ibrahim, also a dhrupad singer, simply left behind suggestions on the ragas suited to the dhrupad compositions without notations or suggestions for the rhythmic beat or tala, a system created only later by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936). "While this must be because he was himself such an accomplished singer and cognoscenti of classical arts, it's difficult for contemporary artistes to pick and sing these compositions."

Ibrahim, who was an expert in Persian, Kannada and Marathi, was much taken with the music which had its roots in the region, says Sayyed. "All his compositions are in ragas like Abhogi, Adana, Asavari, Bageshree Kaanada, Darbari, Devsakh, Husseini Kaanada, Kafi Kaanada, Kausi Kaanada, Nayaki Kaanada, Shahana, Sughrai or Suha from the Kaanada group, which originated in this region."...

Historian Dr Krishna Kolar Kulkarni, who is visiting Sayyed, shakes his head when asked about Ibrahim Adil Shah II. "Today when we're ready to kill, plunder and wipe out each other in the name of religion over the slightest provocation, it almost seems surreal that a man with such wonderfully syncretic outlook of life lived seven centuries ago," he says...

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-sounds-of-oneness-2253897