In article <ghenE51wC3.70y@netcom.com>, pdixon@darkwing.uoregon.edu says... > >Hi all. I'm looking for references, etc, for Hindu music. What I'm >hoping to find are diety-specific ragas, and their requisite performance >practice. Tips or references to books, web pages and liner notes on >albums, tapes and CDs would be extremely helpful.
Dhrupada is the oldest extant form of North Indian classical music,
and it is considered by its exponents to be sacred as well. It is
clear that dhrupad as it is known today grew out of an older
tradition called "prabandha." A good (literary) example of the
latter might be the medieval Gitagovindam of Jayadeva Gosvami. But
definitely sacred forms of dhrupada which exist today are its temple
traditions, known variously as haveli-sangita, samaj, etc. Another
sacred form of music is the padavali kirtana which is peculiar to
the Gaudiya Vaisnava school of Krishna worship. While not considered
classical, this unique style of singing is extremely sophisticated
and appealing, especially to Krishna devotees. These two forms of
sacred music date at least to the sixteenth century. In general,
sacred music is called kirtana. Unfortunately, there aren't many
good CDs available for this kind of music, but the courtly dhrupad
tradition is represented by the Dagar bothers, Gundecha Bandhu, and
other secular artists. I hope this helps.
-m
