Patiala gharana

Patiala gharana

The Patiala gharana is one of the most prominent gharanas of vocal Hindustani classical music. It was initially sponsored by the Maharaja of Patiala, Punjab, which was famous for ghazal, thumri, and khayal.

History

The Patiala Gharana was founded by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Ali Baksh Khan.

This school of music has had a number of famous musicians, many of whom came to be patronised by the royal family of Patiala after the disintegration of the Mughal Empire at Delhi in the 18th century.

The Patiala gharana tends to favor pentatonic ragas for their ornamentation and execution of intricate taans. Ektaal and Teentaal are the most common taals chosen by members of this gharana. Besides khyal, thumri singing is emphasized.

This gharana has been criticized by purists, who say it overuses ornaments and graces without considering the basic nature and mood of the raga, as exemplified by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's quick ascent through the octave in his rendering of Darbari.[1]

Leading exponents in alphabetical order
Abbas Ali Khan
Ajoy Chakraborty
Akhtar Hussain
Ali Baksh
Asad Amanat Ali Khan
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Begum Akhtar
Dayal Thakur
Dilshad Khan, husband of Parveen Sultana
Ghulam Ali
Hamid Ali Khan
Jagdish Prasad
Johar Ali Khan
Kaushiki Chakrabarty
Kumar Mukherjee
Lakshmi Shankar
Mazhar Ali Khan and Jawaad Ali Khan, grandsons of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Meera Banerjee
Munawar Ali Khan, son of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Munni Begum
Naina Devi
Nirmala Devi
Parveen Sultana
Prasun Banerjee
Rajinder Singh
Raza Ali Khan
Sabar Koti
Sanjukta Ghosh
Mohammad Hussain Sarahang from Afghanistan
Sher Ali Sher
Amanat Ali Khan and Fateh Ali Khan
Umair khan
Suboor khan
Vasantrao Deshpande
Shafqat Amanat Ali