Origins & History
Most musicians, Gordon Thompson writes, associate the origins of thumri with the court of Wajid Ali Shah, ruler of Awadh in the mid-19th century. Manu S. Pillai dates his accession to 1847, and the East India Company annexed his kingdom in 1856. According to Kumud Diwan and Amrita Sarkhel, he wrote thumris under the pen name Akhtar Piya. Thumri is older than his court: Thompson notes earlier stylistic predecessors, and Manuel begins his history of the genre in 1770.
Margaret Walker writes that in 19th-century courts and kothas, courtesans performed songs illustrated with gesture, and hereditary Kathak men taught and accompanied them. The Kathaks were Hindus, she notes, unlike most other hereditary professional musicians of North India. In the Lucknow Observer's account, Bindadin Maharaj, of a hereditary Kathak family, danced at Wajid Ali Shah's court as a boy. His family's history is told on the Lucknow gharana of Kathak page.
After the annexation Wajid Ali Shah spent his last 30 years on the outskirts of Calcutta, and musicians and courtesans such as Malka Jan joined his exiled court. Manuel dates the passage from bandish thumri to the slower bol banao thumri to the years 1870 to 1920. Amrita Sarkhel quotes Peter Manuel as dating the end of the traditional Lucknow style to 1944, when its last great exponent, Baba Nasir Khan of the Delhi gharana, died.
"Most musicians associate the origins of the thumri with the court of Wajid Ali Shah"
ঐতিহাসিক সময়রেখা
Wajid Ali Shah takes the throne
Awadh is annexed
Thumri in transition
Gauhar Jaan's first records
Death of Baba Nasir Khan
Death of Birju Maharaj
Lineage & Legacy
The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations
The Lucknow style passed through two kinds of performer rather than one family. Courtesans sang thumri for the dance, and hereditary Kathak men taught and accompanied them. Bindadin Maharaj tutored Gauhar Jaan, who carried thumri onto gramophone records. In the Kathak family the compositions passed down to Birju Maharaj, who gathered Bindadin's work in a book.
The court of Wajid Ali Shah
Wajid Ali Shah
Died 1887
King of Awadh, patron and composer
Bindadin Maharaj
19th to 20th century
Kathak master and composer
Kalka Prasad
19th century
Kathak dancer
The exiled court and the first records
Malka Jan
19th century
Courtesan singer and dancer
Gauhar Jaan
1873-1930
Singer
The end of the line
Baba Nasir Khan
Died 1944
Singer of the Delhi gharana
Birju Maharaj
Died 2022
Kathak dancer
The gharana system is rooted in the guru-shishya (teacher-disciple) tradition, where musical knowledge and style are passed down through direct apprenticeship over three or more generations.
Key exponents
- Wajid Ali Shah, king of Awadh 1847-1856, thumri composer as Akhtar Piya by two accounts
- Bindadin Maharaj, Kathak master and composer of thumris and bandishes for Kathak
- Malka Jan, courtesan dancer at Wajid Ali Shah's exiled court
- Gauhar Jaan, 1873-1930, carried thumri and dadra onto gramophone records
- Baba Nasir Khan, died 1944, last great exponent of the Lucknow style for Manuel
- Birju Maharaj, died 2022, compiler of Bindadin Maharaj's compositions as Ras Gunjan
সাংগীতিক বৈশিষ্ট্য
Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy
Overall Style
The Lucknow tradition centres on the bandish thumri, a composition-based type that Manuel analyses as a distinct style. It was designed to accompany Kathak, though it was also sung on its own, usually in teentaal, a cycle of 16 beats, or ektaal, of 12, at medium or fast tempo. Dancers mime their movements to the words, and the texts draw on the Krishna legends of Vraj.
The bandish
Made for the dance
Medium and fast tempo
Krishna texts
Signature Repertoire
The repertoire is the body of bandish thumris composed for Kathak at Lucknow. Bindadin Maharaj composed many, signed Binda, and Birju Maharaj later gathered them as Ras Gunjan. According to Kumud Diwan and Amrita Sarkhel, Wajid Ali Shah wrote thumris as Akhtar Piya. Gauhar Jaan put thumri and dadra on gramophone records from 1902. The tabla's fast laggi, Aneesh Pradhan writes, first complemented the dance of women performers trained in Kathak.
Compare with Similar Gharanas
Understand how লখনউ ঘরানা (ঠুমরী) differs from other traditions
Select a Gharana to Compare:
| লখনউ ঘরানা (ঠুমরী) (Current) |
পাতিয়ালা ঘরানা (ঠুমরী) (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| টাইপ | Vocal | Vocal |
| উৎপত্তি | Lucknow | Patiala, Punjab |
| Era | Late 19th century | Late 19th century |
| Style | The Lucknow tradition centres on the bandish thumri, a composition-based type that Manuel analyses as a distinct style. It was designed to accompany Kathak, though it was also sung on its own, usually in teentaal, a cycle of 16 beats, or ektaal, of 12, at medium or fast tempo. Dancers mime their movements to the words, and the texts draw on the Krishna legends of Vraj. | Punjabi folk song, above all the tappa, gave the gharana its fast, compressed taans, rapid runs of notes, and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan carried that taan structure into his thumri. Amit Chaudhuri hears virtuosic taankari in his thumris and fast khayals alike. Meenakshi Vashisth notes complex layakari and fluid taans beside the tappa-derived ornament. Writers on thumri set this Punjabi style beside the purbi, or eastern, style of Benares. |
| লখনউ ঘরানা (ঠুমরী) (Current) |
বেনারস ঘরানা (ঠুমরী) (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| টাইপ | Vocal | Vocal |
| উৎপত্তি | Lucknow | Varanasi |
| Era | Late 19th century | Late 19th century |
| Style | The Lucknow tradition centres on the bandish thumri, a composition-based type that Manuel analyses as a distinct style. It was designed to accompany Kathak, though it was also sung on its own, usually in teentaal, a cycle of 16 beats, or ektaal, of 12, at medium or fast tempo. Dancers mime their movements to the words, and the texts draw on the Krishna legends of Vraj. | Banaras thumri puts the text first: the singer works one short line until its feeling comes through. Susheela Misra lists pure notes, meend, a glide between notes, and voice modulation among the marks of the Banaras style. Aneesh Pradhan heard poise and dignity in Girija Devi's melodic elaboration. A performance often ends with a fast tabla passage, the laggi. |
Influence & Legacy
The bandish thumri gave way to the bol banao thumri, which Amrita Sarkhel ties to Varanasi and the Benares tradition. Its dance roots stayed in the tabla's laggi and in Kathak, where dancers mime to thumri texts. Thumri also moved onto gramophone records, first through singers such as Gauhar Jaan. The Lucknow Kathak line kept Bindadin Maharaj's thumris through Ras Gunjan.
সচরাচর জিজ্ঞাসিত প্রশ্ন
What is the Lucknow gharana of thumri?
The Lucknow gharana of thumri is the tradition of the bandish thumri, a composed song sung for Kathak dance, which Peter Manuel places in mid-19th-century Lucknow. Amrita Sarkhel calls it the Lucknow ang, one of thumri's regional styles with Banaras and Patiala.
Who founded the Lucknow gharana of thumri?
The Lucknow thumri tradition has no single founder. Most musicians link its origins to the court of Wajid Ali Shah, king of Awadh from 1847 to 1856, who wrote thumris as Akhtar Piya in Kumud Diwan's account. Thumri itself is older, and the Kathak family of Bindadin Maharaj composed much of the repertoire.
Which musicians belong to the Lucknow gharana of thumri today?
Amrita Sarkhel quotes Peter Manuel as dating the end of the traditional Lucknow style to 1944, with the death of Baba Nasir Khan. Its compositions survive in Kathak: Birju Maharaj, of Bindadin Maharaj's family, gathered them as Ras Gunjan before his death in 2022.
How does Lucknow thumri differ from Patiala thumri?
Lucknow thumri is a composed song made for Kathak dance, usually sung at medium or fast tempo in teentaal or ektaal, while Patiala thumri carries the fast, compressed taans of the Punjabi tappa. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan kept that tappa taan structure in his thumri.
What is bandish thumri, and how does it differ from bol banao thumri?
A bandish thumri is a composed thumri, usually sung at medium or fast tempo and tied to Kathak dance. The bol banao thumri is slower and develops the meaning of the words at length. Peter Manuel dates the shift from the first to the second to the years 1870 to 1920.
Did Wajid Ali Shah create thumri?
Thumri is older than Wajid Ali Shah's court, though most musicians associate its origins with it. Gordon Thompson notes earlier stylistic predecessors, and Peter Manuel begins his history of the genre in 1770. Wajid Ali Shah was a patron and, by Kumud Diwan's and Amrita Sarkhel's accounts, a composer of thumris.
How was thumri linked to Kathak in Lucknow?
The bandish thumri was composed to accompany Kathak, and dancers mime their movements to its words. In 19th-century courts and kothas, Margaret Walker writes, courtesans sang songs illustrated with gesture, and hereditary Kathak men taught and accompanied them. Bindadin Maharaj composed many thumris for the dance.
Is the Lucknow gharana a Kathak, tabla or vocal tradition?
The name covers three traditions. This page is the vocal thumri tradition. The Lucknow gharana of Kathak is the dance school of Bindadin Maharaj's family, and the Lucknow tabla gharana was founded by Bakshu Khan and shaped by Kathak.
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