The Benares gharana is a school of tabla playing in Hindustani music, named after Benares (Varanasi), where Ram Sahai founded it in the late 18th or 19th century. It also goes by the Banaras or Varanasi gharana, and its style by the Benares baj or Banarsi baj. The same name also labels separate vocal and kathak traditions. Benares belongs with Lucknow and Farrukhabad to the purab baj, the eastern style of tabla.

Tradition dates Ram Sahai to 1780 to 1826. DigiTabla, citing Robert Gottlieb, notes wide disagreement over his dates and puts his birth around 1830 or earlier. The school descends from Lucknow: gharana accounts send Ram Sahai there at nine to study with Modhu Khan, though some Lucknow players dispute Modhu Khan's dates. Aneesh Pradhan names the teacher Makkhu Khan. Gharana lore adds a seven-night recital before Nawab Wazir Ali Khan and a six-month retreat in Benares to shape the new style.

Lineage accounts say Ram Sahai wanted a style that could carry a solo and accompany khayal, instrumental music, dhrupad and kathak. Its sound is powerful and open, built on resonant strokes such as na and din, though players also use a light touch. They favour full-hand strokes such as tete, and DigiTabla finds a stronger pakhawaj influence in Benares than in Lucknow. Lineage accounts credit Ram Sahai with a na played with a curved ring finger so the dahina, the right-hand drum, rings, and with the uthan, an opening composition, the Banarsi theka, the basic stroke pattern of a tala, and the fard, a fixed composition. A Benares solo opens with an improvised introduction and the uthan, and closes on tukra and paran, short and long fixed compositions.

Ram Sahai's nephew Bhairav Sahai (1815 to 1894) passed the family line to his son Baldeo Sahai (1856 to 1906). Lineage charts trace a second line of teaching from Ram Sahai to his disciple Bhagat-ji, then to Bhairav Prasad Mishra and his disciple Anokhelal Mishra, known for clarity and speed. Kanthe Maharaj, a disciple of Baldeo Sahai, taught his nephew Kishan Maharaj. Both men accompanied kathak dancers and instrumentalists. Sharda Sahai, a direct descendant of the founder, set up a school in Benares named after Ram Sahai. In 1987 he and Frances Shepherd registered it as a UK charitable trust.

Key exponents

  • Ram Sahai, founder, traditional dates 1780 to 1826
  • Baldeo Sahai, 1856 to 1906, teacher of Kanthe Maharaj
  • Kanthe Maharaj, 1880 to 1969 or 1970, accompanist and teacher of Kishan Maharaj
  • Anokhelal Mishra, 1914 to 1958, soloist known for clarity and speed
  • Samta Prasad (Gudai Maharaj), born 1921, died 1994 (some sources give 1995 or 1999), soloist and accompanist, Padma Bhushan 1991
  • Kishan Maharaj, 1923 to 2008, soloist and accompanist, Padma Shri 1973 and Padma Vibhushan 2002
  • Sharda Sahai, 1935 to 2011, descendant of Ram Sahai and teacher in Benares and the UK

Sources

  • Shawn Mativetsky, Benares gharana and The Art of Tabla Solo in the Benares Gharana, two web articles (n.d.)
  • DigiTabla, The Six Major Gharanas and Baj, citing Robert S. Gottlieb (1993) and James Kippen (1988)
  • Aneesh Pradhan, Scroll.in, on the Banaras style of tabla (2016) and on Girija Devi (2017)
  • Gazette of India, Padma award notifications (1973, 1991, 2002)
  • PRSSV Institute of Performing Arts and Heritage, home and founders pages (n.d.)
  • The Tribune (2008), Shahira Naim's report and Shovana Narayan's tribute on Kishan Maharaj
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