--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-in/gharana/lucknow-gharana-kathak' title: 'Lucknow Gharana (Kathak)' author: name: Anonymous updated: '2026-10-16T21:45:05+00:00' type: website summary: "The Lucknow gharana is a school of Kathak dance that took its court form in Lucknow in the mid-19th century, under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh. Katarzyna Skiba counts it with Jaipur and Benares among the three main Kathak gharanas. The school also goes by the Kalka-Bindadin gharana, after the brothers Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad, whom family and popular accounts place at the nawab's court. Margaret Walker, as Skiba reports, found that the nawab's court dancers went by the name Bhagats and that his books name neither kathaks nor these ancestors.Family tradition, published by Kalashram, Birju Maharaj's institution, traces the line to Ishwari Prasad, a Brahmin of Handia near Prayagraj (Allahabad), whom Krishna told in a dream to re-establish Kathak. Birju Maharaj told Skiba that his ancestors came from Kichikila village near Allahabad. Generations later, the family account names Durga Prasad as the brothers' father and Thakur Prasad as their uncle. A biography of Wajid Ali Shah by Kaukub Quder and Sajjad Ali Meerza calls them sons of Thakur Prasad. Both accounts name Thakur Prasad as the nawab's dance teacher, though the biography notes that the king's own writings name neither his master nor kathak.Skiba finds that Lucknow masters give more weight to bhav, feeling shown through gesture and mime, while Jaipur dancers stress speed and footwork. Lucknow dancers elaborate thumri and ghazal and improvise on the song's text, a practice Purnima Shah traces to kathak dancers and courtesans in 18th and 19th century Lucknow. Sunil Kothari links nazakat, delicacy, and khubsurati, beauty, to the culture of Lucknow. The costume draws on Muslim and Persian dress, with the angarkha over churidar trousers. Aneesh Pradhan, a tabla player and historian, suggests Kathak's popularity in Lucknow may mark the start of the open, or khula, style of the city's tabla gharana.Kalka Prasad's sons Achhan, Lachhu and Shambhu Maharaj carried the line into the 20th century. From the mid-1930s, Walker shows, Nirmala Joshi's Delhi institutions recruited hereditary Kathak teachers, and authority over the dance moved from Lucknow and Jaipur to the capital. Achhan's son Birju Maharaj trained under his father and then both uncles. In 2010 Walker called him the current authority of the Lucknow style. He headed the Kathak Kendra in Delhi and founded Kalashram there in 1998.Key exponentsThakur Prasad, 19th century, named as Wajid Ali Shah's dance teacher; uncle of Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad in the family account, their father in othersDurga Prasad, 19th century, father of Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad in the family accountBindadin Maharaj, 1830 to 1918 by the Lucknow Observer's account, co-founder of the Kalka-Bindadin line and thumri composerKalka Prasad, 19th century, co-founder of the Kalka-Bindadin line and father of Achhan, Lachhu and Shambhu MaharajAchhan Maharaj, son of Kalka Prasad, father and teacher of Birju MaharajLachhu Maharaj, 1901 to 1978, founder director of the Kathak Kendra in Lucknow and teacher of Birju MaharajShambhu Maharaj, died 1970, taught in Delhi from 1955 and teacher of Birju MaharajBirju Maharaj, 1938 to 2022, authority of the Lucknow style and founder of KalashramSourcesKatarzyna Skiba, Cultural Geography of Kathak Dance: Streams of Tradition and Global Flows, Cracow Indological Studies 18 (2016)Margaret Walker, Revival and Reinvention in India's Kathak Dance, MUSICultures 37 (2010)Purnima Shah, Performance of Thumri in Kathak Dance, Asian Theatre Journal 40 (2023)Ashish Mohan Khokar, Shambhu Maharaj, SahapediaSunil Kothari, Early memories of encounters with Birju Maharaj, Narthaki (2020)Kalashram, biography of Birju Maharaj (family account)" image: 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' published: true og: site_name: KalaSudha 'image:url': 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' 'image:secure_url': 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' 'image:type': image/svg+xml 'image:alt': KalaSudha --- ## [Lucknow Gharana (Kathak) ](/en-in/gharana/lucknow-gharana-kathak) The **Lucknow gharana** is a school of [Kathak](/en-in/dance/kathak) dance that took its court form in Lucknow in the mid-19th century, under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh. Katarzyna Skiba counts it with Jaipur and Benares among the three main Kathak gharanas. The school also goes by the **Kalka-Bindadin gharana**, after the brothers Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad, whom family and popular accounts place at the nawab's court. Margaret Walker, as Skiba reports, found that the nawab's court dancers went by the name Bhagats and that his books name neither kathaks nor these ancestors. Family tradition, published by Kalashram, Birju Maharaj's institution, traces the line to Ishwari Prasad, a Brahmin of Handia near Prayagraj (Allahabad), whom Krishna told in a dream to re-establish Kathak. Birju Maharaj told Skiba that his ancestors came from Kichikila village near Allahabad. Generations later, the family account names Durga Prasad as the brothers' father and Thakur Prasad as their uncle. A biography of Wajid Ali Shah by Kaukub Quder and Sajjad Ali Meerza calls them sons of Thakur Prasad. Both accounts name Thakur Prasad as the nawab's dance teacher, though the biography notes that the king's own writings name neither his master nor kathak. Skiba finds that Lucknow masters give more weight to **bhav**, feeling shown through gesture and mime, while Jaipur dancers stress speed and footwork. Lucknow dancers elaborate [**thumri**](/en-in/vocal/hindustani-classical/thumri) and ghazal and improvise on the song's text, a practice Purnima Shah traces to kathak dancers and courtesans in 18th and 19th century Lucknow. Sunil Kothari links **nazakat**, delicacy, and khubsurati, beauty, to the culture of Lucknow. The costume draws on Muslim and Persian dress, with the **angarkha** over churidar trousers. Aneesh Pradhan, a tabla player and historian, suggests Kathak's popularity in Lucknow may mark the start of the open, or khula, style of the city's tabla gharana. Kalka Prasad's sons Achhan, Lachhu and Shambhu Maharaj carried the line into the 20th century. From the mid-1930s, Walker shows, Nirmala Joshi's Delhi institutions recruited hereditary Kathak teachers, and authority over the dance moved from Lucknow and Jaipur to the capital. Achhan's son Birju Maharaj trained under his father and then both uncles. In 2010 Walker called him the current authority of the Lucknow style. He headed the Kathak Kendra in Delhi and founded Kalashram there in 1998. ### Key exponents - Thakur Prasad, 19th century, named as Wajid Ali Shah's dance teacher; uncle of Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad in the family account, their father in others - Durga Prasad, 19th century, father of Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad in the family account - Bindadin Maharaj, 1830 to 1918 by the Lucknow Observer's account, co-founder of the Kalka-Bindadin line and thumri composer - Kalka Prasad, 19th century, co-founder of the Kalka-Bindadin line and father of Achhan, Lachhu and Shambhu Maharaj - Achhan Maharaj, son of Kalka Prasad, father and teacher of Birju Maharaj - Lachhu Maharaj, 1901 to 1978, founder director of the Kathak Kendra in Lucknow and teacher of Birju Maharaj - Shambhu Maharaj, died 1970, taught in Delhi from 1955 and teacher of Birju Maharaj - Birju Maharaj, 1938 to 2022, authority of the Lucknow style and founder of Kalashram ### Sources - Katarzyna Skiba, Cultural Geography of Kathak Dance: Streams of Tradition and Global Flows, Cracow Indological Studies 18 (2016) - Margaret Walker, Revival and Reinvention in India's Kathak Dance, MUSICultures 37 (2010) - Purnima Shah, Performance of Thumri in Kathak Dance, Asian Theatre Journal 40 (2023) - Ashish Mohan Khokar, Shambhu Maharaj, Sahapedia - Sunil Kothari, Early memories of encounters with Birju Maharaj, Narthaki (2020) - Kalashram, biography of Birju Maharaj (family account) [Sign in to follow](/en-in/user/login?flag_anon=follow_term-337&destination=/en-in/markdownify/taxonomy/term/337)