--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-pk/vocal/hindustani-classical/dhrupad' title: 'Dhrupad: oldest vocal form of Hindustani music' author: name: Anonymous updated: '2026-10-31T16:29:57+00:00' type: website summary: 'Dhrupad is a Hindustani vocal genre that emerged at the Gwalior court around 1500. A long unaccompanied alap precedes a composition sung with the pakhawaj.' tags: - 'Hindustani Classical' 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 --- Specific Discipline # Dhrupad ध्रुपद The oldest living Hindustani vocal genre, sung with the pakhawaj drum Oldest Hindustani vocal genre Raga Purity Dhrupad, the oldest Hindustani vocal genre still sung, opens with a long unaccompanied alap on the raga, then sings a fixed composition with the pakhawaj drum. [ Explore Courses ](/en-pk/courses?discipline=61) [ Show interest ](/en-pk/vocal/hindustani-classical/dhrupad/show-interest) [Sign in to follow](/en-pk/user/login?flag_anon=follow_term-61&destination=/en-pk/markdownify/taxonomy/term/61) [ Share ](/en-pk/share/term/61) ## Overview **Dhrupad** (also dhruvapada) is the oldest vocal genre of [Hindustani classical music](/en-pk/vocal/hindustani-classical) still performed: a serious form that opens with an unaccompanied alap and then sings a fixed composition with the [pakhawaj](/en-pk/instrumental/hindustani-classical/pakhawaj) drum. The name joins two Sanskrit words, dhruva, "fixed", and pada, "verse" or "words". A performance begins with the **alap**, an improvised exposition of the **raga**, the melodic framework, sung on syllables over the drone of the tanpura, a long-necked lute. The alap starts at a slow pace, gathers pulse and speed, and only then does the composition, or **bandish**, enter with the drum. Dhrupad avoids the fast runs (tans) of [khayal](/en-pk/vocal/hindustani-classical/khayal), and the ethnomusicologist Bonnie Wade names the clear presentation of each raga as its hallmark. Dhrupad emerged as a named genre at the court of Man Singh Tomar in Gwalior around 1500 and became the leading vocal genre of the Mughal courts. Its texts, mostly in Braj Bhasha or Avadhi, praise Hindu deities, Krishna above all, and also honour kings, describe seasons and pass on musical knowledge. Musicians also play the idiom on instruments, above all the rudra veena. Practitioners recognise four stylistic streams, or **banis**, and the **Dagar family** is credited with keeping dhrupad alive after independence. Part of **Hindustani Classical**: Hindustani classical vocal music is the singing tradition of North Indian art music. Singers develop a raga through composition and improvisation in khayal and dhrupad. ### Quick Facts Name Meaning Fixed verse (dhruva + pada) Key Family Dagar family (Dagar bani) Accompaniment Pakhawaj and tanpura (not tabla) Characteristic Long alap; meend and gamak, no tans ## History & Evolution Historians date dhrupad as a named genre to the Gwalior court of **Man Singh Tomar** (reigned 1486 to 1516), where musicians such as Bakshu and Baiju, a figure much wrapped in legend, set Hindi verse in place of Sanskrit. His treatise, the Manakutuhala, is lost apart from one chapter and survives through a Persian rendering of 1665-66. The historian Hariharnivas Dwivedi notes that songs called dhruvapada existed earlier. Practitioners trace dhrupad further back, through older song forms to Sama Vedic chant and temple singing. From Gwalior it spread to Sufi gatherings, temples and the court of **Akbar**, where 15 of the 36 master singers Abu'l-Fazl lists came from Gwalior, **Tansen** foremost. The solemn style heard today had probably formed by the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719 to 1748), who also brought khayal into the classical mainstream. Hereditary lineages carried dhrupad through khayal's rise, among them the **Dagar family** and the Mallick family of Darbhanga. After independence the Senior Dagar Brothers, Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, and their cousins are credited with keeping it alive. New state patronage followed, and the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal opened on the initiative of the civil servant Ashok Vajpeyi. Late 15th Century ### Gwalior Court Dhrupad emerges as a named genre at the Gwalior court of Man Singh Tomar (reigned 1486 to 1516). His musicians sing classical songs in Hindi in place of Sanskrit, and he orders collections of Vishnupadas, dhrupads, horis and dhamars. 16th to 17th Century ### Mughal Courts By about 1550 dhrupad belongs to Mughal court culture. Gwalior-trained singers serve Akbar, and dhrupad becomes the leading vocal genre at Delhi, Agra and the regional courts of North and Central India. 18th to 19th Century ### Rise of Khayal By the 19th century khayal has virtually replaced dhrupad as the leading vocal genre. At Gwalior's Scindia court khayal begins to outshine dhrupad under Daulatrao Scindia (1794 to 1827) and Jayajirao Scindia (1843 to 1886). 20th century to present ### Revival The Senior Dagar Brothers tour Europe in the 1960s and UNESCO issues their recordings. Zia Mohiuddin and Zia Fariduddin Dagar teach many of today's leading singers; the Gundecha Brothers and Uday Bhawalkar study with Zia Fariduddin. ## Technical Aspects ### Extended Alap A dhrupad performance opens with the **alap**, sung over the tanpura drone with no drum and no song text. The singer uses syllables in place of words. Dagar practitioners derive these syllables from a mantra phrase, while other writers describe them as conventional syllables with no meaning. The alap usually starts at the middle tonic and sinks into the low register (mandra), then climbs through the middle (madhya) to the high register (tar), though singers do not always keep that order. It then takes on a pulse that quickens in stages. Vocal practice calls the pulsed phase **nom-tom**; it parallels the **jor** of instrumental music, and a fast closing phase often resembles instrumental **jhala**. The drum stays silent throughout. Only then does the composition begin with the pakhawaj. The ethnomusicologist Bonnie Wade puts a concert performance at about 40 to 60 minutes, opening with a lengthy alap. ### Pakhawaj Accompaniment The [pakhawaj](/instrumental/hindustani-classical/pakhawaj), a horizontal two-headed barrel drum, accompanies dhrupad in place of the [tabla](/instrumental/hindustani-classical/tabla), and the tanpura supplies the drone. Paintings show how the ensemble changed. In the 1500s singers kept the tala with hand gestures and sang with the rudra veena. Paintings of the 17th century add a long-necked drone lute and the pakhawaj, and in the 1700s the veena left the vocal group as its players became independent. The drummer need not play the **theka**, the fixed pattern that marks a tala in khayal. Instead the drummer joins the rhythmic improvisation, playing complex patterns, falling silent where a beat is expected or improvising alongside the singer. Wade suggests this freedom may date from the time when singers kept the tala by hand. Of the five talas in 1990s performances, **chautal** (12 beats) and **jhaptal** (10) led; practitioners also list sultal (10) and tivra (7). Songs for the spring festival of Holi, set in the 14-beat dhamar tala, form the related genre [dhamar](/vocal/hindustani-classical/dhamar). ### Four Banis Dhrupad has four **banis** (also vanis), stylistic streams named **Gauhar**, **Dagar**, **Khandar** and **Nauhar**. Spellings vary between sources: Gauhar also appears as Gauri, and Khandar as Khandhar. The streams differ in tempo, voice culture, the balance between alap and composition, and ornament. In practitioners' accounts, Gauhar is known for smooth glides and a reposeful gait, and the Dagar bani gives most weight to a slow, subtle alap with close attention to shruti. Khandar, the bani associated with the Mallick family of the Darbhanga gharana, uses a forceful voice and vigorous gamak. Nauhar is known for rhythmic division of the text and lively passages. Tradition names a founder for each, such as Tansen for Gauhar and Swami Haridas for Dagar, but these attributions remain unverified, and practitioners stress that the boundaries between banis were always fluid. ## Journey to Mastery Follow this structured journey to master this discipline 1. 1 ### Voice Production A dhrupad alap covers a wide range, from the low tonic to the fourth or fifth note above the upper tonic, and Bonnie Wade notes the heavy demand this makes on the voice. One Dagar-trained singer describes the aim as an unsupported sound that fills the body (niradhar nad), in place of a frontal throat sound. Practise long tones across that range with your teacher. 2. 2 ### Alap Practice Learn to unfold a raga at a slow pace on syllables over the tanpura drone, carrying it from the low register to the high, with close attention to shruti (microtones). Then add the pulsed nom-tom phase and the faster passages that lead towards the composition, the order a dhrupad alap follows in performance. 3. 3 ### Bandish Repertoire A bandish is a fixed composition set to a tala, a repeating rhythmic cycle. A dhrupad bandish can have four sections: sthayi, usually in the lower half of the middle register; antara, which rises to the upper tonic; sanchari, often in the low register; and abhog, which returns towards the sthayi. Many have only the first two. Learn one composition and mark where each section begins. 4. 4 ### Ornamentation Dhrupad ornament rests on meend, a glide between notes, and gamak, an oscillation on or around a note. Students work on both and leave aside the fast runs (tans) and the quick turns called murki and khatka that khayal uses. As the alap gathers speed, new and quicker ornaments enter that are almost absent from the slow opening. 5. 5 ### Performance Practice Performance practice centres on improvising on the composition's words once the pakhawaj enters. In bol-bant the singer divides the words into faster note values, such as halves, thirds and quarters; in laykari the singer plays rhythm against and within the tala. Dhrupad is sung solo or by a pair, and Dagar singers have performed as duos, often brothers, over several generations. ## Media Gallery Audio and video performances [ Live Performance 9:20 ### Ram Chandra Chadhyo Hai Trikut Par \| Pt. Premkumar Mallick \| Dhrupad Vocal 6 months ago ](/en-pk/video/ram-chandra-chadhyo-hai-trikut-par-pt-premkumar-mallick-dhrupad-vocal) [ Live Performance 6:23 ### Aayi Basant Bahaar - Pundit Premkumar Mallick \| Dhrupad \| Vocal \| Purvi Festival 2023 1 year ago ](/en-pk/video/aayi-basant-bahaar-pundit-premkumar-mallick-dhrupad-vocal-purvi-festival-2023) [ Live Performance 18:12 ### Raag Bihag Alap \| Pandit Premkumar Mallick \| Vocal \| Music of India \| Purvi Festival 2023 1 year ago ](/en-pk/video/raag-bihag-alap-pandit-premkumar-mallick-vocal-music-of-india-purvi-festival-2023) ## Featured Artists Renowned performers of this discipline ## [Premkumar Mallick ](/en-pk/artist/premkumar-mallick) Pandit Premkumar Mallick is a leading Dhrupad vocalist of the Darbhanga Gharana, known for his profound alap, powerful voice, and deep lineage, carrying forward a centuries-old classical tradition. [ ](https://www.facebook.com/premkumar.mallick "Facebook") [ ](https://www.instagram.com/premkumarmallick15/ "Facebook") ## Frequently Asked Questions Where can I learn dhrupad singing online? You can learn [dhrupad](/en-pk/vocal/hindustani-classical/dhrupad) singing online with KalaSudha, in live one-to-one lessons with a vetted teacher. Dhrupad, the oldest Hindustani vocal genre still sung, opens with a long unaccompanied **alap**, an unmetred exploration of the raga, then sings a fixed composition with the pakhawaj drum. Your first stage at **Foundation** is voice production. You practise long tones across the range a dhrupad alap covers, from the low tonic up to the fourth or fifth note above the upper tonic. Our [courses](/en-pk/courses) run in levels, and KalaSudha adds workshops and summer camps where enough learners sign up. Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help! Stay close ## Keep KalaSudha close. 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