Benares Gharana (Kathak)

बनारस घराना (कथक)

Kathak danced to natwari bols, syllables made for the dancer's feet

Dance Gharana Varanasi Early 19th century

Founded By

Janakiprasad

The Banaras gharana, also written Benares and called the Janakiprasad gharana after its credited founder, is a school of Kathak dance named after Varanasi. It is usually listed with Jaipur and Lucknow as one of the main Kathak gharanas. By the lineage's own account, Janakiprasad settled in the city in the early 19th century.

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Origins & History

Janakiprasad is credited with founding the gharana. Natawari, the lineage's own institution, places his family at Bikaner and traces it to Sanvaldas, a dancer at the court of Maharaja Anup Singh (r. 1669 to 1698). Gharana tradition says the Maharani of Bikaner saw him as a boy dancing on a plank floating on water and became his patron. Natawari adds that he later moved to Banaras to take Kathak closer to its devotional roots.

Margaret Walker finds no treatise or travel account that names a dance called kathak before the 1920s or 1930s. She also cites the 1832 census of Benares, which listed 118 Kathaks as music and dancing masters.

A second line also carries the Banaras name. Jaiswal and Upadhyay name Sukhdev Maharaj (born 1888) as a co-founder with Janakiprasad, while the Natawari genealogy leaves him out. His family came from Varanasi and later lived in Kolkata and Bombay. The gharana shares its city with the Benares gharana of tabla, a separate tradition.

Chronologie historique

Late 17th century

Sanvaldas at the Bikaner court

Natawari traces Janakiprasad's family to Sanvaldas, a dancer in the court workshop of Maharaja Anup Singh of Bikaner, from Melusar village in Churu district.
Early 19th century

Janakiprasad settles in Banaras

By Natawari's account, Janakiprasad moves to Banaras to take Kathak closer to its devotional roots, and the school takes the city's name.
1832

Benares census counts 118 Kathaks

The census of the city of Benares lists 118 Kathaks as music and dancing masters, a figure Margaret Walker cites from the 1832 count.
1920

Sitara Devi is born

Sitara Devi, daughter of Sukhdev Maharaj, is born in Kolkata. Vijay Shanker gives the date as 8 November 1920, the day of Dhanteras.
1949

Ashiq Hussain moves to Pakistan

Ashiq Hussain, pupil of Gopalji, moves to Pakistan and leaves the leadership of the gharana to his pupil Hazarilal.
1969

Natawari founded

Natawari dates its own founding by Hazarilal to this year.
2003

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Sunayana Hazarilal

Sunayana Hazarilal, pupil and wife of Hazarilal, receives the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Kathak for 2003.
2014

Sitara Devi dies

Sitara Devi dies at 94. Scroll.in's obituary names her among the gharana's most vigorous proponents and propagators.

Lineage & Legacy

The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations

Two family lines carry the Banaras name. The Janakiprasad line passed to gurus who took the style across north India, Hanuman Prasad among them. Gopalji's branch ran on through Ashiq Hussain to Hazarilal, whose pupil and wife Sunayana Hazarilal leads it today, by Natawari's account. Accounts differ on how Janakiprasad's first pupils were related to him. Natawari counts one of them, Chunnilal, as his brother. The second line stays in the family of Sukhdev Maharaj, who taught his daughter Sitara Devi.

Founder

Janakiprasad

Early 19th century, by the lineage's account

Credited founder

Credited with founding the gharana and with the natwari bols, syllables made for dance. Natawari places his family's origins at the Bikaner court.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

Gurus who spread the style

Hanuman Prasad

1872-1952

Court dancer and teacher

Danced at the courts of Kashmir, Patiala and Bikaner, and for a short time in Nepal, before teaching in Delhi. He is a different dancer from the Jaipur gharana's Hanuman Prasad.

Biharilal

1864-1938

Court dancer and teacher

Served at the Indore court, danced in Bal Gandharva's theatre company in Bombay and taught the singer Kesarbai Kerkar. Natawari credits him with many natwari syllables.

Gopalji

Died 1932

Guru in Lahore

Settled in Lahore and spread the style in Punjab. The gharana was at times called the Lahore, Punjab or Gopalji ka gharana after him.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

Gopalji's branch

Ashiq Hussain

1908-1960

Dancer and film actor

Pupil of Gopalji and an actor-dancer in film. He moved to Pakistan in 1949 and passed the leadership of the gharana to his pupil Hazarilal.

Hazarilal

Died 1992

Guru

Revived the Janakiprasad style on stage after independence. Natawari, the institution he shared with his pupil and wife Sunayana Hazarilal, dates its founding to 1969.

Sunayana Hazarilal

Born 1938 or 1939

Leader of the Janakiprasad line

Pupil and wife of Hazarilal. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Kathak for 2003.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

The Sukhdev Maharaj line

Sukhdev Maharaj

Born 1888

Head of the second Banaras line

Came from a Brahmin family of Varanasi and taught and performed Kathak. Jaiswal and Upadhyay name him a co-founder of the gharana with Janakiprasad.

Sitara Devi

1920-2014

Dancer, daughter of Sukhdev Maharaj

Born in Kolkata, she learned first from her father and later from Achchan, Shambhu and Lachchu Maharaj of the Lucknow gharana. Vijay Shanker sees both schools in her dancing.

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

  • Janakiprasad, credited founder, early 19th century by the lineage's account
  • Hanuman Prasad, 1872-1952, court dancer and teacher in Delhi
  • Biharilal, 1864-1938, court dancer at Indore
  • Gopalji, died 1932, took the style to Lahore
  • Hazarilal, died 1992, revived the Janakiprasad line
  • Sunayana Hazarilal, leader of the Janakiprasad line, Akademi award for 2003
  • Sukhdev Maharaj, born 1888, head of the second Banaras line
  • Sitara Devi, 1920-2014, dancer, daughter of Sukhdev Maharaj

Caractéristiques musicales

Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy

Overall Style

The Janakiprasad style, as its own institution Natawari describes it, centres on natwari bols, syllables made for the dancer's feet, and on heel work in tatkar, the footwork. Natawari ties the style to devotional roots and describes the movement as lyrical and smooth-flowing.

Natwari bols

Dance syllables credited to Janakiprasad, such as jhan jhan, jhung, cheka and tharrr. Natawari says none of them can be played on the tabla.

Heel work in tatkar

Natawari says this gharana began the use of the heel in tatkar, the rhythmic footwork, and gives thaat, the opening stance, an important place.

Whole-body abhinaya

Abhinaya, the expressive side of the dance, uses the whole body as well as the face. Natawari names saatvik and angika abhinaya, inner feeling and the limbs.

Devotional roots

In Natawari's account the style looks back to devotion. The Maharani of Bikaner encouraged devotional raas nritya among the palace women, and Janakiprasad brought Kathak nearer its devotional roots.

Signature Repertoire

The Banaras repertoire rests on the gharana's own syllables and, by Natawari's account, on devotional dance. Natawari describes a barakhadi, a series of twelve compositions from which further pieces grow. Kumudini Lakhia, in a statement Natawari hosts, says the bols of the Janakiprasad gharana stand apart from those of Jaipur and Lucknow.

Famous Compositions

Barakhadi

By: Janakiprasad, as Natawari credits

Why it's special:

A series of twelve generative compositions, from which the dancer builds further pieces. Natawari credits it to Janakiprasad.

Compare with Similar Gharanas

Understand how Benares Gharana (Kathak) differs from other traditions

Select a Gharana to Compare:

Benares Gharana (Kathak)
(Current)		 Jaipur Gharana (Kathak)
(Comparing)
Type Dance Dance
Origine Varanasi Jaipur, Rajasthan
Era Early 19th century
Style The Janakiprasad style, as its own institution Natawari describes it, centres on natwari bols, syllables made for the dancer's feet, and on heel work in tatkar, the footwork. Natawari ties the style to devotional roots and describes the movement as lyrical and smooth-flowing. Jaipur dancers put their weight on nritta, pure dance, while Lucknow dancers are known for grace and expressive abhinaya. Jaipur dancers are known for strong footwork called tatkar, complex rhythmic patterns, and an emphasis on layakari, the play of rhythm, and on pakhawaj compositions. The repertoire is devotional, drawing on Krishna and on Shiva's tandava.
View Jaipur Gharana (Kathak) Details

Influence & Legacy

The Janakiprasad style spread through court posts and teaching. Hanuman Prasad danced at Kashmir, Patiala and Bikaner before teaching in Delhi, Biharilal served at Indore and worked in Bombay theatre, and Gopalji took the style to Lahore. Ashiq Hussain carried it into film and, from 1949, to Pakistan. Kumudini Lakhia names him as her childhood teacher. Through Sitara Devi, the Sukhdev Maharaj line reached the concert stage.

Sources

  1. Margaret Walker, Revival and Reinvention in India's Kathak Dance (2010)
  2. V. Jaiswal and R. Upadhyay, The Banaras Gharana of Kathak Dance (2023)
  3. Natawari, history, archive and style pages (n.d.)
  4. Vijay Shanker, About Sitara Devi, the Queen of Kathak (2022)
  5. Scroll.in, obituary of Sitara Devi (2014)
  6. Sangeet Natak Akademi, awardee profile of Sunayana Hazarilal (2003)

Questions fréquentes

What is the Benares gharana of Kathak?

The Benares gharana, more often written Banaras, is a school of Kathak dance named after Varanasi and also called the Janakiprasad gharana. It is usually listed with Jaipur and Lucknow among the main Kathak gharanas, and it dances to natwari bols, syllables made for the feet.

Who founded the Benares gharana of Kathak?

Janakiprasad is credited with founding the Benares gharana of Kathak, and the school also carries his name. Natawari places his family at the Bikaner court. Jaiswal and Upadhyay name Sukhdev Maharaj as a second founder; Natawari's genealogy leaves him out.

Which dancers belong to the Benares gharana of Kathak today?

Sunayana Hazarilal leads the Janakiprasad line today, by Natawari's account. She is the pupil and wife of Hazarilal and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2003. In the Sukhdev Maharaj family, Vishal Krishna (born 1991), who trained with Sitara Devi, performs as a Banaras gharana dancer.

How does the Benares gharana of Kathak differ from the Jaipur gharana?

Kumudini Lakhia sets the Benares bols apart from those of the Jaipur gharana, and Benares dancers use natwari bols, syllables no tabla can play. Read more on the Jaipur gharana of Kathak.

What are natwari bols?

Natwari bols are dance syllables credited to Janakiprasad, founder of the Banaras gharana. Natawari says the dance of his day used compositions made for tabla and pakhawaj, and that he made syllables for dance itself, such as jhung and cheka, which the tabla cannot play. Its archive credits Biharilal with many of them.

Which gharana did Sitara Devi belong to?

Sitara Devi belonged to the Banaras gharana through her father, Sukhdev Maharaj, who taught her first. Born in Kolkata in 1920, she went on to train with Lucknow masters, and Vijay Shanker sees Banaras and Lucknow traits in her dancing.

Why is the Banaras Kathak gharana sometimes called the Lahore or Punjab gharana?

The Banaras gharana was at times called the Lahore, Punjab or Gopalji ka gharana because its guru Gopalji (died 1932) settled in Lahore and spread the style in Punjab. His pupil Ashiq Hussain carried the line on and moved to Pakistan in 1949, leaving it to Hazarilal.

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