Origins & History
Sarma writes that the gharana came into prominence in Chakradhar Singh's time, which ended with his death in 1947. Press reports from 2003 and 2024 name the Raja as its founder. The Raigarh district administration calls him the patron under whom Raigarh flourished as a centre of art and culture. Chakradhar Singh danced Kathak himself and played tabla and pakhawaj.
He brought masters of the Jaipur, Lucknow and Benares lines to Raigarh as court dancers and teachers. Jailal of the Jaipur line served there after Jaipur, Jodhpur and Sikar, Achhan Maharaj of the Lucknow line was employed there as chief court dancer, and Narayan Prasad was honoured as a court dancer. Lachhu Maharaj also came to Raigarh and taught.
The Raja wrote treatises on dance and rhythm, among them Nartan Sarvasvam and Tal Toya Nidhi. He recruited boys from the region, several with a background in Chhattisgarhi folk dance such as gammat, and had them trained in Kathak at court. In Sarma's account, Kartik Ram, Kalyan Das Mahant, Firtu Das and Burman Lal became its leading dancers.
"All the dancers in the court used to perform in the style prescribed by the Rajah in his dance texts."
Chronologie historique
Gold medal at Allahabad
Death of Chakradhar Singh
Ramlal Bareth teaches in Bhopal
Padma Shri for Ramlal Bareth
Lineage & Legacy
The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations
Raigarh teaching ran from court gurus of other lines to boys trained at the court, and then to their sons. Jailal, Achhan Maharaj, Lachhu Maharaj and the Raja himself taught the court dancers. Kartik Ram, one of them, taught his son Ramlal Bareth, who also learned from the Raja and from Jailal and later taught the style in Raigarh, Bhopal and Khairagarh.
The court and its gurus
Raja Chakradhar Singh
Died 1947
Ruler of Raigarh, dancer and author
Jailal
1885-1949
Jaipur-line guru
Achhan Maharaj
Lucknow-line guru
Lachhu Maharaj
Lucknow-line guru
Dancers trained at court
Kartik Ram
Born 1910
Court dancer
Firtu Das
Court dancer
Kalyan Das Mahant
Born 1921
Court dancer and teacher
Burman Lal
Born 1916
Court dancer
The next generation
Ramlal Bareth
Born 1936
Dancer and guru
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
- Chakradhar Singh, Raja of Raigarh, named founder in press reports and patron by the district
- Jailal, Jaipur-line guru at the Raigarh court, 1885-1949
- Achhan Maharaj, Lucknow-line guru and chief court dancer at Raigarh
- Kartik Ram, court-trained dancer, born 1910
- Firtu Das, court dancer and Kartik Ram's duo partner
- Kalyan Das Mahant, court dancer, later a teacher in Nagpur
- Burman Lal, court dancer and abhinaya specialist, born 1916
- Ramlal Bareth, son and disciple of Kartik Ram, Padma Shri 2024
Caractéristiques musicales
Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy
Overall Style
Raigarh Kathak grew from one court's choices. Narthaki describes the style as a synthesis of Jaipur and Lucknow forms. Sarma writes that the court dancers performed in the style the Raja laid down in his texts. They used his new bols, the spoken syllables of dance, and his chakkardar parans. They kept to a recital order he fixed, from an opening invocation to a closing paran.
Jaipur and Lucknow together
The Raja's bols
A fixed recital order
Folk-trained dancers
Signature Repertoire
The court repertoire drew on the Raja's own writing. Chakradhar Singh wrote Nartan Sarvasvam and Tal Toya Nidhi on dance and rhythm, beside Raga Ratna Manjusha and Muraj Paran Pushpakar, and his bols and chakkardar parans were popular at court. Kartik Ram later wrote a book, Raigarh mein Kathak, with his son Ramlal Bareth as co-writer.
Compare with Similar Gharanas
Understand how Raigarh Gharana differs from other traditions
Select a Gharana to Compare:
| Raigarh Gharana (Current) |
Lucknow Gharana (Kathak) (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dance | Dance |
| Origine | Raigarh, Chhattisgarh | Lucknow |
| Era | Early 20th century | Late 19th century |
| Style | Raigarh Kathak grew from one court's choices. Narthaki describes the style as a synthesis of Jaipur and Lucknow forms. Sarma writes that the court dancers performed in the style the Raja laid down in his texts. They used his new bols, the spoken syllables of dance, and his chakkardar parans. They kept to a recital order he fixed, from an opening invocation to a closing paran. | Skiba finds that Lucknow masters give more weight to bhav, feeling shown through gesture and mime, while Jaipur dancers stress speed and footwork. Lucknow dancing is often slower and lighter on footwork display. Writers describe it with the Urdu words nazakat, delicacy, and khubsurati, beauty, qualities tied to the culture of the Lucknow court. The costume follows Mughal court dress, the angarkha over churidar trousers. |
| Raigarh Gharana (Current) |
Jaipur Gharana (Kathak) (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Type | Dance | Dance |
| Origine | Raigarh, Chhattisgarh | Jaipur, Rajasthan |
| Era | Early 20th century | |
| Style | Raigarh Kathak grew from one court's choices. Narthaki describes the style as a synthesis of Jaipur and Lucknow forms. Sarma writes that the court dancers performed in the style the Raja laid down in his texts. They used his new bols, the spoken syllables of dance, and his chakkardar parans. They kept to a recital order he fixed, from an opening invocation to a closing paran. | 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. |
Influence & Legacy
After the court ended in 1947 the style lived on through teaching. Ramlal Bareth founded the Chakradhar Sangeet Vidyalaya in Raigarh, taught at the Chakradhar Nritya Kendra in Bhopal and served as Reader in the dance department of Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh. His Padma Shri citation credits that teaching with establishing Raigarh as a Kathak gharana. Raigarh also holds the Chakradhar Samaroh, a festival of music and dance named for the Raja.
Sources
- M. Nagabhushana Sarma, Major Exponents of Kathak from the Early Times to Mid-20th C.: An Overview
- Padma Awards, Government of India, citation for Ramlal Bareth (2024)
- Narthaki, Information Snippets (2003)
- IANS, report on Yasmin Singh's two books on the Raigarh gharana (2024)
- District Administration Raigarh, Chakradhar Samaroh, History and Culture and Heritage pages (2024)
Questions fréquentes
What is the Raigarh gharana of Kathak?
The Raigarh gharana is a school of Kathak that formed at the court of Raigarh, now in Chhattisgarh, under Raja Chakradhar Singh, who died in 1947. Its court gurus came from the Jaipur, Lucknow and Benares lines, and its dancers kept to bols and a recital order the Raja laid down.
Who founded the Raigarh gharana of Kathak?
Raja Chakradhar Singh, the last ruler of Raigarh, is the figure the gharana is credited to: press reports name him its founder, and the Raigarh district administration calls him its patron. M. Nagabhushana Sarma writes that it came into prominence in his time. The Raja danced, played tabla and pakhawaj and taught dancers such as Kartik Ram himself.
Which dancers belong to the Raigarh gharana of Kathak today?
Ramlal Bareth, son and disciple of Kartik Ram and trained at the Raigarh court, received the Padma Shri in 2024 for the Raigarh style. The Raigarh district's Chakradhar Samaroh listings name Bhupendra Bareth, who leads a Raigarh gharana Kathak group and teaches the style, performing under Ramlal Bareth's direction.
How does the Raigarh gharana of Kathak differ from the Lucknow gharana?
The Raigarh gharana formed at one court from masters of several lines, and its dancers kept to the Raja's own bols and recital order. The Lucknow gharana took its court form under Wajid Ali Shah and is known for bhav, feeling shown through gesture, and for dancing to thumri. Raigarh drew on Lucknow too: Burman Lal, taught by Lachhu Maharaj, held rare Lucknow bhavas.
How did Raigarh become a Kathak gharana?
M. Nagabhushana Sarma writes that the gharana came into prominence in the time of Raja Chakradhar Singh, which he dates 1904 to 1947, and lists it as one of the four gharanas through which Kathak's history has been seen. Its court dancer Kartik Ram won a gold medal at Allahabad in 1936. Ramlal Bareth's 2024 Padma Shri citation credits his teaching with establishing Raigarh as a Kathak gharana.
What order did a Raigarh Kathak recital follow?
Raja Chakradhar Singh fixed the order of a recital, and Sarma writes that the dancers kept to it strictly. It opened with Mangalacharan, an invocation. Ghat, achal and chal came next, then aamad, toda and paran, and the recital closed with a chakkardar, whose closing phrase repeats three times.
Which books did Raja Chakradhar Singh write on dance and rhythm?
Chakradhar Singh wrote Nartan Sarvasvam and Tal Toya Nidhi on dance and rhythm, beside Raga Ratna Manjusha and Muraj Paran Pushpakar. Sarma writes that all the court dancers performed in the style these texts prescribed, with the Raja's new bols and chakkardar parans.
Who carried the Raigarh style after the court ended in 1947?
The court-trained dancers and their pupils carried it on. Kalyan Das Mahant taught in Nagpur, and Ramlal Bareth, Kartik Ram's son, founded the Chakradhar Sangeet Vidyalaya in Raigarh and taught at the Chakradhar Nritya Kendra in Bhopal from 1981 to 2011.
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