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It was a rainy day and I was in Gwalior to attend the Tansen Sangeet Samaroh
where my husband was performing. The weather was gloomy and the clouds were not
ready to relent. It was difficult to perform at the decided venue as it was an
open area. The very holy premises of Mian Tansen’s tomb was awash with rain and
thus the programme was shifted to another venue. The live telecast was also not
possible as the programme could not start at the scheduled time. A recording
was thus made to be telecast later. All in all, the entire mood of attending
the function at the holy premises of Tansen’s tomb was spoilt. The rain gods
had decided otherwise. The programme was good though, and people loved the
vocal recital and the intelligent Tabla accompaniment by my talented husband.
The next day, it was sunny and we had to leave by
the afternoon. We decided to make hay while the sun was favouring us. The much renowned
Sarod Ghar situated in Jiwaji ganj was calling us. We had heard so much about
it from our musician friends and the magnetic persona of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
who was born in that house were pulling factors to visit the place. The museum
has been housed in the ancestral home of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who has donated
the property to the trust for this purpose. Sarod ghar has an enigmatic aura as
it has a history of four generations of Sarod players being born here. The
first instruments exhibited were the instruments belonging to Ustad Amjad AliKhanji’s forefathers. The rabab of Ghulam Bandagi Khan Bangash, the Sarods of
Nanne Khan, Asghar Ali Khan and Haafiz Ali Khan are part of this collection. Later
on the Tanpura of Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Violin of Allauddin Khan, the
Tabla of Ahmed Jaan Thirakwa, Kanthe Maharaj and Kader Bux etc were also added
to this collection. A beautiful collection of photographs of Ustad Amjad AliKhan’s childhood, adolescence and various concerts, his sons, awards,
contemporaries, ancestors etc provide a wonderful kaleidoscope into the
substance of his life.
The sole purpose of setting up this institution
was to create awareness and respect for classical music, musicians and the
variety of instruments of India .
The museum houses a collection of old and contemporary instruments, belonging
to great and illustrious musicians of the past, on which they pursued their
practice. The other contributions of this museum are that it helps in promoting
the rich heritage of the Gwalior Gharana in the field of classical music; it
helps in documenting the evolution of the Indian instruments and their playing
styles.
The City of Gwalior
is famous for its culture with a colourful history going back to the sixth
century. Due to its location in the heart of India , it has a unique blend of
art, culture and civilizations from all across the country.
Due to lack of time, we could not see the fort of Gwalior and other sites
of importance. The visit to Sarod Ghar was a really satiating experience as it
was like looking through the window of history at all the jewels embedded in
the beautiful fabric of our Indian classical music. The warmth with which we
were received at the Sarod Ghar by the caretaker and by the trustee was
remarkable and I’ve made a firm resolve to give a second visit to this
wonderland soon. This time I will take out extra time, to be able to see all
the wonderful and historical aspects of the city.
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