UPSC Express

About Girija Devi

• She was an eminent Indian classical vocalist representing the Benaras gharana.
• She was proficient singer of different genres of Hindustani vocal music like Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti and Kajari.
• She is known as the ‘Queen of Thumri’.

 

Awards

• She was a genius in her sphere of Indian classical vocal rendition.
• She had been felicitated with the Padma Shree (1972), Padma Bhushan (1989) and Padma Vibhushan (2016), which are among the highest civilian awards of India.
• The Tansen award named after Tansen (one of the nine gems in the court of Emperor Akhbar) was also conferred to her.

 

Thumri

• It is a Hindustani classical music.

 

Origin

• It originated in the Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, mainly Lucknow and Benares, around 18th century AD.
• It was believed to be first patronised in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow.
• It was developed by the famous musician Sadiq Ali Shah.

 

Influence

• It is believed to have influenced by Hori, Kajri and Dadra popular in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• Some people consider that an older musical presentation called ‘chalika'(described in the Harivansha), to be the precursor of Thumri.

 

Theme

• It is a romantic and erotic style of signing.
• The song composition is based on the romantic-devotional literature inspired by the bhakti movement.
• The text is usually derived from the Radha-Krishna theme and is of primary importance.

 

Style of singing

• The songs are usually sung in slower tempo, giving more importance to the lyrics with short alaps.
• They are composed in lighter ragas and have simpler talas.
• It is primarily a vocal style of romance music written from the perspective of the woman and sung in a literary dialect of Hindi called Braj Bhasha.
• The songs are generally written in Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Urdu.

 

Instruments

• A Thumri recital typically consists of one or two male/female vocalists accompanied by sarangi and/or harmonium, tanpura and tabla.

 

Gharanas

• There are three main gharanas of Thumri:

1. Benaras
2. Lucknow
3. Patiala

 

Eminent personalities

• Qadar Piya, Sanad Piya, Lallan Piya, Kenwar Shyam, Nawaj Wajid Ali Shah are well known Thumri singers of the Lucknow Gharana.
• Rasoolan Bai, Siddeshwari Devi and Girja Devi are exponents of the Benaras style of Thumri.
• Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was one of the most famous singer who belonged to the Patiala gharana.