Known for its highly ornamental nature , Thumri is the most melodies Hindustani Classical Musical genre , capable of expressing a range of human emotions .' Thumri , Dadra , chaiti , kajri , baramhasa , Jhoola , sawan and many more ... are the names of the Semi- Classical music genres , that happen to be the inevitable part of the regional folksongs of India . Performed across the regions of Banaras , Lucknow ( Awadh ), Punjab these forms celebrate life , seasons , occasions and emotions , they have been immensely popular both among the regional masses as well as the classical music affectionate .
The 2 Day Seminar on ' Thumri and the Allied forms ' organized by NCPA in collaboration with ITC-Sangeet Research Academy , Sangeet Natak Akademi & the Indian Musicological Society was indeed an experience for a life time . This seminar focused on the origin , history and socio- cultural associations of these forms . Various styles , viz . poorab , Punjab and Lucknow , associated with thumri , were discussed in detail along with audio / video recordings by the great thumri exponents of the yester years .
Vidushi Smt . Shruto Sadolikar brought in light on the history and evolution of ‘ Thumri by saying ," The word Thumri is supposed to be an apabranch ( corrupted form of the word ) ‘ tanvari ’ and is a combination of the word ‘ thum ’( thumakna ) and ‘ ri ’ which connotes the action of Rijhana ( seduce ), wherein ‘ thumakna ’ is an act of dance , that involves a graceful gait with dancing steps , that constitutes to the emotive part of the song , thus depicting the expression of Bhava with Laya . The origin of thumri goes back to ‘ Chalikya ’ or ‘ Kaishiki Vratti ’ ancient era , that represented an act put together to depict feelings and emotions presented through songs and dances . While ' Halisaka ' or ' Rasa ' was a combination of ' Gana '( singing ), ' Natya ' ( acting ) and Nritya ( dancing ), that was propagated first by Bhagvan Shri Krishna .
In the medieval period , ‘ Tuhfat-ul-Hind ’ mentions Thumri as a ‘ Sankeerna Ragini ’ ( complex genre ) sung by combining multiple ragas to express the Bhava . ‘ Raga Darpana ’ refers to thumri as a popular genre sung in ragas like Pahari , Kafi and Barwa . Emperor Wajid Ali Shah was believed to be the one who pioneered Thumri , but actually it was Sajid Ali Khan . At the end of the 18th century Raga ' Jangla ' was a popular ' Dhun ' inherited by a Persian word ' Jangula ', that means bells tied on the foot belt ( Ghungaroo ) and was sung in Delhi by a woman called Jani ( a bar girl ) along with dance . The ragas used for thumri were mostly Kafi , Pahari , Barwa , Bhairavi , Des , Pilu , Gara , Bihari , Multani , Paraj , Gandhari , Khat , Bihag , Jinjhoti etc . that mostly originated from the folk tunes . Great masters like Govindrao Tempe encapsulated elements of traditional Thumri presenting them through his ' Natya Sangeet ' theatrical presentations , taking classical music to the commoners .
Pt . Birju Maharaj bought light on the rich lyrical thumri ’ s of Lucknow in -acting Radha and Krishna romancing on a swing with ' Jhulat Radhe Nand Kishore ’ and ‘ Meri Suno Shyaam , Choro Achariya ’ wherein Radha requests Shyam to stop teasing her and pulling her robe , showcasing his expressive mastery , with delicate dance movements well rendered with layakari . While in ‘ Bali Umar Larkaiyan ’ in-acted various stages of a woman ’ s life , starting from a young Gopi to an old Bhakta , who played with Shyam in the early years and became his devotee later , depicting both the ‘ Shringar ’ and ‘ Bhakti ’ Rasas . He elaborated on mastering the laya- bhed ( artistry of rhythm ) that is equally important for a Thumri performer , who needs an absolute control on Sur ( Notes ), Taal ( Beats ), Chand ( poetry ), Alankar ( embellishments ) and Bhava ( expressions ), that enables him to play and do Layakari aesthetically .
Talking about the Punjab Ang Pt . Ajoy Chakroborty said that thumri was imbibed from Lucknow into the Patiala Gayaki which was never its own , and thus later emerged as the Punjab Ang . He emphasized on perfect poises ( spaces ), voice modulation and sensitivity needed to reproduce the intricacies of thumri with mastery . Talking on ‘ Swar lagawa ’ in ‘ Khyal that is quite straight so as to maintain the purity of the raga , while in ‘ Thumri ’ aesthetics , sweetness , delicacy and the emotive nature of the Bandish ( composition ) are given more emphasis that must be mastered under sahi ‘ Taleem ’.
Shri . Shekhar Sen connoted Thumri as a ‘ Swatantrata ka Swar ’ emphasizing on the freedom of expression that thumri bestows , in-spite of being a very complicated gayaki , constituting in itself many elements of Khyal , Prabandh , Poetry , Drama ( expressions ). It depends how beautifully one can paint the picture by using all the colours of the musical pallet . His composition “ lalcheele hain , tir cheele hain ” described the different moods of one ' s beloved , they being naughty , daunting , sensational and so on … pointing that one cannot emote ( Bhav ) unless , one understands the meaning of a thumri .
Malini Awasthi talked on the ‘ Poorab Ang ’ Thumri of Benaras , that focuses on the ‘ Bols ’ ( words ) and is called ‘ Bol- Banav Ki Thumri ’, sung in Braj and Awadhi languages and not Bhojpuri . Benaras produced many legends of Thumri like Girija Devi , Badimoti Bai , Rasoolan Bai , Nirmala Devi , Siddheshwari Devi , all performed all the genres of Khyal , Thumri , Dadra , Chaumasa , Banna and Chaiti .
Difference between ‘ Thumri ’ and ‘ Dadra ’ is that Dadra is more ‘ Chanchal ’( playful ), while thumri is comparatively deeper depicting Viraha – Shringar rasas predominantly . Dadra is sung in Dadra and sometimes in Keherwa taals , one needs to maintain the ‘ Mizaz ’( mood ) that depends on the words , since both the taals have different Chaal ( rhythmic styles ) and are used as per the requirement of the ‘ Bols ’. In thumri the progression starts from a slow tempo in the first half ‘ Sthayi ’ , that is followed by ‘ Laggi ’ ( a fast rhythmic pattern ) along with ‘ Layakari ’, that is stopped and then ‘ Antara ’ is started , again going back in the original tempo , before it is concluded . In Poorab ang , a ‘ Sher ’ or a ‘ Doha ’ is read in between the Sthayi and Antara and then is followed by Laggi .
She also elaborated on the allied forms like Dadra , Chaiti , Hori , Jhula , Sawan and Barahmasa , Chaumasa , Hori , Jhula , as taught to her by legendary Appaji ( Girija Devi Ji ), mostly represent the festive and seasonal occasions , wherein Sohar , Shahana , Banna are called as the ‘ Sanskar Geet ’ sung during weddings . Chaiti has been a part of the folklore and was eventually imbibed in classical music . ‘ Chadhal Charit , Chit Lage Na Baba Ke Bhavanwa ’ is a famous Chaiti , that describes the Viraha Bhav of a maiden waiting for her beloved , as she feels restless without her beloved , at her father ’ s abode during the rains . While the traditional ‘ Hori ’ compositions are sung in Braj bhasha such as ‘ Rang daroon gi main ’ and ’ Urat abeer gulal lali chai hai , depicting playfulness of Radha and Krishna .
The Seminar concluded with an exotic documentary based on the gayaki of the legendary Thumri & Ghazal Queen ‘ Begum Akhtar Sahiba ’, what could have been a conclusion to celebrate ‘ Thumri ’ and its Adaigi , that is capable of winning the hearts through its Manmohini Roopa .
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