TANSEN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Subject: Culture

Context: The five-day Tansen Music Festival will begin from December 26 and continue till December 30 in the city of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. The event would be kickstarted with recitations of ‘Harikatha’ and ‘Milad’.

Concept:

• ‘TansenSamaroh’ is one of the most prestigious events of the country in the field of Indian classical music.
• This event is organised by the UstadAlauddin Khan Kala EvamSangeet Academy by the Culture department of the Madhya Pradesh government.
• The five-day festival is celebrated every year in the month of December in Behat village of Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh.
• It is celebrated in the memory of one of the most eminent singers of Indian history, ‘MianTansen’

MianTansen

• He was a prominent figure of Hindustani classical music.
• He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (1555–1592), where Tansen’s musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame.
• This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sent messengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tansen to join the musicians at the Mughal court.
• Akbar considered him as a Navaratnas (nine jewels), and gave him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man.
• Tansen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions, creating several new ragas, as well as for writing two classic books on music Sri Ganesh Stotra and Sangita Sara.