The Gwalior Gharana

Journey

Uncovering its origin from the Mridanga players of Bundelkhand, Gwalior Gharana inaugurated its journey long ago under the guidance of Praduymna Bhatta, who was a legendary Mridanga player and a Kathak dancer of the time. Carrying his wisdom forward, Munnu Lal Ji and Chunnu Lal Ji, who were great Sarangi and Mridang players, turned out to be some of the most celebrated Kathak Dancers of the time. A great student with a great teacher makes the best team, but Ku. Rai Praveen was the most fortunate of all as she had the blessings of the above two mentioned legends. She dedicatedly learned from her Gurus. Her practice sessions were so severe that a person witnessing it would sweat too. Her hard work paid well when Badhshah Akhbar proposed her to be his 10th gem, but due to her affection towards the King of Orchha, she denied this proposal. Hence he honored her and sent her back to Orchha. After returning to Orchha, she taught Hiralal Ji Kathak, who carried her knowledge and taught Jai Kumar and Shekhar Chand, who continued the chain and trained Jagdeep Raman Laal.

Meanwhile, the first war of Independence broke, and all the Musicians burrowed themselves. After the war of 1857 came to an end, two brothers emerged, taking forward this enormous journey. These were Gulle Lala and Chulle Lala. The next who followed the footsteps were Munshi Ji and Chunne Khera Ji, who taught the surpassing Mridang Player Madhav Singh Ji Kathak. Mastering the art of Kathak and Mridanga Vadan, he started performing for the Scindia Kings of Gwalior.

Under his guidance, many legends took birth. Some of them are as follows:

• Lallu Singh Ji - He was his brother in law and a great tabla player who after completing his training shifted to Agra
• Vrindavan Lal Ji - After completing his training, he moved to Kanpur
• Bapu Rao Shinde - He held the position of Lecturer in KRG College Gwalior after completing his training
• Madan Mohan - He belonged to J&K, and after completing his training, he went back to his native place.
• DK Rai - After completing his training, he moved to Agra for some time and then returned Gwalior and started Nritya Upasna Kendra
• Purushottam Nayak - He performed for the Scindias for more than 20 years and has trained more than 500 students till date under his institution named Sangeet Kala Niketan.

Some of the renowned students of Guru Purushottam Nayak Ji are:

• Poonam Agarwal ( Won first Prize in Akhil Bhartiya Sanskrutik Sangh)
• Namrata Redvikar ( Dance instructor)
• Chavi Belankar ( Instructor at GGHS Gwalior)
• Samiksha Sharma ( Instructor at Kathak Kala Kendra Delhi and represented India in Russia, Afganistan and other countries)
• Seema Saxena ( HOD Shankar Gandharva Mahavidhyala)
• Kunwar Kishor Bandil ( Dance instructor )
• Divya Morghode ( Dance instructor in Bangalore )
• Richa Nayak ( Dance and Music Instructor)
• Uma Nayak( Dance and Music Instructor)
• Shiva Nayak ( Dance Instructor at ITM Global School Gwalior)
• Shikha Soni ( Dance instructor at Sarda Nad Sangeet MahaVidhyalaya Gwalior)
• Vandana Nayak ( Working under Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal)

and many more

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