Kolkata: Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts to host Haveli Sangeet on Jan 14

Haveli Sangeet is a genre of Indian Classical music that is believed to have originated western Uttar Pradesh’s Braj region in the late 15th century.

Due to the restriction of temple worship during the Mughal reign at that time, deities were installed and worshiped in Havelis.

Believed to have been initiated by Saint Vallabhacharya-ji, this form of music flourished during the Bhakti movement in the 16th century through the poetry and music of the ‘ashta chaap kavis’, the eight disciples of Saint Vallabha Acharya, Sant-Kavi Surdas-ji being the foremost among them.

Haveli Sangeet draws its main components from the drupad style of Hindustani Classical Music and is steeped in Bhakti bhaav. It is believed that the audience of this music is none other than Lord Krishna himself.

With the passage of time, the Haveli Sangeet lost its importance, being sung in only a few temples across Northern India. The revival of the spiritual richness of this music and its reintroduction as a genre of Hindustani Classical Music is credited to Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj-ji. This tradition is being ably carried forward by his torch-bearing disciple, Pandit Suman Ghosh.