Patrons Of The Arts: From Royal Courts to Festivals

For the last 200-250 years, we have evidence of the arts flourishing in the various courts of Princes and aristocrats, in pre Independent India. Musicians were housed and maintained by wealthy patrons, encouraged to pursue their art form, without facing the insecurities of the logistics of living. They thus maintained a high level of expertise and spent their lives delving deeper into the art and then also teaching and passing the wisdom on. 

Such was the relationship between patron and musician that many were happy to adopt the patron’s state or estate as their musical identity. Thus, we hear of Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, though belonging to the Agra gharana, preferring to refer to himself as Faiyaz Khan, Baroda wale. Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan of the Senia gharana was referred to as Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan of Gwalior, as was Ustad Allaudin Khan of Maihar. The Patiala gharana comprised musicians who were not from Patiala. Some even took on a geographical location, even though not a part of the State court, like Ustad Alladiya Khan founder of the Jaipur Attrauli gharana, who wanted to identify with the great court of Jaipur. The aristocrats of Gauripur, now in Bangladesh invited Ustad Inayet Khan (father of Ustad Vilayat Khan) to their court, and for a few years, in his lifetime he was referred to Ustad Inayet Khan of Gauripur. Pt Radhika Mohan Maitra of Rajshahi developed such a bond with the ustad his father patronized, Ustad Mohammed Ameer Khan, that he himself became a professional musician of remarkable stature.

Sadly, all this came to an end after 1947. The new patrons of music were All India Radio, later Doordarshan. Institutions like the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and Zonal Cultural Centres, have failed somewhat in their role to archive and promote artists. A few private institutions like Kalakshetra and ITC SRA sprang up but slowly petered out. The relationship remained only transactional. Artists have been left to fend for themselves; not only acquire learning but also then market themselves to eke out a living.

Things are better now. There are more than fifty established festivals, social media channels offer opportunities, there are more practicing musicians and dancers than ever before.

The contribution of these great patrons is today being recognized; danseuse Manjari Chaturvedi has conceived of the Royal Gharana project in which anecdotes, the gayaki and the legends associated with the royal gharanas are presented in a music story telling format.    

Some States are recognizing their duty as patrons, and host regular annual events; including Patiala Heritage Festival, Gwalior Tansen Festival, Bengal’s State Festival in Kolkata, Delhi Classical Music Festival. Some like the Shimla Heritage Festival or the Goa Kesar Bai Festival hold events when it’s convenient and arbitrarily stop when they are too busy. Perhaps a central Service for trained Culture experts needs to be initiated for a focused knowledgeable and effective running of arts related projects and events.   

Some erstwhile patrons are returning to assume their roles again; the Gaekwads of Baroda have been holding music events for several years. Recently the ruling house of Bhavnagar had a splendid concert by the popular vocalist Kaushiki Chakravorty; the house of Kashmir has been holding an inclusive arts and crafts festival, the Tawi Festival in their palace in Jammu. The last ruler of Kashmir was a huge fan of the legendary vocalist Kesar Bai Kerkar, and she frequently sang in his court in Srinagar.

The Gaekwad ruling family of Baroda have traditionally been one of the most prolific patrons of the arts, for at least the last 250 years. (records before this period need to be studied to get a clearer picture). In the 20^th century, Baroda boasted one of the largest gatherings of State sponsored court musicians; the Maharaja Sayajirao University established nearly 80 years ago has two, not one excellent faculties for the arts – for fine arts and art. Even after the abolition of the Princely states, the Gaekwad family, specially under Maharaja Ranjitsinh has continued to host music and dance concerts in the Lukshmi Vilas Palace. Rajmata Shubhangini Raje graciously shared “Late Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad was himself trained in the Fine Arts as well as being a vocalist of Hindustani classical music. He opened up the Durbar hall of the Lukshmivilas palace over 4 decades ago. The top artists of the country were invited for performances that sometimes lasted through the night. Some of these concerts are now available on youtube, and the quality of the performances of greats like Kishori Amonkar and Bhimsen Joshi are witness to the unique ambience created by the Gaekwads.

One noticed what may become a trend at the recently held annual Maharaja Ranjit Sinh Gaekwad Festival of Arts, held at the stunning Lukshmi Vilas Palace. The opulence of the venue, massive erected stage with enough strobe lights to light up a rock concert, an audience in thousands, and with massive screens as a backdrop with different backgrounds flashing behind the performers, made this event a visual experience as well. The rationale seems to be that the experience must be multi sensory. Thus, when Odissi dancer Gauri Shankas Dash performed his enactment of the ‘kavariya’ taking Shri Ram across the river, there were gently lapping waves against a softly setting sun.

The audience included listeners from all over Gujarat making this Baroda’s largest classical music and dance festival. As it was ticketed, it was not just an elite invited audience. The festival has indeed come a long way from having an audience of only 350, in the Durbar Hall of the Palace. 

This festival has conclusively put Baroda back on the map as a significant centre of the arts. One can only hope other patrons follow.