History of Raga Music - The Recent Times

In the beginning of British rule , Classical Music was pushed to the background, until towards the middle of the twentieth century when two illustrious musicians gained prominence. They were Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande.

Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande was an exceptional musicologist and he established as many schools of music as he could. He also realised that education was no more complete without books, even in the field of music. For the first time, he promoted mass education in music through his books.







Pandit V.D. Paluskar, on the other hand, spread the charm of music through his concerts, and successfully nade an impact on the masses. Among many others, these two artists revived the ancient art form and encouraged the spread of North Indian music.

History of Raga Music - post Moghul period

Music made a quick comeback during the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-1748 A.D). Muhammad Shah made the best of all good things in life so much so that he was popularly known as Muhammad Shah 'Rangeela'. Among his court musicians were two famous musicians, Sadarang and Adarang. These two great musicians composed hundreds of songs sung to this day. They evolved the Khayal style of singing, which was considered more light and 'colourful' than the Dhrupad to the listeners.