Indore Gharana – Sitar Players The leader and master trainer of Indore gharana of Sitar players was none other than the fabulous Binkar Ustad Bande Ali Khan. He had trained up a brilliant band of Binkars like Majid Khan, Murad Khan, Latif Khan, Babu Khan, and Wahid Khan. From these Binkars came well known Sitar players … Read more

Lucknow Gharana of Sitar Music The Lucknow gharana of Sitar Music was led by Ustad Amir Khan (Gwalior) and later by Hamid Husain Khan. This gharana flourished during the period of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, Another great Sitar player (using three Mizrabs) was Vajpayiji whose gats were a treat to hear but were very difficult to play. The … Read more

Etawah Gharana One of the most illustrious and luminous Sitar gharanas has been the Etawah Gharana better known as the Imdad Khani Gharana. Son of Sahadad Khan (who was a vocalist and a pupil of the celebrated Khayalias, Haddu and Hassu Khan of Gwalior gharana) Imdad Khan had his training in vocal music from his … Read more

Embroidery in Orissa (Odisha) is used primarily in articles relating to religious observances. The embroidery work has evolved around temples—in Orissa around the famous temple of Jagannath at Puri and in Tamil Nadu in Thanjavur, the city noted for its temples and religious rituals. Articles required for use in temples or religious processions such as … Read more

The Todas are supposed to be remnants of the Greeks who came to India with Alexander the Great and penetrated as far South as the Nilgiris where they settled down. Their women sport a fantastic hairdo. The hair on top of the head is combed smoothly and is then shaped into corkscrew curls which hang … Read more

Tribal embroidery in India, is mostly done in straight stitches of different lengths made in various thicknesses of yarn. The effect is achieved not by the number of stitches used but by the manipulation of a single stitch in various ways. A zig-zag pattern in which, light and dark colors and white are used in … Read more

Lucknow is famous for  chikan embroidery. The word chikan just means embroidery. The Chikan embroidery was done on a locally woven muslin called tanzeb, the pattern being stamped with small wooden blocks using red earth colour which washed out after the embroidery was completed. The kurtas materials of the best Chikan Embroidery artists were cut in waves along the sides. The … Read more

In Kannada the word for embroidery is Kasuti. As with the chikan of Lucknow so with the Kasuti of Karnataka the word has become identified with the particular type of embroidery produced in that area. The best work is produced in the areas once ruled by the great Chalukya and Vijayanagar empires stressing the need … Read more