The classical singer Uday Bhawalkar is an exponent of which style of music?

Uday Bhawalkar (born 1966) is one of the leading Dhrupad vocalists of India today. Born in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, he trained for many years under the famous Dagar brothers: the rudra veena player Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and the vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, in the traditional guru-shishya style at the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal. He performs widely in India and abroad and teaches students from many countries.

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani classical vocal music. Its key features:

It is serious, meditative and devotional in nature.

A performance begins with a long, slow alaap without rhythm, sung using syllables such as "na", "ri", "num", "tom", rather than words.

The alaap is followed by the composition, which traditionally has four parts: sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhog.

It is accompanied by the pakhawaj (a barrel-shaped drum), not the tabla, and the main talas are chautal, dhamar, sooltal and teevra.

Dhrupad flourished at the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior (15th-16th century), who is credited with popularising it. Swami Haridas and his disciple Tansen were great Dhrupad singers. There are four traditional styles (banis) of Dhrupad: Gauhar (Gobarhari), Dagar, Khandar and Nauhar.

The Dagar family has kept the Dhrupad tradition alive for about 20 generations. Other well-known Dhrupad singers include the Gundecha Brothers (Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha) and Wasifuddin Dagar.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Thumri is a light classical, romantic form linked with Lucknow and Banaras, sung by artists such as Girija Devi.
• ✗Ghazal is a poetic song form, sung by singers such as Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hassan.
• ✗Qawwali is Sufi devotional music.