SSC
The Wadali Brothers, Puranchand Wadali and Pyarelal Wadali, are famous singers of which genre?
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Answer: Option D — Sufi music
Detailed Solution
Explanation
The Wadali Brothers, Puranchand Wadali and his younger brother Pyarelal Wadali, are famous Sufi singers from the village of Guru Ki Wadali, near Amritsar in Punjab. Pyarelal Wadali died in 2018, and Puranchand Wadali has continued to perform, often with his son Lakhwinder Wadali.
Sufi music is devotional music linked with Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, which teaches love for God and for all humanity. Its main forms include the qawwali, the kafi and the ghazal, and it often uses the poetry of Sufi saints. The Wadali Brothers sing in the gurbani, kafi, ghazal and bhajan styles, and they are especially known for singing the poetry of Punjabi Sufi poets such as Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid and Kabir. They come from a family of musicians and were trained in classical music by their father and other teachers. Their singing is known for its spiritual depth and its powerful, earthy voices. They have performed in many countries and sang for Hindi films such as "Pinjar" and "Tanu Weds Manu". The brothers were awarded the Padma Shri in 2005.
Why not the other options?
Carnatic music is the classical music tradition of South India, linked with composers such as Tyagaraja and singers such as M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Rabindra Sangeet is the body of songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore.
Dhrupad is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani classical vocal music, linked with Tansen and the Dagar family.
💡 Exam tip
Famous Sufi singers asked in exams include the Wadali Brothers, the Nooran Sisters, Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Kailash Kher. Amir Khusrau is called the father of qawwali.💬 Discussions on this question
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Music & Musical Instruments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Music & Musical Instruments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers Indian classical music, its two main traditions (Hindustani and Carnatic), gharanas, ragas and talas, folk music styles, and the musical instruments of India along with the artists who are famous for playing them. It also includes the four classes of instruments: string (tata), wind (sushira), percussion (avanaddha) and solid (ghana). Exam questions usually pair an instrument with its maestro, such as the sitar with Pandit Ravi Shankar, the shehnai with Ustad Bismillah Khan or the santoor with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Other common questions ask about the origin of a gharana, the instrument a folk style uses, or the class an instrument belongs to. Making a two-column list of instruments and artists is the quickest way to revise. Practise the music and musical instruments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.