Origin and History of Music & Evolution of Musical Instruments 📯🎺🎷🎻🎹🎸🥁🎼🎼

🕉️ 🎶🎼 Sound (nada) is believed to be the heart of the process of creation. In Hinduism, the sacred syllable Om embodies the essence of the universe - it is the "hum" of the atoms and the music of the spheres - and sound in general represents the primal energy that holds the material world together. Sangita, the Bharatiya tradition of music, is an old as Bharatiya contacts with the Western world, and it has graduated through various strata of evolution: primitive, prehistoric, Vedic, classical, mediaeval, and modern. It has traveled from temples and courts to modern festivals and concert halls, imbibing the spirit of Bharatiya culture, and retaining a clearly recognizable continuity of tradition. Whilst the words of songs have varied and altered from time to time, many of the musical themes are essentially ancient.

The music of Bharat ( Hindustan / India ) is one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world. It is said that the origins of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus). Sangita, which originally meant drama, music and dance, was closely associated with religion and philosophy. At first it was inextricably interwoven with the ritualistic and devotional side of religious life. The recital and chant of mantras has been an essential element of Vedic ritual throughout the centuries. According to Hindu Dharma philosophy, the ultimate goal of human existence is moksha, liberation of the atman from the life-cycle, or spiritual enlightenment; and nadopasana (literally, the worship of sound) is taught as an important means for teaching this goal. The highest musical experience is ananda, the “divine bliss.” This devotional approach to music is a significant feature of Bharatiya culture ( Indian culture ) . The Bharatiya music tradition can be traced to the Indus ( Sindhu Saraswati) Valley civilization. The goddess of music, Saraswati, who is also the goddess of learning, is portrayed as seated on a white lotus playing the Veena. 🎼🎶🎼🕉️💟🙏

Origin & History of Music :-

Music originated in the hands of Paramatma Brahma who also created the Vedas. This knowledge was subsequently imparted to Mahadev Shiva who in turn blessed Goddess Saraswati with this supreme form of art. Goddess Saraswati is known and worshipped as "Veenapustakdharini" which may be interpreted as the one holding a veena - which is a musical Instrument - and pustak meaning book and representing knowledge. Goddess Saraswati taught this form of art to Narada - a well known sage in the sevice of God Vishnu - and he passed this wisdom on to the all the heavenly Devi & Devata and Apsaras ( Girls of Heaven ). Later, revered Satparishi, Rishi, Saints like Bharata, Hanumant etc. brought it to the mortal world.

Some musicologists of ancient Bharat believed that, as reward for an infinitely long period of meditation, Narada was blessed with music by God Mahadev Shiva. Mahadev Shiva was said to have created the Rudra Veena (stringed musical instrument) simulating the lying posture of his consort Goddess Parvati and through his five faces or mouths five ragas originated.

The sixth raga was created by goddess Parvati herself. Of the five faces of Mahadev Shiva the eastern face gave birth to raag Bhairav, the Western Face to Raag Hindol the Northern face to Raag Megh, the Southern face to Raag Deepak and the fifith face which was directed towards the sky gave birth to Raga Shree. Goddess Parvati is said to have created the Raga Kaushik.

The writer of "Sangeet Darpan" Shree Damodar pandit (1625 century) writes:

Druhinat Yadavishtan Prayukta Bharten ChMahadevasya purtastanmargakhya vimuktatam Which means that God Brahma (Druhin) has invented this great art form, Sage Bharata has demonstrated this in front of God Mahdev Shiva. This form of pure music is emancipated and divine in nature and called "margi" sangeet.

The beginnings of Bharatiya music of the beautiful legends of gods and goddesses who are supposed to be its authors and patrons. The goddess Saraswati is always represented as the goddess of art and learning, and she is usually pictured as seated on a white lotus with a vina, lute, in one hand, playing it with another, a book in the third hand and a necklace of pearls in the fourth.

The technical word for music throughout Bharat ( India ) is the word sangita, which originally included dancing and the drama as well as vocal and instrumental music. Mahadev Shiva is supposed to have been the creator of this three fold art and his mystic dance symbolizes the rhythmic motion of the universe.
In Hindu Dharma the various departments of life and learning are usually associated with different rishis and so to one of these is traced the first instruction that men received the art of music. Bharatiya rishi is said to have taught the art to the heavenly dancers - the Apsaras - who afterwards performed before Mahadev Shiva. The Rishi Narada, who wanders about in earth and heaven, singing and playing on his veena, taught music to men. Among the inhabitants of Indra's heaven we find bands of musicians. The Gandharvas are the singers, the Apsaras, the dancers, and the Kinnaras performers on musical instruments. From the name Gandharva has come the title Gandharva Veda for the art of music.

Among the early legends of India there are many concerning music. The following is an interesting one from the Adbuta Ramayana about Narada rishi which combines criticism with appreciation.

"Once upon a time the great rishi Narada thought himself that he had mastered the whole art and science of music. To curb his pride the all-knowing Vishnu took him to visit the abode of the gods. They entered a spacious building, in which were numerous men and women weeping over their broken limbs. Vishnu stopped and enquired of them the reason for their lamentation. They answered that they were the ragas and the raginis, created by Mahadeva; but that as a rishi of the name of Narada, ignorant of the true knowledge of music and unskilled in performance, had sung them recklessly, their features were distorted and their limbs broken; and that, unless Mahadeva or some other skillful person would sing them properly, there was no hope of their ever being restored to their former state of body. Narada, ashamed , kneeled down before Vishnu and asked to be forgiven."

Vedic Music :-

It is a matter of common knowledge to all music lovers that Indian classical music has its origin in the Sama Veda. Yet the singing of the Sama Veda has practically disappeared from India. What is heard nowadays is sasvara-patha and not sasvara-gana, that is to say, only musical recitation of the Sama Veda, not its actual singing.

Animals tamed or wild, even children, are charmed by sound. Who can describe its marvels?” (Sang. Darp. I-31).

Under the name of Gandharava Veda, a general theory of sound with its metaphysics and physics appears to have been known to the ancient Hindus. From such summaries as have survived till modern times, it seems that the properties of sound, not only in different musical forms and systems but also in physics, medicine, and magic. The rise of Buddhism with its hostility towards tradition brought about a sharp deviation in the ancient approach to the arts and sciences, and their theory had often to go underground in order to avoid destruction. It was at this time that the Gandharva Veda, with all the other sacred sciences, disappeared; though the full tradition is said to survive among the mysterious sages (rishis) who dwell in Himalayan caves.

When the representatives of the old order, who had been able to maintain their tradition under ground through the centuries of persecution, arose again, their intellectual and cultural superiority was in many fields so great that Buddhism was defeated. In hardly more than a few decades, Buddhism, by the mere strength of intellectual argument, was wiped out from the whole Indian continent over which it had ruled for a thousand years. It was then (during 6th and 7th century) that an attempt was made, under the leadership of Shankaracharya, to restore Hindu culture to its ancient basis.

A number of eminent Hindu Brahmins were entrusted with the task of recovering or re-writing the fundamental treatises on the traditional sciences. For this they followed the ancient system which starts from a metaphysical theory whose principles are common to all aspects of the universe, and works out their application in a particular domain. In this way the theory of music was reconstructed. In this way the theory of music was reconstructed.

Musical theory and theory of language had been considered from the earliest times as two parallel branches of one general science of sound. Both had often been codified by the same writers. The names of Vashishtha, Yajnavalkya, Narada, Kashyapa, Panini are mentioned among these early musicologist-grammarians.

Nandikeshvara was celebrated at the same time as the author of a work on the philosophy of language and of a parallel work on music. His work on language is believed to be far anterior to the Mahabhashya of Patanjali (attributed to the 2nd century B.C.) into which it is usually incorporated, though it is thought to be probably posterior to Panini, who lived no later than 6th century B.C. The chronology of works on music would seem, however, to place both Panini and Nandikeshvara at a much earlier date. The work of Nandikeshvara on the philosophy of music is now believed to be lost but fragments of it are undoubtedly incorporated in later works. At the time of the Buddhist ascendancy, when so much of the ancient lore had to be abandoned, grammatical works were considered more important than musical ones.

A part of Nandikeshvara’s work on dancing, the Abhinaya Darpana, has been printed (Calcutta 1934) with English translation by M. Ghosh). An earlier translation by Ananda Coomaraswamy appeared under the title The Mirror of Gesture (Harvard Univ. Press. 1917).

All music is based upon relations between sounds. These relations can, however, be worked out in different ways, giving rise to different groups of musical systems. The modal group of musical systems, to which practically the whole of Bharatiya muisc belongs, is based on the establishment of relations between diverse successive sounds or notes on the one hand and, on the other, upon a permanent sound fixed and invariable, the "tonic".

Bharatiya music like all modal music, thus exists only by the relations of each note with the tonic. Contrary to common belief, modal music is not merely melody without accompaniment, nor has a song or melody, in itself, anything to do with mode. The modes used in the music of the Christian Church are modes only in name, though they may have been real modes originally. But much of Scottish and Irish music, for example, is truly modal; it belongs to the same musical family as Bharatiya music (Indian Music ) and is independent of the Western harmonic system.

Music must have been cultivated in very early ages by the Hindus; as the abridged names of the seven notes, via, sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, are said to occur in the Sama Veda; and in their present order. Their names at length are as follows:

Shadja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Panchama, Dhaivata, Nishada.

The seven notes are placed under the protection of seven Ah'hisht'hatri Devatas, or superintenting divinities as follows:

Shadja, under the protection of Agni

Rishabha, of Brahma

Gandhara, of Saraswati

Madhyama, of Mahadeva

Panchama, of Sri or Lakshmi

Dhaivata, of Ganesa

Nishada, of Surya

"The note Sa is said to be the soul, Ri is called the head, Ga is the arms, Ma the chest, Pa the throat, Dha the hips, Ni the feet. Such are the seven limbs of the modal scale." (Narada Samhita 2, 53-54).

"Shadja is the first of all the notes and so it is the main or chief note." Datilla explains that the Shadja (the tonic) may be established at will at any pitch (on any shruti) and that, by relation with it, the other notes should be established at the proper intervals.

The Hindus divide the octave into twenty two intervals, which are called Sruti, by allocating four Sruti to represent the interval. The sruti or microtonal interval is a division of the semitone, but not necessarily an equal division. This division of the semitone is found also in ancient Greek music. It is an interesting fact that we find in Greek music the counterpart of many things in Bharatiya music. Ancient Bharat divided the octave into twenty two and the Greek into twenty-four. The two earliest Greek scales, the Mixolydic and the Doric show affinity with early Bharatiya scales. The Bharatiya scale divides the octave into twenty-two srutis.

Gramas

Bharatiya music is traditionally based on the three gramas. First reference to Grammas or ancient scales is found in the Mahabharata and teh Harivamsa. The former speaks of the 'sweet note Gandhara', probably referring to the scale of that name. The Harivamsa speaks enthusiastically of music 'in the gramaraga which goes down to Gandhara', and ot 'the women of Bhima's race who performed, in the Gandhara gramaraga, the descent of the Ganges, so as to delight mind and ear.'

Musical Instruments and Sanskrit Writers on Music :

The Vedic Index shows a very wide variety of musical instruments in use in Vedic times. Instruments of percussion are represented by the dundubhi, an ordinary drum; the adambara, another kind of drum, bhumidundubhi, an earthdrum made by digging a hole in the ground covering it with hide; vanaspati, a wooden drum; aghati, a cymbal used to accompany dancing. Stringed instruments are represented by the kanda-vina, akind of lute; karkari, another lute; vana, a lute of 100 strings; and the vina, the present instrument of that name in India. This one instrument alone is sufficient evidence of the development to which the art had attained even in those early days. There are also a number of wind instruments of the flute variety, such as the tunava, a wooden flute; the nadi, a reed flute, bakura, whose exact shape is unknown. 'By the time of the Yajur Veda several kinds of professional musicians appear to have arisen; for lute-players, drummers, flute-players, and conch-blowers are mentioned in the list of callings.'

Kalyayanavina Sarinda Katyayana-vina Chikara

That vocal music had already got beyond the primitive stage may be concluded from the somewhat complicated method of chanting the Sama Veda, which goes back to the Aryan age. These hymns of the Rig Veda and Sama Veda are the earliest examples we have of words set to music. The Sama Veda, was sung according to very strict rules, and present day Samagah - temple singers of the Saman - claim that the oral tradition which they have received goes back to those ancient times. The Chandogya and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads both mention the singing of the Sama Veda and the latter also refers to a number of musical instruments.

Sarangi (Bengal) Sarangi Mahati Vina Kinnari

Mayuri Esraj Vina (Southern) Ektar

Group of stringed instruments: Dilruba, Bin Sarangi and Peacock sitar Some ancient instruments: Svaramandala. Brahma cina, Kural and Bastram.

Drumming

The drum is one of the most important of Indian musical instruments. It provides the tonic to which all the other instruments must be tuned. It is a royal instrument having the right of royal honors. The drums used in India are innumerable. Mrs. Mann says: "The Indian drummer is a great artist. He will play a rhythm concerto all alone and play us into an ecstasy with it." "The drummer will play it in bars of 10, 13, 16, or 20 beats, with divisions within each bar flung out with a marvelous hypnotizing swing. Suggestions of such rhythm beaten out by a ragged urchin on the end of an empty kerosene oil-can first aroused me to the beauty and power of Indian music."

The Indian drummer can obtain the most fascinating rhythm from a mud pot, and some of them are great experts at this pot-drumming. The mridanga and tabla are both played in the same way, the only difference being that, in the case of the table, the two heads are on two small drums, and not on the same drum. The Mridanga or Mardala is the most common and probably the most ancient of Indian drums. It is said to be invented by Brahma to serve as an accompaniment to the dance of Shiva, in the honor of his victory over Tripurasura; and Ganesha, his son, is said to have been the first one play upon it. The word Mridanga or Mardala means 'made of clay' and probably therefore its body was originally of mud. Other drums include Pakhawaj, Nagara or Bheri or Nakkara, Dundubhi Mahanagar or Nahabet, Karadsamila, Dhol, Dhoki, Dholak and Dak. Damaru, Nidukku, or Budhudaka, Udukku, Edaka and many others.

In the Ramayana mention is frequently made of the singing of ballads, which argues very considerable development of the art of music. The poem composed by the sage Valmiki is said to have been sung before King Dasratha. The Ramayana often makes use of musical similes. The humming of the bees reminded him of the music of stringed instruments, and the thunder of the clouds of the beating of the mridanga. He talks of the music of the battlefield, in which the twanging and creaking of the bows takes the place of stringed instruments and vocal music is supplied by the low moaning of the elephants. Ravana is made to say that "he will play upon the lute of his terrific bow with the sticks of his arrows." Ravana was a great master of music and was said to have appeased Shiva by his sublime chanting of Vedic hymns.

The Mahabharata speaks of seven Svaras and also of the Gandhara Grama, the ancient third mode. The theory of consonance is also alluded to.

The Mahajanaka Jataka (c. 200 B. C) mentions the four great sound (parama maha sabda) which are conferred as an honor by the Hindu kings on great personages. In these drums is associated with various kinds of horn, gong and cymbals. These were sounded in front of a chariot which was occupied, but behind one which was empty. The car used to go slowly round the palace and up what was called 'the kettle-drum road'. At such a time they sounded hundreds of instruments so that 'it was like the noise of the sea.' The Jataka also records how Brahmadatta presented a mountain hermit with a drum, telling him that if he beat on one side his enemies would run away and if upon the other they would become his firm friends.

In the Tamil books Purananuru and Pattupattu (c. A.D 100-200) the drum is referred to as occupying a position of very great honor. It had a special seat called murasukattil, and a special elephant, and was treated almost as a deity. It is described as 'adorned with a garland like the rainbow.' One of the poets tells us, marveling at the mercy of the king, 'how he sat unwittingly upon the drum couch and yet was not punished.' Three kinds of drums are mentioned in these books: the battle drum, the judgment drum and the sacrificial drum. The battle drum was regarded with same the veneration that regiments used to bestow upon the regimental flag. One poem likens the beating of the drum to the sound of a mountain torrent. Another thus celebrates the virtues of the drummer.

"For my grandsire's grandsire, his grandsire's grandsire.
Beat the drum. For my father, his father did the same.
So he for me. From duties of his clan be has not swerved.
Pour forth for him one other cup of palm tree's purest wine.."

The early Tamil literature makes much mention of music. The Paripadal (c. A.D 100-200) gives the names of some of the svaras and mentions the fact of there being seven Palai (ancient modes). The yal is the peculiar instrument of the ancient Tamil land. No specimen of it still exists today. It was evidently something like the vina but not the same instrument, as the poet Manikkavachakar (c. A. D 500-700) mentions both in such a way as to indicate two different instruments. Some of its varieties are said to have had over 1,000 strings. The The Silappadigaram (A. D. 300), a Buddhist drama, mentions the drummer, the flute player, and the vina as well as the yal, and also has specimens of early Tamil songs. This book contains some of the earliest expositions of the Indian musical scale, giving the seven notes of the gamut and also a number of the modes and ragas in use at that time. The latter centuries of the Buddhist period were more fertile in architecture, sculpture and painting than in music. The dramas of Kalidasa make frequent references to music and evidently the rajahs of the time had regular musicians attached to their courts. In the Malavikagnimitra a song in four-time is mentioned as a great feat performed at a contest between two musicians. The development of the drama after Kalidasa meant the development of music as well, as all Indian drama is operatic. 'The temple and the stage were the great schools of Indian music.'

The oldest detailed exposition of Indian musical theory which has survived the ravages of ants and the fury of men is found in a treatise called Natya Sastra or the science of dancing, said to have been composed by the sage Bharata. There are nine chapters of the Natya Sashtra that deal with music proper. These contain a detailed exposition of the svaras, srutis, gramas, murohhansas, jatis. A translation of a portion of this chapter appeared in Mr. Clement's Introduction to Indian Music, and there is a complete French translation by Jean Grosset.

The seventh and eighth centuries of our era in South India witnessed a religious revival associated with the bhakti movement and connected with the theistic and popular sects of Vishnu and Shiva. This revival was spread far and wide by means of songs composed by the leaders of the movement and so resulted in a great development of musical activity among the people generally and in the spread of musical education. Sangita Makaranda, said to be by Narada, but not Narada Rishi as his name is mentioned in the book, was probably composed between the eighth and eleventh centuries. He gives a similar account of the Gandhara Grama to that of Sangita Ratnakara. Musical sounds are divided into five classes according to the agency of productions, as nails, wind etc. The 18 Jatis of Bharata are given and he enumerates 93 ragas.

In Shiva’s temple, stone pillars make music - an architectural rarity

Shiva is the Destroyer and Lord of Rhythm in the Hindu trinity. But here he is Lord Nellaiyappar, the Protector of Paddy, as the name of the town itself testifies — nel meaning paddy and veli meaning fence in Tamil. Prefixed to nelveli is tiru, which signifies something special — like the exceptional role of the Lord of Rhythm or the unique musical stone pillars in the temple.In the Nellaiyappar temple, gentle taps on the cluster of columns hewn out of a single piece of rock can produce the keynotes of Indian classical music. “Hardly anybody knows the intricacies of how these were constructed to resonate a certain frequency. The more aesthetically inclined with some musical knowledge can bring out the rudiments of some rare ragas from these pillars.”

The Nelliyappar temple chronicle, Thirukovil Varalaaru, says the nadaththai ezhuppum kal thoongal — stone pillars that produce music — were set in place in the 7th century during the reign of Pandyan king Nindraseer Nedumaran. Archaeologists date the temple before 7th century and say it was built by successive rulers of the Pandyan dynasty that ruled over the southern parts of Tamil Nadu from Madurai. Tirunelveli, about 150 km south of Madurai, served as their subsidiary capital.

Each huge musical pillar carved from one piece of rock comprises a cluster of smaller columns and stands testimony to a unique understanding of the “physics and mathematics of sound." Well-known music researcher and scholar Prof. Sambamurthy Shastry, the “marvellous musical stone pillars” are “without a parallel” in any other part of the country.“What is unique about the musical stone pillars in the Tiruelveli Nellaiyappar temple is the fact you have a cluster as large as 48 musical pillars carved from one piece of stone, a delight to both the ears and the eyes,” The pillars at the Nellaiyappar temple are a combination of the Shruti and Laya types. This is an architectural rarity and a sublime beauty to be cherished and preserved.

❣️🕉️🚩🎺🎼 This art seems to have come originally from northwest Bharat . The Bharatiya tendency is to visualize abstract things.

The six principal ragas are the following:

1. Hindaul - It is played to produce on the mind of the bearer all the sweetness and freshness of spring; sweet as the honey of the bee and fragrant as the perfume of a thousand blossoms.

2. Sri Raga - The quality of this rag is to affect the mind with the calmness and silence of declining day, to tinge the thoughts with a roseate hue, as clouds are glided by the setting sun before the approach of darkness and night.

3. Megh Mallar - This is descriptive of the effects of an approaching thunder-storm and rain, having the power of influencing clouds in time of drought.

4. Deepak - This raga is extinct. No one could sing it and live; it has consequently fallen into disuse. Its effect is to light the lamps and to cause the body of the singer to produce flames by which he dies.

5. Bhairava - The effect of this rag is to inspire the mind with a feeling of approaching dawn, the caroling of birds, the sweetness of the perfume and the air, the sparkling freshness of dew-dropping morn.

6. Malkos - The effect of this rag are to produce on the mind a feeling of gentle stimulation.

(source: Hindu Superiority - By Har Bilas Sarda p. 371). 💐🙏