Rediscovering Haveli Sangeet: A journey through India’s ancient temple music

Written by Priyaankaa Mathur

I was a child when I first heard Haveli Sangeet at the Dwarkadhish Temple in Mathura, but it wasn’t until adulthood that I truly began to appreciate this divine form of classical music, brought to life by the legendary Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj. Haveli Sangeet is a unique musical tradition rooted in the ancient temple music of India. While it saw a decline during the mediaeval period, it experienced a revival with the rise of the Bhakti movement, particularly through the Pushtimargiya Sangeet Parampara of the Vaishnav Sampradaya, which is considered the precursor to much of today’s Indian classical music in northern India.

Though Haveli Sangeet is only about five centuries old, it preserves the traditions of Bhakti music that have existed in India’s temples for over 5,000 years. Its survival is credited to dedicated practitioners who defended its purity against external influences, ensuring the continuity of this spiritual art form.

Bhakti, an intense emotional devotion to the divine, is described in ancient Indian texts as a path to achieving everlasting bliss and unity with God. During the mediaeval period, when many Vaishnava temples were desecrated, Bhakti offered solace to the distressed, leading to the emergence of various forms of Bhakti Marg, both in Sagun (worship of the manifest) and Nirgun (worship of the formless), with Vaishnavism at its core.

Haveli Sangeet at Nathdwara

In 1556, Vallabhacharyaji found a divine Bhagwat Swaroopa in a cave in Giriraj mountain, which he named Lord Shrinathji, or the ‘Consort of the Goddess of Wealth’. Vallabhacharyaji sought to build a grand temple but feared its destruction under the reign of Aurangzeb. Consequently, the deity was moved repeatedly before finding a permanent home in Nathdwara, Rajasthan.

Vallabhacharya selected four disciples — Kumbhandas, Surdas, Parmanandas, and Krishnadas — for devotional services, with Kumbhandas appointed as the first kirtankar (singer) of Shrinathji. Kumbhandas composed the famous pada, ‘We dekho parat jarokan deepak hari bole.’

Under Vallabhacharya’s son, Shri Vitthalnathji (also known as Shri Gusaiji), the tradition flourished. Gusaiji systematised the sewa (service) and added four more disciples to the original group, forming the Astachaps or Ashta Sakhas (eight companions) of the Lord. These Astachaps were master composers, blending text and music with exceptional skill.

Gusaiji introduced the concept of raga (melody), bhog (offering), and shringar (adornment) as integral parts of the sewa. The raag sewa involves singing padas (devotional hymns) in different ragas and taals (rhythmic cycles) according to the eight prahars (time periods) as part of the Ashtayam sewa, including Mangala, Shringar, Gwaal, Rajbhoga, Uthapan, Bhoga, Sandhya, Aarati, and Shayan.

The original music of the Pushtimargiya Sampradaya included Prabandh, Dhrupad, and Dhamar styles, with compositions featuring Chatushpadi (four stanzas), Tripadi kirtans (three stanzas), and Dwipadi (two stanzas, similar to Khyal or Sadharani Geetika). While these forms were traditionally sung in Brij Bhasha and Sanskrit, some padas by Govindaswamiji and Nanddasji are performed in Dhrupad style. For example, Baithe hari radha sang kunj apne is sung in Chautaal. There is a wrong impression that Haveli Sangeet is only sung in Dhrupad style, as Khyal, Kirtana and Bhajan styles are also prevalent.

Today, the temple of Shrinathji in Nathdwara, known as the Haveli of Shrinathji, serves as the seat of the Pushtimarg. Since the Pushtimarg temples were referred to as Havelis, the music associated with these temples became known as Haveli Sangeet.

A blend of tradition and devotion

Shyam Manohar Goswamiji, who belongs to the 16th generation of Vallabhacharyaji, explains the key aspects of Khyal and Dhrupad Gayaki in Haveli Sangeet. Khyal Gayaki emphasises melody (Bhav and Raga Pradhan), where the focus is on the raga rather than the lyrics, while Dhrupad is rhythm and word-centric (Taal and Shabd pradhan), with the lyrics given prominence. In Dhrupad singing within the Haveli Sangeet, a performer cannot break a phrase or word during layakari (rhythmic improvisation).

In Bhagwat Purana, there are nine forms of devotional services: hearing (sravanam), chanting (kirtanam), remembering (smaranam), serving (pada-sevanam), worship of the deity (arcanam), praying (vandanam), carrying out orders (dasyam), serving Him as a friend (sakhyam) and sacrificing everything for the Lord (atma-nivedanam). Among these, kirtanam holds a significant place. The Pushti Margiya temples of the Vallabha sect became major centres of Kirtan Bhakti, where this ancient musical form thrived.

The legacy of Haveli Sangeet

Acharya Gokulotsav Maharaj, the Pradhanacharya of Pushti Margiya Haveli Sangeet, throws light on the origin of the term Haveli Sangeet. “Thakur Jaidev Singh and Balkrishna Keskar were two eminent scholars, who travelled across the temples of the Valabh Sampradaya across Mathura, Vrindavan and Nathdwara, which were called Havelis, and named this ancient form of music as Haveli sangeet. They found that most of the bandishes in Indian classical music, which were prevalent across various gharanas, were taken from this ancient music form but were all distorted and incomplete. In fact, the gharana parampara is only 150 years old, whereas Pushtimargiya Sangeet is Sanatan, since eternity,” he says.

Acharya Gokulotsav Maharaj, elaborating on the ragas of Haveli Sangeet, says, “Singing ragas according to time and seasons is the biggest contribution of Pushtimargiya sangeet to Indian classical music.”

Some of the famous Haveli sangeet compositions from different Khyal gharanas include Vande Nandkumara in Raga Kafi sung by Ustad Faiyaz Khan of Agra Gharana, Sab din hotna ek saman in Raga Multani by Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana, Chal sakhi sautan ke ghar jaiye by Ustad Amir Khan of Indore Gharana, Ae pyari pag howle in Raga Bihagda by Ustad Alladiya Khan saheb, founder of Jaipur Atrauli Gharana, Mero piya rasiya in Raga Nayaki Kanhara and Sughar chatur balama in Raga Kedar by Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, Tum ghan se ho ghanshyam in Raga Meera Malhar by Roshnara Begum, Laal gopal gulal hamari ankhin main jin daro ju pada of Krishnadasji in Raga Haveli Basant by Pandit Jasraj from Mewati Gharana.

On how these bandishes reached present gharanas of Hindustani classical music, Gokulotsav Maharajji says, “The kings from across the states of India, namely Rajasthan, Gwalior, Agra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were all followers and disciples of the Vallabh Sampradaya, and thus our traditional music eventually reached their court musicians. Pandit Vishnu Digambar Pulaskarji from Gwalior Gharana and many of his disciples, including Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, belonged to the family of Sewaks ‘Mukhiyaji’ at the temples, who were influenced by this tradition. Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhanji incorporated many bandishes of this tradition in the six parts of the book Raga Vigyan.”

He adds, “Pandit Bhatkhandeji was the disciple of my great grandfather, Goswami Shri Govindlalji Maharaj and Goswami Shri Jeevanlalji Maharaj, who was a great sitarist. Bhatkhandeji collected many bandishes while he interviewed many Khyal performers from various gharanas, which were not directly sourced from Pushti Margiya Acharyas, and that’s the reason many bandishes found in Kramik Pustak Malika are distorted and incomplete.”

Pandit Jasraj was one of the very few Indian classical musicians who was blessed to have performed Haveli Sangeet in most of the temples in India. In 1976, Panditji was approached by Shri Vijay Burman and his wife Ravi Prabha Burman from the Vaishanav Sampradaya to sing the ‘Sur Padavali’ in Haveli sangeet repertoire on the occasion of the 500th birth anniversary of Surdas. It was under the guidance of Shri Shyam Manohar Goswamiji and Prathameshj that Panditji explored the various aspects of Kirtan singing along with the Pakhawaj and other instruments, which requires the performer’s complete devotion towards Krishna. This performance, later released as an LP by HMV, played a crucial role in popularising Haveli Sangeet beyond the temples.

Talking about his interaction with Pandit Jasrajji about the form of ragas in Haveli Sangeet, Shyamu Bavaji says, “Pandit Jasrajji sang the bandishes Lal gopal gulal in Hori Sarang. When he first listened to the Raga Hori Sarang bandish he said it is not Sarang, but I told him it is sung like this in our gharanas. But, when he learned it, he had tears in his eyes as he found it extremely melodious, and said he will perform it often. I also told him that there are certain ragas in Haveli Sangeet like Malav and Sameri, which no one sings in any gharana.”

A living tradition

Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar, a disciple of Pandit Jasraj, reflects on the legacy of Haveli Sangeet in the Mewati Gharana. “Pandit Maniramji, who was the elder brother and mentor of Pandit Jasrajji, used to sing most of the traditional bandishes, while he added a few of his own bandishes attributed to Bhakti of Devi and Mata Kali. My guruji, Pandit Jasrajji, revolutionised the gayaki of Mewati Gharana. He introduced various additional elements of the gayaki in the style of Mewati Gharana making it complete in every sense. He composed many bandishes to match the gayaki as per his own style of renditions,” he says.

Pandit Jasrajj with his disciple, Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar.

He adds, “Pandit Jasraj also studied the compositions of Haveli Sangeet in terms of its presentation and the use of instruments and then musically composed the bandishes of Astachap poets like Nandaas, Kumbhandas, Surdas, Krishnadas in the style of Haveli Sangeet, says Pandit Sanjeev Abhayankar. Some of them are Lal gopal gulaal hamari in Raga Haveli Basant and Hey mai man mero in Raga Hori Sarang. “Pandit Jasrajji also used the vocabulary of Ashtachap poets while musically composing various bandishes like Aur raag sab bane barati (Krishnadaas) in Raag Basant and Ye ruta rusaveki nahi (Surdas) in Raag Madhukauns to name a few.”

Acharya Gokulotsav Maharaj, elaborating on the ragas of Haveli Sangeet, says, “Singing ragas according to time and seasons is the biggest contribution of Pushtimargiya sangeet to Indian classical music. Haveli Sangeet is sung as per the seasons. In summers, the Mangala aarti begins early morning with padas in Bhairav, Deshkar, Bilawal (Velavali) and many types of Bilawal are sung, namely Sarparda Bilawal (Swarprada Velawali), Shukla Bilawal, Shudha Bilawal, Alhaiya Bilawal, Nat Bilawal, Kukubh Bilawal and Yamini Bilawal.”

“In Haveli sangeet raga repertoire there are nine types of Nat, six types of Khat, 18 types of Sarang, 18 types of Kanhara, and 12 types of Malhar… Then we also have Agnivarsha Malhar, Vayuvarsha Megha, Samvartak Megh and Upalvarsha Megha etc. These ragas are accompanied by many types of Veenas which are today known by different names, namely Sitar (She-Tantri Veena), Sur Bahar (Swar Vihar), Sarod (Saroj Veena) and percussion instruments like tabla (Pushkar Vadhya), of which we find iconography references in the sculptures of many ancient temples,” he says.

Talking about the poetic repertoire of the Haveli sangeet, Shyamu Bavaji says, “As time passed, the language of the Pushtimargiya community changed from Telugu to Brij Bhasha, and due to the rising fervour of Krishna Bhakti, Brij Bhasha became the lingua franca of India, as much as that even the poets in remote south like Tyagraja to poets in Rajasthan like Meera wrote poetry in Brij Bhasha. Thus, the entire literature of Pushtimargiya sangeet was created in Brij Bhasha, creating an impression that Haveli sangeet is only sung in Brij Bhasha, which is false.”

“Apart from Brij Bhasha, the padas are also sung in different languages like Punjabi, Marwari and Sanskrit. We find padas in Marwari by Raja of Jaipur Brijnidhi writing Brijnidhi thonso lagan lagi hai and Awoto dikhawo to kanhare mhara bagiya main kesar pyara. There are padas created by Hariraiji and Nagridasji in Punjabi: Baje badhayiyan ve saiyan. Many padas of Vittalnathji are found in Sanskrit and are composed in Jhaptaal, which are not sung in Dhrupad style,” he adds.

Most padas sung in Haveli sangeet are dedicated to Ananya Krishna Bhakti except on four occasions which are celebrated in the Vallabh Sampradaya, namely Janmashtami, Vamandwadashi, Nrusinhachaturdashi and Ram Navami, wherein padas of Lord Ram, Vaman avtar and Narsingh avtar are also sung.

Shyamu Bavaji clarifies, “There is a wrong notion that in Pushtimargiya Sangeet, only Astachap poets are sung, as there are over 15000 padas of many poets. We also sing padas of Tulsidasji, but not of Meera because her padas depict her own bhav (emotions) in her bhajans. In Pushtimargiya, our padas are not bhajans, they are the story narration of the Krishna Leela as sewa. Likewise, we even have 16 padas of Acharya Vallabhacharyaji in Telugu, but we don’t sing them, while we have preserved them in the manuscript called Telugu Padayani.”

Pandit Ratan Mohan Sharma, another senior disciple of Pandit Jasraj, throws light on the repertoire of the Ashtayam Sewa of Shrinathji. He says, “The Ashtayam Sewa is the depiction of his Shrinathji’s leela from the morning till night. The ‘Mangala’ Dharshan aarti starts at 4.30 in the morning and depicts the scene when Mata Yashoda wakes him up and at that time ‘Jago mohan pyare’ and ‘ Sham sunder bhor bhavan aj bhay aye’ are sung in Raga Bhairav.E arly morning padas are sung during Janmashtami, which depicts the birth of Krishna in Nand’s house.”

He further adds, “Next comes Shringar, the pada depicts how Yashoda dresses up Krishna ‘Karat srinagar maiya man bhavat‘. At the time of ‘Gwaal’ the pada ‘Mohan jaag haon balihari jagane‘ in raga Deshkar is sung. In ‘Bhoga’ Aarti Krishna is fed food by Yashoda, which represents the Vatsalya rasa in padas. Krishna comes home after feeding the cows at ‘Godhuli’ when the Pada ‘Awat mohan dhenu charye’ is sung in Raga Poorvi. In ‘Shayan’ Darshan, the Pada in Raga Kedar, ‘Paodhe shyam janani gun gaway‘ is sung in raga Kedar, depicting the vatsalya bhava when Yashoda is praising, how much my child has worked all day. Haveli Sangeet is mostly with Raga Bihagda compositions, like ‘Bharoso dradhyi charnan tero’. Pandit Jasraji has also sung many Haveli Sangeet compositions in the album Temple Music including, ‘Mayi mero man mohyo’.”

Court music and temple music

During the mediaeval period, Indian music evolved into two distinct forms: Court music and ‘Devalya’ or temple music. The ancient Prabandhas, composed in Sanskrit, were inaccessible to the common people, leading to the emergence of compositions in local dialects that resonated with the masses. This transition marked the evolution of the Prabandha into Dhrupad. Temple Dhrupad later influenced Court Dhrupad, particularly during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar, whose Court musician, Tansen, was a prominent Dhrupad performer. Over time, however, Dhrupad lost its spiritual essence and its original purpose of uplifting the soul. The Dhrupad style, known for its powerful expression of Veer rasa (heroic sentiment), was often sung to inspire warriors. Raja Mansingh Tomar played a significant role in transforming Dhrupad into Haripad, with compositions by Swami Haridas, Govinddas, and Askarandas.

Pandit Umakant Gundecha, reflecting on the traditional Dhrupads of Haveli sangeet, explains, “The ancient form of temple music included Prabandha, Dhrupad, and Dhamar, known as Chatushpadi, which has continued for over 5,000 years. Originating in temples, this purest form still exists today in the devotional padas of Haveli Sangeet. As Dhrupad moved into the courts, it incorporated new elements like Alaap, Jor, and Jhala, which evolved according to the ruler, occasion, and seasons. While studying traditional Dhrupad gayaki, we encountered the devotional compositions of Astachap poets and were blessed to perform them during Raga Sewa at the Srinathji temple. We sing padas from Haveli sangeet in Raga Megh Malhar (Prabal dal sang jhoom) and in Raga Sohni (Aawan keh gaye ajahu na aye).”

Pandit Umakant Gundecha performing at a concert in Nagpur earlier this year. (Photo: Umakant Gundecha/ Instagram)

Vallabhacharya taught that sewa and katha are two forms of bhakti. In sewa, devotees enact Krishna leela, while in katha or kirtan, they sing about it. Pushtimargiya Sangeet became a universal expression of devotion to the supreme power, attracting many Muslim disciples like Gulab Khan and Ras Khan, who, through their singing of Bhakti Sangeet, became devoted followers themselves.

Haveli Sangeet remains a vibrant expression of devotion, transcending its origins in temple rituals to become an integral part of India’s classical music heritage.

Through the efforts of dedicated musicians and scholars, this ancient tradition continues to inspire and elevate audiences, connecting them to the divine through the timeless power of music.

(Dr Priyaankaa Mathur is an Indian classical vocalist and writer on culture, entertainment, and lifestyle. She holds a PhD in Indian classical music from Delhi University.)

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