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Harjap
Singh Aujla Being the grandson of illustrious
Bhai Jawala Singh ji of village Saidpur near the historic town of
Sultanpur Lodhi, blessed by a long stay by Sri Guru Nanak Dev
ji, and being the son of highly celebrated Late Bhai Avtar Singh ji former
Huzoori Raagi of Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib of Old Delhi, Bhai Kultar Singh
has several advantages as a “Gurbani Kirtania”. His ancesters were
associated with the “Guru Darbars” some four hundred years ago. As
such they had a unique exposure to the prevalent traditions of “Gurbani
Kirtan”in the “Guru Darbars”. One of his predecessors had the
privilege of serving in the “Guru Darbar” of the Tenth Master Sri Guru
Guru Gobind Singh ji, as one of the several Kirtanias, while the Guru was
in the Punjab.
After the period of the great
Gurus, Bhai Kultar Singh’s ancesters started living permanently in
village Saidpur near Sultanpur Lodhi in erstwhile Kapurthala state. In
addition to the daily chores of performing “Shabad Kirtan”, the family
did farming as a second profession. According to Late Bhai Avtar Singh,
his predecessors kept alive the ancient “Gurmat Kirtan” traditions of
the “Guru Darbars”, in their pristine purity within the family. These
lofty traditions, although are getting extinct in other “Graranas”,
are still alive within this family. Some of the hallmarks of the ancient
“Gurmat Sangeet” traditions include renditions of the “Shabads” in
“Dhrupad” and “Dhamar” formats. “Panjtall Aswari”, “Chartall”,
“Soolphag” and several other rare“Talls” prevalent in the “Guru
Darbars” are preserved within the “Kirtan Shelly” of this family.
“Partal” tradition, consisting of rendition of one “Shabad” in
several compatible “Taals” is the gift of the great Gurus. This
tradition is dying elsewhere, but it is alive with Bhai Kultar Singh’s
group.
My late father Sardar Sochet Singh
told me that the biggest fountain head shrines of “Gurmat Sangeet”
during the past two centuries have been the “Golden Temple in Amritsar”
and the “Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib”. Both these shrines
are located within fifty miles of Punjab’s capital and its cultural
centre of Lahore. Because of that all the innovations in the fine arts
that occurred in Lahore, found their way into Amritsar and Nankana Sahib.
Thus the “Kirtan” traditions at Amritsar and Nankana Sahib kept
changing all the time. The “Khayal” format of North Indian classical
music, which was in its infancy during the period of Sri Guru Gobind Singh
ji, developed extensively during the past one and a half centuries. Lahore
became the harbinger of the evolutions of new traditions of classical
music. Whatever developed and flourished in Lahore and Amritsar found its
way into the mode of “Shabad Kirtan” in both the Golden Temple and
Nankana Sahib. The family of Bhai Jawala Singh lived in Sultanpur Lodhi,
which is remotely located from the much travelled Grand Trunk Road.
Because of the remoteness of location, this family maintained its pristine
ancient traditions of music alive. Bhai Avtar Singh inherited five
hundred ancient tunes of “Gurmat Sangeet” from his father Bhai Jawala
Singh. And Bhai Kultar, an engineer by profession, recently after
switching to rendition of “Gurmat Sangeet”, has learnt at least four
hundred tunes based on all thirty one Ragaas included in “Sri Guru
Granth Sahib ji”. Bhai Kultar Singh’s voice is a rich male voice and
can be modulated effortlessly for all the “Reets” he performs in. In addition, Bhai Kultar Singh
enjoys a very good command over English language. He has grasped the
meanings of the “Shabads” very well and he can explain it to the new
generation very effectively in international English. Bhai Kultar
Singh’s knowledge of English language is serving as a live wire with the
Europe, America and Canada born new Sikh generations. The congregations of
old and new generations in the Gurdwaras in North America have liked Bhai
Kultar Singh’s “Kirtan Shailly”. The newer generation has liked his
“Viakhia” (interpretation) of the Guru’s word enshrined in the holy
“Sri Guru Granth Sahib”. Bhai Avtar Singh left for his
heavenly abode on November 23, 2006. Bhai Swaran Singh, Bhai Avtar
Singh’s nephew, who has been the “Tabla” (drum) player of the
original “Jatha” (group) consisting of Bhai Avtar Singh Gurcharan
Singh since the nineteen fifties, is now a member of the “Jatha” led
by Bhai Kultar Singh. The advantage of Bhai Swaran Singh’s presence in
the group is that he can play all the “Taals”, which have been played
by the Sikh religious musicians since the times of the great Gurus. Bhai
Swaran Singh remembers most of the “Shabads” included in the holy book
“Sri Guru Granth Sahib”. Bhai Swaran Singh also knows most of the
tunes handed down from generation to generation within this family of
musicians. His voice is also very good. His voice combines well with that
of Bhai Kultar Singh. The third member of the group is Bhai Manmohan
Singh, a decendant of a Kashmiri family of traditional Sikh priests and
religious musicians. His voice is very good and he combines very well with
the other two. |
