Musical Nirvana

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Hindustani (North Indian) Classical Vocal music. Till now, I've been largely ignorant of this genre. I preferred instrumentals, especially in the fusion style, the acrobatics in playing the instrument, generally fast pace, and a strong basis in percussion.

However, after trying out a few CDs by renowned singers such as Vasantrao Deshpande, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, and newer singers such as Sanjeev Abhyankar and Ustad Rashid Khan, I've begun to like it. In attempting to learn a bit about the historical tradition and the musical aspects, I came across Musical Nirvana.

Musical Nirvana seems a very good resource at this stage. It gives a detailed historical account of the origins and development of Indian Classical music. The website traces the roots of Indian Classical music in the temple tradition, to the Persian influences on it, the Gharana tradition, and the change in the form and structure of the raga performance. It also has very detailed and simplified information on a number of raagas, their history, and musical structure in terms of swaras. The technical background seems useful in learning to distinguish the finer nuances of the ragas.

The site is pretty comprehensive - it contains information about the most renowned and popular artists and composers, their albums, their Gharana traditions and so on. Certainly a very valuable resource.