Gaya’s reputation as a centre for Indian classical music was caused by three men who can be deemed as the Holy Trinity of esraj performance. These were Kanhaiyalal Dheri, Hanumandas Singh, and Chandrika Prasad Dubey, three men who made the esraj the instrument a solo-performance tool, as it is known today. All of them were present in Gaya during the second half of the 19th century, thus being contemporaries, and caused the flourishing of the esraj as a musical instrument of repute. The esraj is a stringed instrument which is meant to be played by bowing. It is somewhat of a blend between a sitar and a violin. It is unknown when it was invented or by whom, but what is agreed is that by the year 1900, the esraj had emerged as a popular choice of solo musical performance, as it is known today. These people were instrumental (pun not intended) in the transformation in the esraj’s transformation from an instrument of accompaniment to an instrument of solo performance, a revolutionary stage in the modernization of Indian classical music.
Kanhaiyalal Dheri and Hanumandas Singh grew up together in the household of Kanhaiyalal’s father, Ramhari Dheri, who was himself a renowned gayawal. There is some debate as to the precedence of either person, but Roy believes Kanhaiyalal was older than Hanumandas, based on two conflicting narratives he could gather and what he could deduce from them, with one influencing or even mentoring the other. Possibly, Kanhaiyalal mentored Hanumandas. Kanhaiyalal was not only an esraj player. He was also a priest. In fact, he was a leading gayawal who inherited his father’s business. He was originally a classical vocalist who trained himself in the esraj. Though his life was short, he became one of the best known performers of the esraj in India and had links and patronage from the elite of Calcutta, with whose help he garnered significant reputation and assets in that city. Hanumandas Singh’s birth-name was probably Kanhaiya. His father Haralal or Haridas Singh, a kheyal singer, had come to Gaya and left the infant Kanhaiya with Ramhari Dheri, who renamed him Hanumandas, in order to avoid confusion with his own son. Initially, Hanumandas had taken to kheyal singing initially, but then shifted towards playing the esraj. He was not as well-travelled or widely known as Kanhaiyalal Dheri, but he left a significant legacy within Gaya. He was the esraj guru of Chandrika Prasad Dubey, and even taught his son Sohni Singh, an accomplished musician in his own repute. After Sohni passed away at a young age, Hanumandas gave up music altogether in his last life.
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