Tansen Samaroh or Tansen Music Festival 2023: Madhya Pradesh

27 Dec 2023

Context: Guinness world record for Largest tabla ensemble set in Gwalior during the Tansen Samaroh or Tansen music festival 2023.

About Tansen Samaroh 2023

The tabla ensemble is a performance by 1,282 tabla players with three generations of tabla players participating in the event.
They performed at the 99th International Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
Celebrating Tabla Day: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to observe December 25 as ‘Tabla Day’ to commemorate the Guinness Price and honour all musicians.

About Tansen Samaroh or Tansen Music Festival

About: Tansen Samaroh is a unique four-five day music festival, dedicated to the pillar of Indian music, the great Tansen. It is held at his tomb in Gwalior in the village of Behat every year.

The Department of Culture and the Government of Madhya Pradesh started the festival to pay tribute to the Indian classical music maestro, Mian Tansen.
Rashtriya Tansen Samman: It is an award of the highest honour in the Indian classical music industry, presented to an individual who has made a considerable contribution to classical music.

About Mian Tansen

Tansen was a vocalist, instrumentalist and music composer credited as the founder of the Hindustani classical music. He was one of the Navratnas (Nine gems) in Emperor Akbar’s court.

Tansen Samaroh

He was titled Tansen by Raja Vikramjit of Gwalior and Emperor Akbar gave him the title of Mian
Teacher: Swami Haridas and Muhammad Ghaus.
Style: Tansen’s compositions were primarily based on Hindu Puranas and praise of Hindu deities like Shiva, Vishnu and Ganesha. He employed the Dhrupad style in his composition. Later on, he also performed eulogies on kings.
Notable contributions: He composed Ragas such as Bhairav, DarbariTodi, DarbariKanada, Malhar, Deepak, Sarang and Rageshwari which is considered as the foundation of classical music. He is also credited with popularising the central Asian ‘Plucked Rabab’.