The Veena has played a central role in Indian music since the Vedic times and since then this musical instrument has gone through various changes. However, till now, no musician or beenkar has come up with any such change that could bridge the musical gap between the North Indian and South Indian musical styles.
Mumbai-based beenkar Balachander has attempted to do this, with considerable success. He has made changes in the Saraswati Veena used in Carnatic music such that tones of the north Indian Rudra Veena can also be played. He will be performing on this amazing Chandra veena in the Veena Samaroh organised at Bhopal’s Bharat Bhawan.
Talking about his thoughts about creation of the Chandraveena, Balachander told mediapersons on Saturday, “I had always thought that all Indian classical music is essentially one, and differences in presentation styles are mainly due to the local cultures of various States. When I started learning music, the first thing I learned was Saraswati Veena in the Carnatic style and then later I learned to play Sarod in Hindustani style& also took taleem in Dhrupad.
“I often thought that since I have training in Saraswati veena as well as Dhrupad, then why don’t I attempt merging these two streamsIJ I initially started trying to play Dagar Bani Dhrupad on the Saraswati Veena, being inspired by my Gurus Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar & Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. After a few years, I undertook a project to modify the Saraswati Veena in order to make it more suitable for the nuances of Dhrupad, at the same time retaining its own character. I named this project North Meets South: Dhrupad on Saraswati Veena. This project was partially supported by the Ministry of Culture in the form of a fellowship of 2 years and after 4 years of painstaking efforts I succeeded in creating the present form of Chandraveena,” he further added.