Swara-nāyikās: 2020

When Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar founded the Gandharv Mahavidyalaya, he flung open the doors of musical training to women. This in turn heralded a new era, in which the women from ordinary families could learn, excel in, and publicly perform the classical music, with not mere acceptance, but dignity! Earlier, the acceptance of women artists was limited to the aristocratic circles of the princes, kings, knights, zamindars, and the neo-rich businessmen of Mumbai and Kolkata! But in this new era propagated by Pt. Paluskar, the female artists could perform publicly in concerts and musical conferences. This in turn paved the way for them to gain acceptance from the society at large.

In the ancient texts on music, the geniuses responsible for taking the state of the art forward and for leading the evolution of music are known as the nāyaks – the pathbreakers. These female vocalists, who in the last century gave new energy to the classical music, paved a new path and took the classical music to new heights; can rightfully be referred to as the ‘nāyikās’. These ‘swara-nāyikās’ helped bestow a new character and personality to the ancient rāga-sangeet. Let us welcome the new year in the incandescent glow of these trailblazing swara-nāyikās!