Prakriti Dutta has distinguished herself as one of the most
promising Dhrupad (oldest existing Indian Classical music tradition) vocalists
of her generation. She is the only daughter of Jogesh Dutta who pioneered mime
in India. Prakriti`s journey into the world of Indian classical music started
with her mother Suchita Dutta, herself a well-known singer .She started her
formal talim (training) at a tender age under Dhrupad maestro Ustad Nasir
Aminuddin Dagar and legendary vocalist Pandit A. Kanan and further boned her
skilled under the accomplished trainer Gour Saran Dasgupta.
She secured first place in Dhrupad contest organized by State Music Academy of
West Bengal in 1995. She also secured first position in M.A in Dhrupad from
Rabindra Bharati University of West-Bengal, India and received the “Acarya Uday
Bhushan Bhattacharya Smriti Purashkar” in 2000. She has started her advanced
training under Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar at his Gurukul ( ancient system of art
school in India) organized by Indian Institute Of Technology, Mumbai. Her debut
as a dhrupad singer was highly appreciated by press and public on 3rd March,
2003 at Rabindra Sadan the nation auditorium of the city Kolkata. She worked as a
music teacher with The Heritage School and Delhi Public School Megacity Kolkata.
She is presently going through a Postgraduate Research Programme from University
of Edinburgh on Indian Music Therapy for Mentally Challenged Children and also
regularly teaching music at The Scottish Academy of Asian Artsand Sense
Scotland. Prakriti has two Dhrupad albums in her credit and she extensively
toured in the European countries like France, Spain, United Kingdom, and
Belgium.
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is the most pristine form of Classical Indian music alive today. It
traced its origin to the
Samaveda, and first mention as fully
evolved form in the late 15th century musical text Man Kutuhul
compiled by the scholar musicians Raja Man Shingh Tomer`s in Gwalior. The
word Dhrupad means the steadfast evening star that moves through our galaxy and
Pada means poetry. Dhrupad has its origin from the sacred syllable
OM which has been considered as the source of all sounds. The
rendition commence with a prolong Alap which is a elaborate
description of the Raga (the network of notes set in a fixed form ). The
unfoding of alap takes place in slow, medium and fast tempo that
Alap, Jod and Jhala which is followed
by the poem accompanied by a horizontal dram called Pakhawaj. The
languages used for the poems were mostly Hindi, Sanskrit and Brajbhasa. Unlike
Khayal Dhrupad is somber in character strict adherence to the
structure of the Raga and it offers respect for the rhythmic cycle. Performer of
this style carefully uses the notes that are clear with glide (meends) and
vibrate (gamaks).
Prakriti Dutta has distinguished herself as one of the most
promising Dhrupad (oldest existing Indian Classical music tradition) vocalists
of her generation. She is the only daughter of Jogesh Dutta who pioneered mime
in India. Prakriti`s journey into the world of Indian classical music started
with her mother Suchita Dutta, herself a well-known singer .She started her
formal talim (training) at a tender age under Dhrupad maestro Ustad Nasir
Aminuddin Dagar and legendary vocalist Pandit A. Kanan and further boned her
skilled under the accomplished trainer Gour Saran Dasgupta. 
Kolkata. She worked as a
music teacher with The Heritage School and Delhi Public School Megacity Kolkata.
Samaveda, and first mention as fully
evolved form in the late 15th century musical text Man Kutuhul
compiled by the scholar musicians Raja Man Shingh Tomer`s in Gwalior. The
word Dhrupad means the steadfast evening star that moves through our galaxy and
Pada means poetry. Dhrupad has its origin from the sacred syllable
OM which has been considered as the source of all sounds. The
rendition commence with a prolong Alap which is a elaborate
description of the Raga (the network of notes set in a fixed form ). The
unfoding of alap takes place in slow, medium and fast tempo that
Alap, Jod and Jhala which is followed
by the poem accompanied by a horizontal dram called Pakhawaj. The
languages used for the poems were mostly Hindi, Sanskrit and Brajbhasa. Unlike
Khayal Dhrupad is somber in character strict adherence to the
structure of the Raga and it offers respect for the rhythmic cycle. Performer of
this style carefully uses the notes that are clear with glide (meends) and
vibrate (gamaks).