Memory and pedagogy of Gurbāṇī Saṅgīta: An autoethnographic Udāsī*

In 1989, I began an undertaking to revive the nearly-extinct Gurbāṇī Saṅgīta tradition, the centuries-old Gur-Sikh heritage. I located vidyādhārīs (knowledgeable memory bearers) who remembered original rāga forms and śabadrītas (Gurbāṇī compositions), knew how to play or make musical instruments that had all but vanished, and were versed in the exegetical attendance of Srī Gurū Granth Sāhib, the scriptural Gurū of the GurSikh Panth. Carefully sifting through the memory of the last remaining elders I could track, I started by harnessing everything that I could – irrespective of their familial or musical lineages. In this paper, I take stock of and analyse the kalāmī (written), tantrī (audio-visual) and, zubānī (memorised) assets that I was able to recover through my fieldwork across South Asia and beyond, including compositions, notations, stories, and pedagogical processes. In my judgement, it is impossible to understand the music of early modern India, including dhurpada and mridaṅga/pakhāwaj, without careful study of the Gurbāṇī Saṅgīta tradition and the riches it has transmitted to the present.