Another notable singer of Kapurthala Gharana was Pandit Nathu Ram. He was trained by his father and uncle who were also proficient Dhrupad singers. They were notable Brahmins who performed pujas in the temple. Nathu Ram learnt Dhrupad, Khayal, Tappa, Thumri and Tarana. He was a talented Shabad Gayak also and performed them in raagas as mentione din Guru Granth Sahib. He is also credited with performing in Harballah Sangeet Sammelan. Meer Rehmat Ali and Bhai Mehboob Ali were also eminent singers of Kapurthala Gharana. They were commonly known as Bhai Booba. According to history Meer Rehmat Ali was rewarded with a Surbahar by the Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah Rangile which was his favourite instrument. In his last days he had gifted his Surbahar to Bhai Booba who performed at the court of Maharaja Bhupendar Singh of Patiala. He was appointed as the court musician. Later Kunwar Mrigender Singh learnt Surbahar from Bhai Booba and received much popularity. Few of the other eminent artists of this Kapurthala Gharana are Mahat Gajja Singh and Bhagwan Dass Saini who had become the disciple of Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi. He was proficiebt in Dhupad, Khayal, Thumri, Gazal, Bhajan, Shabad and others. Kunwar Mrigender was also an expert Sitar, Surbahar and Rudra Veena player. |