Comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date, this three-volume Encyclopaedia covers the story of music spread across 2000 years. From entries on classical, folk, film, and other forms of music to details of all forms of dance, raga, tala, gharana, treatises, technical terms, and instruments as well as short biographies of vocalists, musicologists, saint poets, gurus, composers, and instrumentaliststhe range and breadth of the Encyclopaedia is immense. With 5000 entries by around 100 acclaimed contributors, the volume spans all regions of India: from Assam, Meghalaya, and Manipur to Gujarat, and from Kashmir to Kerala. The music of the Subcontinent, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also finds a place. A vast collaborative effort spanning 12 years and supported by an extended group of around 250 musicians, musicologists, scholars, and teachers of music from India and the world, the Encyclopaedia includes more than 200 photographs from family albums and private collections as well as line drawings of rare instruments. The text and visuals blend to extend our understanding of the many modes and moods of the music of India.
Developed by the Sangit Mahabharati, Mumbai, and initiated by the late Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, this first-of-its-kind Encyclopaedia will be indispensable for practicing musicians and students and teachers of Indian music in all its forms. Music connoisseurs, amateurs, and anybody keen to know more about India, her history and culture, will come across a wealth of information not found elsewhere.