Times News Network

New Delhi

How often have you wished you knew the difference between a Bageshwari and Behag ? Or between Lalit and Bhairav? How many times have you wanted to acquaint yourself with a legend your father never got tired of talking? Or simply wished you were at the concert that the newspapers were so full of? Chances are, very often. And if that's the case, you're now being gifted with the solution. Just click on www.itcsra.org, which was launched at a glittering gathering in the Capital on Friday.

The portal will offer everything that ITC's Sangeet Research Academy is known for : Its archive of musical nuggets, its method of training which breathed new life into the guru shishya tradition when it was on the brink of extinction; its scientific research department. "But so far all this was available to scholars and other listeners only when they come to Kolkata," explained SRA's Amit Mukherjee. "The portal will take all this to listeners outside."

The portal expects to be accessed in a big way by people in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, "states which have a lot of music going on," Mukherjee explains. In addition, "we want to go to the larger Indian diaspora, in America, UK, Australia." In other words, wherever Indians are craving to get back to their heritage, they can have a jalsaghar (music room) of their own, to listen to what they want to hear, to firm up their understanding of classical music, or simply to get initiated into the wonders of ragas.

The Gharana (Schools) section is likely to be of special interest since it has some of the oldest recordings - "beginning with `Bawre' Rehmat Khan, recorded in 1908" - along with the most contemporary representatives of the respective gharanas.

Likewise, Tribute To A Maestro will tap the SRA archives to pay homage to masters through their own recordings. On the other hand, Concert Hall will present, through video recordings, "delayed or live performances of ustads," Mukherjee informs. So that, if you've missed Vilayat Khan performing at the ITC Sangeet Sammelan, catch up now.

While these sections will go on changing, the Know Your Ragas will only keep growing. The 80 ragas on the portal at the outset will have their structure and form enunciated by a senior guru who will, in addition, render a traditional Bandish (song) delineating each raga. "In the days to come, we will augment this section with more ragas and bandishes from different gharanas," Mukherjee promises.