LOHA (Bihar)

More than 200 years ago ‘Loha’ a forest was given by the Maharaja of Darbhanga residing at Bhowara, just south of Madhubani to Late Shri Nandan Choudhary, a land-lord of the area to build his ‘haveli’. He built his ‘haveli’ here and gradually other people came and settled here and thus came up the village Loha.

The area of this village is less than 200 acres. At present the population of the village is approximately 2000. This village falls under the police station ‘Kaluahi’. On the north of this village is Subhankerpur, on the west is Bijalpura,on the south is Kapasia and on the East a small river named “Jeewachh”. It is believed by the people of the area that a couple is blessed with a child if they bathe in this river. The village is mainly divided in to three ‘tolas’ named ‘Bengal’, ‘Madras’ and ‘Godda’.

There is a very old Primary School which was upgraded to Middle School. High School Loha was established in 1939. Though this school is located in the adjoining village Bijalpura it is called Loha High School named after Shrimati Shashimani Choudhary of Loha. There is a biweekly ‘haat’ (village bazaar) near this high School and is called ‘Loha Haat’.

Temples in Loha – A True Picture

‘Durga Asthan’ is almost 125 years old. This temple is shown in the cadastral Survey map of 1900.The original temple was constructed by the descendents of Late Nandan Choudhary and the puja ceremony in Ashwin Navaratra was celebrated by them. But since last thirty years, the temple is looked after by a village committee and the new temple has been constructed with the cooperation/donation of all the villagers. The main source of the income for the temple (for puja,etc.) is the pond near the temple.

The puja in this temple is celebrated from 1st Aswin ( New Moon) to Purnima ( Full Moon) and the immersion of the deities takes place after Purnima.

On the Dussehra day (10th Aswin) a Vijaya Yatra starts from ‘Shri Sita Ram Mandir’ with deities Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman. The procession moves around the adjoining villages with recitation of specific stanzas from ‘Ram Charit Mansa’ at different identified places and also at Durga Asthan and finally returns to ‘Shree Sita Ram Mandir’. This Vijaya Yatra is unique and worth observing.

‘Shri Sita Ram Mandir’ is located in the campus of Late Shri Gangadhar Choudhary. Shri Gangadhar Choudhary was a saintly and renowned person. He wrote 92, 08,718 ‘Sri Ram in artistic and colourful style from 5 November 1948 till he breathed his last in January 1972. This ‘Unique Treasure’ is preserved by his son Shri Prem Chandra Choudhary and is worth seeing.

‘Batahu Mahadeo Mandir’ is a very old Shiva temple located on the north eastern corner of the village near ‘Jeewachh river. This temple has been reconstructed with the help of the people of Loha, Subhankarpur, Keota, Bijalpura and Kapsia. The temple in the middle of the fields is very quiet and peaceful.

Kumar Shyamand Singh on creation of new ragas

Kumar Shyamanand Singh was against the modern trend of creation of new ragas and new styles and felt that this was harmful for the evolution of classical music. This is not to say that he was against creativity and innovation without which no art form can exist. He, himself, advocated them as essential ingredients of his own pursuit. However, he felt that our ancestors had created innumerable ragas and styles and we had received them as inheritance from them. We first needed to master them all before thinking of doing anything new in terms of creation of new ragas and styles. According to him, most "new" ragas were a changed form of the old ragas and as such could not be called "new" in real sense. An artist can create new ragas only if he is certain that he had learnt all the ragas created in the past. Otherwise, he would create "new" ragas that would not be "new" in reality. He felt bewildered about the need or urge in this regard as he felt that even mastering one of the many existing ragas in one's lifetime is extremely difficult and complex. He used to say: "Ek Saadhe to sab sadhe, sab saadhe to sab jaye".

He spoke of the rigorous training he was subjected to by his gurus where he was made to sing the same raga for days to perfect it. There were several ancient and archaic ragas that could be performed or sung by an artist. The need was to learn and try to perfect them instead of launching half-baked in pursuit of new ragas. He used to say that our ancient ragas are so complete and beautiful in themselves and on this basis questioned the need to create new ragas.

Kumar Shyamanad Singh on Time and Ragas

Kumar Shyamanad Singh had following to say on this aspect:

"It is my firm view that ragas must be sung or played in accordance with time indicated in the classical texts. This has been given to us by our ancestors. Why should we contradict this? Since ancient times, all artists have followed this time rule and played their music or sang according to this. Were they fools? I have never contradicted these rules and nor do I think I will do so in future. Those ancestors who have given us this rule were much more knowledgable and capable than us."

Gharana Gayaki

Gharana Gayaki has become diluted in recent times. Most famous singers have learnt from scions of different gharanas and the outcome has been a mixed one. Bhimsen Joshi who was rooted in Kirana Gharana but went on to assimilate other styles is a leading example of this new trend. In current times, Ustad Rashid Hussain Khan, who is from Rampur Sahaswan but who also has brought in influences from outside into his singing to the extent that Kumar Prasad Mukherjee does not consider him as belonging to his parent gharana is another example. That is not to say that there singing is not pleasing. Such an insinuation would be made at one's own peril such is the staure of these vocalists. However, the gharana purists of the time like Mashkoor Ali Khan of Kirana or Raza Ali Khan of Patiala are pleasing in a way that is difficult to surpass. In my humble view, tinkering with singing style one has inherited from the Guru beyond a point can prove self-defeating and can endanger the very creation. This is again not to imply that improvisation is prohibited. Quite the contrary, improvisation is essential and each artist must bring in his own contribution and stamp to what has been learnt otherwise he could look a bad copy of the original. However, this has to be done within boundaries and those need to be well defined. For me Gharanedar gayaki takes the cake.