Karnatik music is one of the most ancient, rigorous classical musical traditions of India. Tracing the changes this music underwent in the nineteenth century when it was brought out into the open from the exclusive environment where it was nurtured, this book looks at the three areas of this classical music, which were most influenced by this development: the pedagogy or the imparting of knowledge; performance; and criticism. Once the urban elite demanded the widening of the teaching of classical music, it had to leave the temple and the court and enter the universities and other public spaces This meant a breakdown of the gurushishya parampara, the severely-hierarchical and caste-based institution in which the teacher imparted knowledge to a chosen few, and allowed for the performance of Karnatik to a wider audience in concert halls, making it subject to validation and criticism by the newly emerging music critic.

Lakshmi Subramanian is Professor, Department of History and Culture, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.