What is "dhrupad"

n. A vocal genre in Hindustani classical music

Dhrupad ( Hindi: ध्रुपद) is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words dhruva and pad (verse), where a part of the poem (dhruv) is used as a refrain. The term may denote both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung.

Abul Fazl, courtier and chronicler at the court of the Emperor Akbar, defines the dhrupad verse form in his Ain-e-Akbari as "four rhyming lines, each of indefinite prosodic length." Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu deities) to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance. Though Dhrupad is basically a vocal tradition, its musical aesthetics have been adopted by many instrumentalists. Not only by various schools of Rudra Veena players (Beenkars) but also by other instrumentalists, who look to Dhrupad for examples for their instrumental developments of raag, and go as far as to adapt the format: a slow, unmetered alaap, jod, jhala, to be concluded with one or more compositions in contrasting talas. Ram Narayan and Hariprasad Chaurasia, to name but two acclaimed instrumentalists, pay homage to Dhrupad in the way they present a raag.