Sunday Special:- Who Really was Baiju Bawra?

Bharat Bhushan Sahab as Baiju in "Baiju Bawra"

All of us must have surely watched or heard about the musical character -"Baiju", played by Legendary Actor Bharat Bhushan Sahab in Vijay Bhatt's 1952 Hindi film - "Baiju Bawra". But do we Indians actually remember or even know, this greatest music maestro named Baiju? Therefore, in today's Sunday Special we present to you some facts and stories from history related to the life of the real life Baiju Bawra or "Baiju the Insane".

About The Great Maestro's Birthplace:

Born as Baijnath Mishra was a dhrupad vocal musician from medieval India. Very meagre amount of information is available on Baiju's life as it lacks historical authenticity. According to the most popular legends, he lived in the Mughal period during the 15th and 16th centuries. He was one of the court musicians of Man Singh Tomar of Gwalher (now Gwalior). Baijnath Mishra passed away in Chanderi after suffering from typhoid on the day of Vasant Panchami in 1610.

Samadhi of Baiju Bawra

A ramshackle samadhi is the only reminder of the famous Dhrupad singer Baijnath Mishra, popularly known as Baiju Bawra, in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh. Known as a weaver’s town, Chanderi doesn't figure among the famed gharanas of classical music. It's mainly known for the special silk yarn that the eponymous Chanderi saris are made of.

In Popular Culture:

Baiju Bawra is a 1952 Hindi musical romantic drama film directed by Vijay Bhatt. Produced by Prakash Pictures, with story by Ramchandra Thakur and dialogues by Zia Sarhadi, Baiju Bawra was a musical "megahit" which had a mighty run of 100 weeks in the theatres. The film's music director was Naushad, lyricist was Shakeel Badayuni, a Naushad discovery. Most of the songs in the film were sung Mohammed Rafi.

The film starred Bharat Bhushan as Baiju, with Meena Kumari playing his love interest Gauri. Surendra portrayed Tansen, one of the Navratnas in Akbar's court. Kuldip Kaur played the role of the dacoit queen Roopmati. The rest of the cast included Bipin Gupta, Manmohan Krishna, B. V. Vyas and Baby Tabassum.

The film merges the legend of Baiju Bawra with the historic setting of Mughal Emperor Akbar's court in India. Baiju (Bhushan) is the son of a musician who also grows up to be a musician. Nobody is allowed to sing in the city unless he or she can sing better than Tansen. Anyone who attempts to sing, without doing it better than Tansen, is executed. Baiju's father dies when Tansen's sentry tries to stop him from singing. He comes to believe that Tansen, the famed musician at the court of Akbar, is responsible for his father's death. The movie then follows Baiju's attempt to avenge his father's death by defeating Tansen to a musical duel.

Stories of Baijnath Mishra from Gwalior:

In the film :- Swami Haridas & Baiju Bawra

According to a story, mentioned by Susheela Mishra in Some immortals of Hindustani music, Baiju Bawra was born as Baijnath Mishra in a poor Brahmin family in Champaner, Gujarat Sultanate. After his father's death, his mother, a devotee of Krishna, went to Vrindavan. There, Baiju met his teacher Swami Haridas, and was trained in a gurukul. He also adopted an orphan named Gopal, and trained him to be a musician who was later invited by Raja Man Singh Tomar to Gwalior, where he reached the height of his fame. Gopal married his disciple Prabha, and the couple had a daughter named Meera. The queen of Gwalior, Rani Mriganayani, had also become his disciple.

Once, while Baiju was away, Gopal left Chanderi permanently, lured by some Kashmiri merchants who wanted him to serve their king. When Baiju returned home, he was shocked to find his entirely family gone. He became a vagabond, and wandered from place to place, looking for his beloved adopted grandchild Meera. People thought of him as an insane person, and thus, he came to be known as "bawra". Some conflicting legends say that he came to be known as "Bawra", because he was obsessed with classical music.

Surendra in the role of Tansen

Ramtanu Pandey or Tansen (one of the Navaratnas (the nine jewels) in Mughal Emperor Akbar's Court, and had given him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man), another famous disciple of Swami Haridas, had heard Baiju's praise from his teacher. He asked his own patron Raja Ramachandra Baghela of Rewa to organize a musical contest, in hope that Baiju would come to this contest to salvage his reputation. Baiju came to the contest, and performed extraordinary feats such as hypnotizing deer through his rendering of Raag Mrigranjini and melting a stone slab through Raag Malkauns. Tansen recognized him and embraced him.

Baiju Bawra's Oil Lamp. Said to have extraordinary features.

The legends in the books preserved in Jai Vilas Mahal in Gwalior state that Baiju Bawra could light oil lamps by singing Raag Deepak; make it rain by singing the raagas Megh, Megh Malhar, or Gaud Malhar; and bloom flowers by singing raga Bahar.

In Chanderi, the traditions of Dhrupad are quite prevalent even to this date. Thus every music lover who has the unique sense of classical music, must atleast once in a while listen to the dhrupad compositions that Maestros like Baiju Bawra have given us to cherish.

Written by Arth Chakraborty.