Music is believed to be the spirit of life. The oldest living city, Benaras (Varanasi / Kashi ) has its own rich history and great of music. According to myths, Lord Shiva is the presiding god of Varanasi and is also considered as the lord of dance and music. According to the Puran the Apsaras, Gandharvas and Kinnars lived in Varanasi and made the musical tradition of Varanasi a rich one.
Going back to history, Great saint Chaitanya and Vallabhacharya played an important role in the development and popularity of music in Varanasi. Saints like Surdas, Kabeer, Raidas, Meera and Tulsi also made rich and valuable contributions to the devotional music and their Bhajans are popular to even this day.
Benaras also developed as a great center of Dhrupad style of singing. With the development of Dhrupad, other styles like Dhamar, Hori and Chaturang also grew. The Famous Assarwari, "Ghunghat ke pat Khol" was made famous by the Nirgun singers of Kashi while Meer Rustam (the Nawab of Awadh) patronised Music Festivals like Jhoola, Jhoomar, Kajri, Birha, Dangal, Gulab Bari and music festivals on boats. Over a period of time Tappa form of singing also became popular in Varanasi and its main exponents were Shori Miyan, Gammu Khan and Shade Khan.
Over a period of time, the Maharajas of Kashi or Varanasi also gave support to music and that resulted in making Varanasi a great center of music.. A galaxy of great musicians made Varanasi a great center of music. Varanasi saw the development of Banarasi Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti, Hori, Bhairavi, Kajri, Tarana, Ghato and much more. Besides these major streams, lesser-known forms like Tirwat, Sadra, Khamsa, Lavni, Chaturang, Sargam, Ragmala, Kirtan, Qauwali, Kathagayan, Bhajan and Ramayan also developed at Varanasi.
Varanasi is also associated with many great instrumentalists. Sehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan is famous world wide while Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar has earned wide acclaim throughout the world. Other instrumentalists who have left their mark are Madan Mohan, Bhola Nath, Pathak, Mannuji, Amarnath Mishra, Brindwan Das, Ramdeo and Subodh Babu
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