The Polysemy of the Prabandha– Reading
a Premodern Musical Genre
Naresh Keerthi
The term prabandhasimultaneously means very many things in the context of premodern Indian
literature and music. The prabandhaas a musical meta-genre has occupied the attention of musicologists
from Matanga (8thc.AD) to Venkanamakhin (16thc. AD). There is much variety in the number, description and details of the various types of prabandhasongs found in the musicological sources, and it is fortunate
that there are a few examples of prabandha-s available, even if they are from the late medieval period.
Here, a specific sub-category – the Śrīranga Prabandhais considered, its genealogy through the
musicological literature studied and also an example to understand the life trajectory of the concept of a
prabandhais examined. By studying the structural, textual and musical content of the two songs, it is
tried to sketch the identity of the musical prabandha vis-à-visits literary namesake, its literary sources,
and its successors in the history of musical genres. Also, the essay explores the overlapping yet distinct
spheres of production, reception and circulation of the musical and literary prabandha-s. The available
examples are used to discuss the methodological issues of studying genres that straddle the categories of
the literary and the performative