Repertoire: Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, Bhajan, Padam and Gat Bhao
What this domain tests
This domain checks whether you can match a song form or expressive item to its language, mood, tala and performance function in Kathak.
Core repertoire
- Thumri: light-classical, often Braj or Awadhi, with shringara and sahitya-centred abhinaya; commonly set in dadra, kaharba or related cycles.
- Dadra: both a six-matra tala and a light song form; usually romantic or devotional, with a gentle lilt.
- Ghazal: Urdu couplet poetry with radif and qafia; in Kathak it supports refined, often Sufi or romantic abhinaya.
- Bhajan: devotional song, commonly to Krishna or Rama; it foregrounds bhakti rather than courtly romance.
- Padam: a lyrical devotional/expressional composition; in Kathak programmes it is used for abhinaya, though the term is also prominent in South Indian repertoires.
- Gat bhao: a mimed, narrative gait sequence; it may use a musical line but is defined by expressive action, not by song form alone.
Worked example
A programme needs an Urdu couplet for Sufi-inflected abhinaya, a Krishna devotional song, and a silent narrative of a woman carrying water. The choices are ghazal, bhajan and gat bhao. The reasoning is language and function: Urdu couplet = ghazal; devotional Krishna text = bhajan; mimed situation without a song’s primary text = gat bhao.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating ghazal and thumri as interchangeable.
- Forgetting that dadra is both tala and song type.
- Confusing padam with padhant (rhythmic recitation).
- Calling gat bhao pure nritta.