The Story
OrganizerTansen Samaroh commemorates Mian Tansen, the 16th-century Hindustani classical musician of Emperor Akbar's court and one of the so-called Navratnas (nine gems) of his reign, at his tomb in Behat village near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. The tradition traces back to an informal 'urs' (annual commemoration) held by musicians and music lovers at the tomb, formalised into a structured festival in the 1920s; its 2025 edition was billed as the 101st, implying a founding year of approximately 1924-25. It remained a largely local, regional event for decades until B.V. Keskar, India's Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting from 1952 to 1962, championed efforts to elevate it into a nationally significant classical music festival. It is now organised jointly by the Ustad Alauddin Khan Sangeet Evam Kala Akademi and the Department of Culture, Government of Madhya Pradesh, in association with the Gwalior district administration, the Archaeological Survey of India and Madhya Pradesh Tourism. The National Tansen Samman, the festival's principal honour, has been awarded since 1980, with its cash value rising from Rs 5,000 originally to Rs 1 lakh by 1990. The 2025 edition ran 15-19 December at the Tansen Samadhi Sthal, Gwalior, marking its centennial milestone year.
Tansen Samaroh's significance is inseparable from Gwalior's identity as the birthplace of the Gwalior Gharana, one of the oldest and most influential schools of Hindustani classical music, and from Tansen's own status as arguably the most legendary figure in the tradition's history. As one of India's oldest continuously running classical music festivals (predating most of the government-run cultural institutions established after independence), it represents a genuine continuity between pre-independence princely-state musical patronage and post-independence state cultural policy: it began as a local devotional tribute and was later deliberately nationalised by a Union minister specifically to elevate its stature. Gwalior's UNESCO 'City of Music' designation and the festival's role in producing figures within the Gwalior Gharana lineage (Veena Sahasrabuddhe, D.V. Paluskar, Kumar Gandharva and others trained in or associated with this musical tradition) give it a foundational place in Hindustani classical music history distinct from later-founded festivals.
Tansen Samaroh is confirmed very much active, its 101st edition ran in December 2025, marking its centennial year with a full programme including the National Tansen Samman and Raja Mansingh Tomar Samman award ceremonies, heritage sessions at multiple historic sites, and student ensemble performances from Gwalior's own music schools. For institutional and CSR audiences, it is a clear example of a genuinely century-old classical music institution sustained through direct state government ownership (Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh), and its role in continuously reproducing the Gwalior Gharana's teaching lineage through student participation each year gives it an ongoing pedagogical function beyond a single annual event.
Confers the Rashtriya Tansen Samman, one of the highest honours in Hindustani classical music.
