Situated on the higher ground, across the Sur-Sagar is the Faculty of Performing Arts, of The Maharaja Sayajirao University. Popularly known as the Music College, the building that it is housed in, was earlier the Anglo – Vernacular School. Formerly a school for primary education, the building later came to house the Music College from the year 1886.
Anglo-Vernacular School :
In year 1875 A.D., Maharaja Sayajirao III made primary education compulsory for women and men of all castes, thus the Anglo – Vernacular School(the school which teaches in English as well as the local languages) was built. The school taught up to four standards in languages like Gujarati, Marathi and Urdu, and prepared students for entry into High Schools.
The Music College :
Better known as the Gayan Shala in olden days, the institute was founded by Ustad Khan Saheb Maulabaksh under the patronage of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in year 1886. The first home of this Gayan Shala was the “Madhyavarti Shala” and it is not known, when it was shifted to its current building. The institute came to be the first music school of it’s kind in India, which gave and still gives training of performing arts like Music, Dance, Drama.
Sir William Emerson designed this unique faculty, one of its kind in western India, & the institute receives students from all over the world. Students from countries like USA, Nepal, Japan, Mauritius also study here, and once it so happened that this school of “Indian Classical Music” came to be led by Mr. Fredlis, who was a Russian jew and the then manager of Baroda State Band.
The college was associated with many famous artists, who later became the teaching staff of the college. Ustad Tasadduq Hussain Khan, Aftab e Mousiqui Ustad Faiyaz Hussain Khan ‘Rangeele’, Ustad Atta Hussain ‘Ratanpiya’, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan of Rampur gharana, Ustad Hazrat Inayat Khan and Gayanacharya Pandit Madhusudan Joshi are some of the artists associated with the institute.
The renowned Musicologist Pandit V. N. Bhatkhande is also associated with the institute .He was invited to restructure the course of the music education and to the evolve the grading system for the institute. Pandit Bhatkhande also led the first historic Music Conference of United India, held in 1916 and hosted by the department. The event was hosted under the patronage of Maharaj Sayajirao Gaekwad III and was attended by 400 stalwarts from the whole of India as well as the neighboring countries.
The birth of a Faculty :
The Sangeet Shala was assimilated in the The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda as the College of Indian Music, Dance and Dramatics, as a part of the Faculty of Fine Arts, in 1949. After this, in 1950 the degree course in Music along with four more disciplines viz. Vocal, Tabla, Sitar, Violin and Dilruba.
Finally, in the year 1986, it was granted the status of a separate faculty, after which it came to be known as the Faculty of Performing Arts. Over the years the faculty has came to be one of the star institutions in India for in-depth study of the classical performing arts.
The institute has grown over the years and is currently divided into 4 departments namely :
Department of Dance
Department of Music (Indian Classical/Vocal)
Department of Music
Department of Dramatics
The Building :
The roughly “T” shaped building shows a style of architecture that can be called an amalgamation of the regional wooden architecture and the colonial style prevalent at the time. Just like the other buildings of the time, this building also shows the exposed brick work on the facade. But unlike the Indo-Saracenic elements such as the arches and stone work, the wood work has been given more emphasis.
The double storeyed structure features, coupled wooden posts with elaborately carved brackets on the ground floor while, the upper storey features a series of wooden balconies resting on these posts. The structure also features a tall tower in the center, that overlooks the whole locality. The most beautiful element of the building is the “Jharokha” window carved out of stone, and can be called a replica of the jharokha in the Bhadra Kacheri.
The classrooms are arranged in a linear pattern, on both the floors are sandwiched between the balconies on the front portion, and semi-open corridors on the rear side. These rooms feature several doors and windows on both the sides, opening into these semi-open spaces which gives a feeling of openness it the enclosed classrooms. Along with these classrooms the structure has several big halls with high ceilings for dance practices. A walk through these classrooms and corridors is sure to give one a peek into the olden days !!!!
The rear wing of the building houses the “Play Box” the small theater for in-house performances. The theater is a double height space, with seats arranged on the lower level as well as on the mezzanine(balcony) level. This “small” theater will surely take you back in time, with its soft, warm halogen lighting, highlighting the old seats and the wooden structure carrying the roof above. This whole setup gives the theater an old world charm, even more so than the classrooms and corridors !!!
Although in a good state, the exposed brickwork has been painted over, and the wooden elements as well in a queer shade of blue.
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Along with imparting education and knowledge in the field of performing arts, the building gives the area and the Sur Sagar talav an antique backdrop, more so in the evenings when it is washed in the glow of soft yellow lights.
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