Copyright by Jeffrey Michael Grimes 2008 - The University of Texas ...

a literal, but, instead, a conceptual map. That is to say, ragas were perhaps given these
exotic names because the belief held at that time (and held by many still today) was that
all knowledge was given by the Hindu creator deity Brahma at the beginning of time,
meaning new innovations were to be viewed only as “discoveries.” Thus, new melodies
were to be considered as the products of exotic lands or peoples because their actual
novelty, if acknowledged, would undermine this philosophy.
Widdess’s work is valuable to the present discussion for several different reasons.
On the one hand, Widdess presents evidence that there very likely was some regional
exchange of melodies between the Ganges valley and neighboring areas as early as the
late first millennium A.D., if not earlier. Equally as important, though, is that Widdess
provides the historical basis of a notion that lives on today - that there is a central, core
area that is the home of the tradition while other areas are perceived as being peripheral,
and to a certain extent marginal, in the realm of classical music. Again, this a point to
which I will later return, but I would like to note the durability of this notion, considering
that in the modern period, say from the turn of the 20th century. forward, the Ganges
valley, or even the broader area stretching from Delhi to Gaya, Bihar, is the center of the
tradition only conceptually, not in actuality. It is important that I mention in this context
that many scholars would object to this move of turning to ancient sources in order to
explain a basically modern phenomenon. Dr. Ashok Ranade is one scholar among many
who have argued against this need to establish the antiquity of a current practice when it
is unnecessary to do so. As Dr. Ranade told the assembled gathering at the 2005 ITC-
Sangeet Research Academy, “one should only go back as far as is necessary to address
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