Indian classical music has a great tradition of 'Gharanas'. The knowledge and technique of singing or playing an instrument is passed on from a teacher to his/her students who live with their masters.
According to Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee, a gharana is a place where a great ustad or a great pandit settled and started teaching his students. The tradition is assumed to be started in the days when Mughal's used to rule India.
In the Mughal era, Musicians used to travel from courts to courts until they find popularity in one particular region. Once settled, these musicians used to invite students to live with them as they learned the skills. These gharanas were called 'Gharana' only after teaching at least three generations of students. These Gharanas are named after the place or the founder of that gharana.
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“The guru and the shishya interact with each other like father and son.” The student becomes part of the guru’s household. He not only learns the guru’s musical techniques, but also meets other artists and gentry that the guru associates with. Thus, the student develops not just the musical techniques but also similar musical tastes, temperament and inclinations. He also understands how to present himself during a performance. There was also heavy competition between musicians of different gharanas. “Students were not even allowed to associate with people from other gharanas,” says Sitar player Rajan Kulkarni, who hails from Maihar gharana. Stylistic differences between the gharanas were vast. Although the raagas were the same, each gharana had its own specialties it terms of the bandish they sang, the modifications in the instruments, the techniques the used etc.
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 "Origins of gharana")
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