Guler- Where time stands still to hold an ancient music

WE are shooting a film based on Indian classical music and its association with time.

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Our crew, headed by director Amit Dutta, is staying at the old ruined palace structure at Nandpur, Guler. Amit had chosen this location even before beginning to write the screenplay. The choice feels natural because Guler has been a home for the fine arts since its inception as a brother-state to Kangra in the fifteenth century.The Ragamala folios from this region remain among the finest crystallisations of the genre in the country. A few days ago, our host, the owner of this palace, raised an interesting question about the reasons behind Guler's rise as a pivotal centre for the arts despite being a small hill state on the distant periphery of the waning Mughal Empire. He cited William Dalrymple's words from The Anarchy, where he writes that after 1707 the Punjab hill states witnessed a flowering of creativity as artists trained in Mughal ateliers found new patrons. Painterly families inspired one another in a way Dalrymple likens to Renaissance Italy, with Guler and Jasrota standing in the place of small yet cultured courts such as San Gimignano and Urbino.