Indian classical music is a genre of South Asian music. It has two major traditions. The North Indian classical music tradition is called Hindustani, while the South Indian expression is called Carnatic. It is generally believed that the music of India was more or less uniform before the 13th century. Later it bifurcated into the two musical systems. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences.

The Indian classical music has two foundational elements, raga and tala. The raga forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the tala measures the time cycle. The raga gives an artist the ingredients palette to build the melody from sounds, while the tala provides him with a creative framework for rhythmic improvisation using time. Dhrupads are among the oldest classical Indian music compositions, with heroic, laudatory and spiritual themes. They are the basis for many subgenre of Indian music.

Salient features of Carnatic music-

• Carnatic music is practiced mainly in the southern states of India like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Ingeniously evolved without any external influence.
• Carnatic music is traditionally taught according to the system formulated by Purandara Dasa. This involves swaravalis , alankaras , Geethams or simple songs, and Swarajatis.
• Carnatic music is melody based and not harmony based. In simple terms, this means that by and large, stress is placed on rendering one note at a time. Counterpoints or chords (where more than one note is heard at a time) are generally not used.
• The system gives equal importance to melody and rhythm.
• There is an even balance between re-creativity (soulful interpretation of the compositions of great masters) and creativity (on the spot improvisations).
• One of the important components of the music is the vocal performance of one or more singers.
• Most Carnatic music is improvisation based on the melody and rhythm templates of raga and tala (melody and rhythm)

Salient features of the Hindustani music-

• It is mainly practiced in the Northern part of India.
• It has Persian and Islamic influence and is a cultural synthesis of vedic chanting and folk music.
• It has religious/philosophic roots.
• It has a highly formalized grammar, dictated by textual as well as oral tradition.
• It has different genres (Vocal genres like Alap, Dhrupad/Dhamar, Khayal, Sadra, Thumri, Bhajan, Geet etc and Instrumental genres like Alap, Masidkhani, Rajakhani, Firozkhani, Amirkhani Gat etc. These genres do not include purely percussive elements like Peshkar, Paran, kayda, Tukra, Rela etc used in recitals of solo percussion performance).
• It has different styles (called Geeti, Bani or Baaj).
• It has regional schools of presentation like Jodhpur Gharana, Gwalior Gharana etc. (previously known as Sampradaya and currently called Gharana).
• It has regional variations in choice of Ragas, Talas, etc.

Conclusion-

Indian classical music is treasure preserved since ancient ages. However in recent times it is facing tough conditions in terms of its spread and followers. Nonetheless Indian classical music would always remain the kernel of Indian culture.