It typically refers to the place where the musical ideology originated; for example, some of the gharanas well known for singing khyals are: Gwalior, Delhi, Agra, Indore, Kashmiri, Atrauli-Jaipur, Kirana and Patiala.
The gharana system was greatly influenced by the gradual fall of the Mughal Empire, which forced musicians to move from Delhi to princely states such as Gwalior, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Patiala and Rampur.
There are ten prominent khyal gharanas, and they are:[3][4] & His 12 Students (Shah Bhikan) Taj Khan (Rang Rus) Sheikh Ajmal (Miyan Achpal) Mir Qutub Baksh (Miyan Tanras) Haji Muhammed Siddiq Khan, Muzaffar Khan Members of this gharana approach raagdari with more freedom than the dhrupad-informed gharanas, like Gwalior, Jaipur, and Agra.
Emphasis on voice development, roughly similar emphasis on melody and rhythm, bol-baant-like sargam with occasional tonic transpositions, occasional use of bol-taan, variety of taans, fast sargam and taan patterns, may or may not include antara, influence of tappa style The dhrupad tradition includes four original styles:[11] Today's surviving dhrupad traditions are descendants of the aforementioned four styles.
With amalgamation of the techniques and poses from other dance forms, the purity of the movements and gestures may be diluted or modified along with the contemporary trends.