The establishment of ITC's Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA) as a public charitable trust in 1978 represents a unique initiative to pioneer the corporate patronage of the priceless Indian tradition of Hindustani Classical Music, which was suffering from the withdrawal of royal support. ITC-SRA is today the only Gurukul of its kind in the country. It has blazed a new trail by institutionalising the Guru Shishya Parampara. Many revered Gurus of Hindustani Classical Music have made the Academy their home. Several nationally and internationally famous maestros of Hindustani Classical Music were ITC-SRA scholars. Over the years, the Academy has emerged as the richest treasure trove and veritable repository of Hindustani Classical Music.

To preserve, propagate and disseminate India's rich heritage of Hindustani Classical Music beyond the shores of the country, ITC-SRA is now launching its path-breaking web portal, `www.itcsra.org'.This portal will enable the larger Indian diaspora around the world to access the Academy's immensely rich repository of Hindustani Classical Music.

The `Gharana' section is one of the most unique features of this ITC-SRA web portal. The concept of a Gurukul is closely interwoven with that of a Gharana. The `Gharana' section in the portal will enable Indians and other music lovers from around the world to instantly access a veritable goldmine of Hindustani Classical Music from all the 10 major gharanas. It spans the entire spectrum of music ranging from the acknowledged masters of the late 19th century to the doyens of today.

The web portal also provides a peep into the only invaluable documentation of over 5,000 bandishes, culled from over 1,000 hours of recording of 41 living learned musicians from the different gharanas. This documentation is the result of a Ford Foundation project that the Academy has completed.

A segment on the story of Hindustani Classical Music affords a bird's eye view of its rich history from the Vedic times to the present day.

The `Know Your Raga' segment is an innovative on-line educational tool that should be of interest to both students and connoisseurs of Hindustani Classical Music. It features audio demonstrations of over 80 ragas across the 10 `thaats'.

Another captivating learning tool on the site is the `Samay Raga'. To listen to a raga that is relevant to a particular time of the day, all that you need to do is to click on the `Samay Raga'. The `Samay Chakra', divided into 12 time zones, gives you some ragas that are appropriate for each time zone. Rotate the Chakra and listen to the raga that is apt for a particular time.

The section christened the `Artist of the Month' will showcase a renowned artist each month. A `Tribute to a Maestro' pays homage to the doyens of Hindustani Classical Music.

The web portal also affords you the rare privilege of creating your own `Music Room'. You can tag your favourite pieces of music while you surf the site and then listen to them from your `Music Room'. The first time, however, you have to register yourself.

All in all, this trail-blazing web portal is intended to carry India's great tradition of Hindustani Classical Music to the world at large.