On: Ragya – Indian classical music played by time of t...

[danans]

In addition to what you've said about the eliteness, it's also music around which a rigorous theoretical system has developed.

This is on contrast to folk music, which focuses less on theory.

In India, which just as in the west, development of the theory was aided by the patronage of the wealthy/elite.

Also as in the west the theoretical system serves the purposes of preservation, reproducibility, and most of all, pedagogy.