Saturday, January 15, 2011
Bhimsen Joshi
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Bhimsen Joshi
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15/01/2011 by navanavonmilita Leave a Comment (Edit)
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Bhimsen Joshi
http://cogitoergosum.co.cc/2011/01/15/bhimsen-joshi/
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi – Raag Darbari Kanada – Drut teental
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi – Raag Kedar – sohey larayee
Bhimsen Joshi – Raga Deshkar
Deva bandha Namma – Bhimsen Joshi
Live at Pune – Pt Bhimsen Joshi
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Bhajan Maze Maher Pandhari
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbxd_zndHhU&feature=related
Bhimsen Joshi: Pandari Niwas, part 1. July 26, 1986.
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi-Tirtha Vitthal Kshetra Vitthal (Raag Ahir Bhairav)
Bhagyada Laxmi Baramma – Bhimsen Joshi
Tunga Teeradi – Bhimsen Joshi
karuniso ranga Karuniso – Bhimsen Joshi
Yaake Mookanadyo Guruve nii – Bhimsen Joshi
Ultimate Jugal Bandi
Balamurali-Bhimsen Joshi
Pt Bhimsen Joshi & Dr Balamurali Krishna Yaman Kalyan
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi & Ustad Rashid Khan- Darbari (Pt. 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KcyLPtHkVM&feature=related
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi & Ustad Rashid Khan- Miyan ki todi
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi & Ustad Rashid Khan- Raag Shankara(Pt 1)
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi & Ustad Rashid Khan- Raag Shankara (Pt 2)
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi & Ustad Rashid Khan- Darbari (Pt. 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL78yLFCG-U&feature=related
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi critical
Indo-Asian News Service
Pune, January 15, 2011
First Published: 16:19 IST(15/1/2011)
Last Updated: 16:23 IST(15/1/2011)
5 Comments
Eminent Hindustani classical vocalist and Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s condition is “grim” in a hospital in Pune, his physician said on Saturday. “He is on a ventilator and requires periodic dialysis. He is critical, but there has been no further deterioration in his health in the past 12
hours,” Atul Joshi, his consulting physician since over a decade, told IANS.
Pandit Joshi, who would be 88 on Feb 4, was rushed to the Sahyadri Hospital Dec 31 following old-age related ailments and general weakness, his physician Joshi said.
Panditji continues to remain in the intensive care unit of the hospital and is being treated for ailments related to the upper respiratory tract, kidney and intestines, he said.
His daughter Shubhada Mulgund told media persons that her father’s health was a matter of concern as he was not responding to medical treatment.
Pandit Joshi was conferred Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, in 2008.
Showing 5 comments
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Love4all [Moderator] 21 minutes ago
May God bless Pt. JoshiJi whose few classical-devotional songs tuned my heart for the love for the Supreme.
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Navin Rai [Moderator] 1 hour ago
One of the greatest artist this subcontinent ever had. I feel really concerned for Panditji. he has been like an institution of music. His way of singing is very unique. May god bless him with strength. Lets prey that he recovers fast.
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Raj [Moderator] 3 hours ago
I am sad to her this. My most favorite singer is not feeling well. I love his music, voice. dont know what else to say. i want to listen to him, now. really sad.
1 person liked this.
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Sri [Moderator] 3 hours ago
May he recover or suffer less. Still remember the Joshi rendition of “Sur kee nadiyaan… OOooOO, sooru mile hamaara”..
2 people liked this.
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SITA_SASTRY03 [Moderator] 1 hour ago in reply to Sri
VERY SORRY TO HEAR THAT PANDIT IS SUFFERING MAY GOD GIVE HIM STRENGTH TO FACE THIS SITUATION AN RECOVERFAST.
Musical tribute to Bhimsen Joshi from today
Express News Service Tags : Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, Musical tribute to Bhimsen Joshi Posted: Wed Feb 16 2011, 05:47 hrs Pune:
Arghya, a three-day musical event organised by Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal (ASPM) to pay tribute to Bharat Ratna late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, will begin on Wednesday. Renowned artistes from classical music industry will gather in the city on the occasion to pay a musical tribute to the maestro.
The event will take place at the New English School Ramanbaug Grounds and is expected to see around 12,000 music enthusiasts.
“The event will start at 5 pm everyday. The entry is free for all but enthusiasts will have to show the free passes as the entry will be given only after showing the pass,” says the press release.
Legendary vocalist Kishori Amonkar will start the proceedings of the event with her musical recital followed by performances by flutist Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Shujat Khan, vocalist Pt Ajay Chakravrthy, Rashid Khan and Pt Ulhas Kashalkar.
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Pt Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), Pt Birju Maharaj (vocal), Anand Bhate (vocal), Gundecha Brothers (dhrupad vocal) and Suresh Wadkar (vocal) will perform on the second day.
On the third and the final day, Shreenivas Joshi and Upendra Bhat, both disciples of Pt Joshi, will pay musical homage to their Guru. L Subramaniam (violin), Malini Rajurkar (vocal) and Begum Parveen Sultana (vocal) will also perform after them.
IANS
Amjad pays tribute to Bhimsen Joshi, Tagore
2011-02-14 15:40:00
Bhopal, Feb 14 (IANS) Saying he felt ‘deep sorrow’ at the passing away of Bhimsen Joshi, sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan paid the clasical vocalist a stirring musical tribute here. The evening also honoured Rabindranath Tagore, whose 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year.
‘I am in deep sorrow since Panditji (Bhimsen Joshi) has passed away and I dedicate this evening to him,’ he said before beginning his presentation Sunday evening on the 29th foundation day of Bharat Bhavan – a centre for art and culture activities here.
The recital opened with a deeply moving rendition of ‘Vaishnav Jana To…’ in ‘Rag Khamaj’. This was followed by the bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ in Rag Jayvanti.
After the bhajans, the Padma Vibhushan awardee, attired in a sky blue kurta, moved on to pure classical music and gave a sonorous presentation of Raga Shree: Alap-Jor-Jhala.
At the beginning of each raga, he outlined its melody, giving each phrase an individual character.
Before his last presentation he said: ‘It is the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, who had written several beautiful poems, so I am setting one of his poems to music.’
The music mesmerized the audience.
‘It was just a small tribute to Gurudev (Tagore). Composing music for his poems is very satisfying experience for me,’ Amjad told IANS after the performance.
Amjad, who is a native of Madhya Pradesh – he was born in Gwalior – regretted that the state government is not taking the help of artistes like him to promote classical music among youngsters.
He also said he wished to perform again in Bhopal.
‘I had performed here long back, but seeing the people enjoy my music, I would love to come again soon and perform, not alone but with my two sons Aman and Ayaan,’ he said.
Amjad was well-accompanied by Vijay Ghate on the tabla and Smita Nagdev on the tanpura.
All About: National,Art – Culture,Madhya Pardesh
Scholarship in memory of Bhimsen Joshi soon
Published: Friday, Feb 11, 2011, 11:43 IST
By Dinesh Thite | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday announced that the state government would start a classical music scholarship in memory of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He was speaking after inaugurating ‘Bharatratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Kaladalan’, an arts complex built by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in honour of the late singer.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, state cooperatives minister Harshwardhan Patil, mayor Mohansingh Rajpal, deputy mayor Prasanna Jagtap, leader of opposition in the PMC Aba Bagul and Joshi’s son Shriniwas, were present on the occasion.
Chavan had earlier declared a classical music lifetime achievement award in memory of Bhimsen Joshi, consisting of Rs1 lakh and a memento.
Chavan extolled the late Indian classical maestro, who came from Karnataka but chose Pune as his destination. The chief minister, who was visibly impressed by the PMC’s memorial to Bhimsen Joshi, said it was consistent with reputation of the great singer.
Bagul, who is a local corporator and who took the initiative to build the memorial, said that the state government should provide some legal solution so that an experts’ committee could be appointed to oversee maintenance of the arts complex, instead of going by the mandatory process of calling for tenders.
Scribes protest
Journalists protested against deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar by wearing black ribbons. It was against his derogatory comments against the media in Nanded district recently. When Pawar rose to speak, representatives of various news channels shut down their cameras. Journalists have been demanding an apology by the minister for his comments.
Karnataka declares mourning for Bhimsen Joshi
Monday, January 24, 2011, 14:10 [IST]
Bangalore, Jan 24: To mourn the death of noted Hindustani musician and Bharat Ratna awardee Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Karnataka Government on Monday, Jan 24, declared a day’s mourning.
Joshi was born at Gadag in Dharwad district of Karnataka. The state Governor HR Bhardwaj in his condolence message said, “I express my deep sense of loss and grief on the demise of tallest Hindustani Musician. King of Kirana Gharana, Joshi had mesmerised music connoisseurs and the commoners equally with his performance all over the world.”
Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has found time to go to Pune, inspite of all the political mess, to pay respects to Joshi’s soul. He expressed grief over the demise of the music moghul. The CM described Joshi as a “most talented musician.”
OneIndia News
(With inputs from PTI)
Anand Bhimsen Joshi, a modern-day Eklavya?
Published: Friday, Jan 28, 2011, 12:08 IST
By Rahul Chandawarkar | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
Forty-eight-year-old Hindustani classical vocalist, Anand Bhimsen Joshi, feels like a modern-day Eklavya, the tragic, low-caste tribal prince from the Mahabharata.
The youngest son of the late Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi from his first wife, Sunanda Katti, Anand bears the pain of never being formally trained by his famous father.
“I sincerely missed having my father around to teach me the rudiments of the craft,” Anand said in an exclusive
interview to DNA.
After his first strained marriage to his cousin, Sunanda in 1944, Bhimsen Joshi eloped and married his first disciple, the late Vatsala Mudholkar, in 1951. He then lived with her and they had three children.
His first wife Sunanda and her four children from Pandit Bhimsen Joshi — Raghavendra (65), Usha (63), Manisha (59) and Anand (48) — lived away from him, in difficult circumstances.
A day after his father’s demise on January 24, Anand told DNA at his Pune residence, “I am a self-taught singer. My mother encouraged me to learn at least two of my father’s abhangs and bhajans. Luckily for me, I mastered at least 60 abhangs and have held 150 professional programmes so far.”
Commenting on his performance as a classical Hindustani vocalist, Anand Deshmukh, compere of 20 consecutive Sawai Gandharva festivals, told DNA, “I recently compered one of Anand Joshi’s concerts. He is a very accomplished singer.”
Anand counts singers Yeshwant Parkhi and Suresh Devale as his early guides and gurus who, he says, gave him direction in music.
“While my teachers gave me the direction, it was my mother Sunanda and her positive attitude that inspired me to work harder at my craft,” he said.
Anand regrets not having had an opportunity to perform at the prestigious Sawai Gandharva music festival, which was started in 1953 by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi in the memory of his guru.
Looking at the garlanded photograph of Pandit Joshi, Anand said, “My father was classical music and classical music was my father. He may have left us physically, but his music will always stay with us.”
Bhimsen Joshi
Pundit Bhimsen Joshi
(Photos courtesy Daniel Fuchs)
Posted on RMIC by Rajan Parrikar as part of Great Masters Series
Bhimsen Joshi, who is riding the crest of popularity and has ridden it for the last several years, is a musical marvel. His singing invariably provides listeners with a divine musical ex- perinea. Many of his rivals admit, though unwillingly, that today there is no other vocalist comparable to him in the entire nation.
Bhimsen, who is now in his 60s, has attained proficiency and fame that astound the musical world. His voice, like that legendary philosopher’s stone, turns every note into a golden one. Billions of notes that have received the golden touch of his voice have been freely showered by him on the teeming millions of his fans. His unswerving faith in an intense devo- tion to his guru have been his keys to success.
Bhimsen was born into a Brahmin family of Gadag in Kar- nataka. His childhood was spent there. Even as a child he was crazy about music, to the chagrin of his father who desired that Bhimsen should get a sound education and qualify as a doctor or an engineer. But Bhimsen, neglecting his studies, pursued music instead. At last he could not control any more his yearning to learn music, and one day he ran away from home. He had heard that Gwalior, Lucknow and Rampur in the North were the best places to learn classical music. Therefore his first destination was Gwalior.
A few years of his youth were thus spent in the company of well known musicians at Gwalior, Lucknow and Rampur, serv- ing them and learning as much as he could from them. His father, coming to know of Bhimsen’s fervent desire for know- ledge in music, abandoned his policy of opposition, fetched his son back and made arrangements for him to learn under the guidance of Sawai Gandharva of Kundol. This opportunity opened the vaults of rich and rare musical treasures to Bhimsen. Bhimsen’s natural tuneful voice received further polish from his guru. Like a diamond which sparkles all the brighter after it is expertly cut, Bhimsen’s voice began to shine with a new luster and brilliance which has dazzled and cast a spell on the entire country.
Maharashtra was then part of a province known as Bombay Presidency that included Dharwad, Belgaum and Bijapur, which are now parts of Karnataka. I therefore had to look after the recordings of artists in this Kannada-speaking region. As part of my duty I was required to go on tours of places like Bijapur. Belgaum, Bailhongal, Dharwad, Hubli and Gadag in search of fresh talent and recording material. During one such tour I came to know of young Bhimsen. Shortly afterwards, I got an opportunity to see him and hear him sing. A Kannada dramatic company came to Bombay to present Kannada plays. A show was arranged at the Podar College hall at Matunga, for the benefit of the Kannadigas residing in North Bombay. I did not know Kannada at all but I was prompted to go with the purpose of hearing young Bhimsen on stage. Bhimsen was the hero in the play Bhagyashri. When I heard him sing I was convinced that the young man was a miracle, a genius, god’s own creation, and would have a brilliant future. Even though Bhimsen’s classical singing had not yet reached a high standard, his style of presentation greatly impressed me.
I immediately negotiated with him for an H.M.V. recording. He sang two Hindi and two Kannada bhajans for his first re- cording. This was in the year 1944. Soon afterwards I got him again and this time he recorded a beautiful poem Uttar Druv Dum composed by the well known Kannada-Maharashtrian poet the late D. R. Bendre, and also another poem written by the Kannada poet laureate Puttappa in bhavgeet style. With the great success of these recordings, which sold in very large numbers in Kannada areas, Bhimsen began to cut more and more records. By this time he had made the grade as a classical singer, so I got him to do a few classical pieces, which also were a great success. Thus, gradually Bhimsen became well-known and popular as a singer.
With his increasing popularity Bhimsen started getting invita- tions to sing at various cities and towns in Maharashtra and Karnataka. To facilitate the keeping of these engagements, he now bought a big car and took to driving. The car was so big that it could easily accommodate him and his 4 accompanists besides two tanpuras and other instruments. In this car Bhim- sen traveled extensively. One day he would go from Bombay to Belgaum – then on to Bangalore the next day, and back to Pune- only to go off again to Nagpur, Raipur or Bhilai. Back again in Pune, he would rush off to Hyderabad, Solapur and so on these whirlwind tours became a habit with him and in a short while he became an expert driver.
His unbelievably flexible voice enabled him to traverse at terrific speed, the great range of 3 octaves. While at the wheel, he used the same technique as in singing. He ignored the possi- bility of danger from bad or slippery roads, ditches, pot holes and other obstacles such as oncoming cars and stray cattle. Only fabulous luck saved him from a couple of very grave accidents. This toned down his recklessness. Another factor also lessened Bhimsen’s craze for fast motor driving. The spread of his fame and popularity beyond the boundaries of Maharashtra brought him invitations from far off places like Jullundur, Jammu, Sri- nagar, Delhi, Calcutta and Gauhati. Bhimsen, who had so far matched the speed and agility of his voice with the speed of his car, realized that a car after all has limitations and moves in the vilambit laya. As he began to accept numerous invitations to far off places (he would have to be in Calcutta one night, Delhi the next evening, Bombay the following day and Jullun- dur immediately afterwards), he had to switch to air travel. The pilots of Indian Airlines and airport officials came across Bhimsen so frequently that he was soon known as the ‘flying musician of India’.
Sometimes as I sat at my table in the office, the phone would ring ‘Hello Govindrao! This is Bhimsen. I am coming to Bombay by the morning plane. I have to go to Calcutta by the afternoon flight, please book my seat.’ At other times, Bhimsen would rush into my office unannounced and explain, ‘Had a program last night in Delhi. I have just arrived by the morning flight.’ ‘ Now I am off -to Pune but will be back to- morrow because I have an engagement in Calcutta the day after.’
One can easily imagine the tremendous difficulties involved in getting hold of an ever-busy singer like Bhimsen for recording. Fortunately as his popularity increased rapidly, the recording technique also improved for the better. 78 R.P.M. records were now replaced by the 45 R.P.M., extended play records and 33 R.P.M. long-playing records. Extended play records played twice as long as the 78 R.P.M. So the prices also were double. The long-playing microgroove records were also proportionately higher priced. These records gradually became the exclusive privilege of the affluent in society. Therefore I felt it would be a commercially profitable venture to cut EP records instead of LP records for some time. Accordingly I got Bhimsen to sing on EP discs. These included Zanak zanakuva in Raga Darbari. Piya to manata nahee, a thumri, Jo bhaje hari ko sada, a bhajan, and the most enchanting thumri – Piya ke milan ki aas. These records, when released, surprisingly and contrary to my expectations, did not show good results. I could not imagine what had gone wrong. After making a study of the psychology of the customers, I realized that those who were able to buy EP records were usually fairly well-to-do and they could easily spend the extra 20 to 25 rupees for an LP record. They would rather buy an LP with a full 20 minute cheez; or a raga, than an abridged version of the same on an EP record. So I decided to put Bhimsen on LP records. I got him to do the same Ragas, Todi, Darbari and Malkauns, which he had previously sung for EP recordings, and these were a fantastic hit in the market. My guess that people loved to listen to ragas sung by Bhimsen in their full form and splendor proved to be very correct.
Every performer has his favorite items, in which he excels. On the strength of these- his mehfil becomes a memorable experience. Bhimsen is no exception. After hearing a number of his concerts some people remarked that his programs are repetitive. It is a peculiar characteristic of our music that the ingenuity of a musician is known by his ability to unfold and create new and novel facets of known raas. The same com- position, same notes in the same ragas, presented on successive occasions can sound ever-new, fresh and enchanting and receive enthusiastic approval from listeners and critics in the audience. It is very necessary therefore that the listeners should cultivate a knowledgeable interest and a musical ear to appreciate our classical music.
I had got Bhimsen to record most of the ragas over which he had full command. After a year and half he appeared to be reluctant to cut new discs. One day as we were chatting, I told him to do some more recordings and he said, ‘To tell you the truth, I really do not know just what to record now. I have already come out with most of my winning numbers. If I make fresh recordings, they must have the same superior stamp of quality and performance.’
I admired him for the candid statement. I said, ‘All your fans are waiting eagerly for you to come out with new things. Surely you can think of something if you apply your mind seriously to it.’ He merely smiled and promised to do so. Soon after this my niece got married in Pune. Bhimsen was invited with his family to the ceremony and the lunch there- after, but to my disappointment he did not show up. In the evening he came with his wife to the reception. He knew imme- diately that I was a little annoyed at his failure to come for lunch. ‘We had a lot of guests today,’ explained his wife. ‘That’s why we could not come.’
I said, ‘Since you failed to come you will have to submit to some punishment.’ He agreed. ‘What is the punishment?’ I announced, ‘There are two, to be undergone one after the other. First – you must finish all three dishes set before you, and second – you must sing for us in the hall tonight.’ Bhimsen sportingly accepted both the punishments. In his performance that night he presented two entirely new ragas which I instantly liked. Even though he was not yet very familiar with the raga composition, I could well imagine how marvellous the exposition would sound once it was perfected. There and then I decided to have the new ragas for his next recording. One was an admixture of Kalavati and Rageshri (he had aptly named it Kalashri), and the other was a beauti- ful fusion of ragas Lalit and Bhatiyar. The recording of these however could not be done before I left in July 1970 on an extensive trip around the world.
I returned after a period of 7 months and although I had offi- cially retired from service I was prevailed upon to work for the company again in the same capacity. As a matter of fact I did not need to work any longer. Both my daughters were happily married; my responsibilities were over. There really was no need to saddle myself with a job, but I had been so used to working and to having the company of artists for so many years, that without these my life would have been purposeless and monotonous. Hence I agreed to the proposal in March 1971. Bhimsen had remained unrecorded for nearly 3 years so I decided to get him as the first artist after my reappointment.
I realized once again the truth that a genuine artist values friendship more than money. In just a month after I resumed, I brought Bhimsen to the studio. He had agreed to make only one record that night. The news that Bhimsen was in our studio leaked out, I don’t know how. I suppose one cannot hide frag- rance. That night a number of artists arrived in our studio to listen to Bhimsen’s recording. Prominent among these were veterans Kumar Gandharva and Sudhir Phadke. Sometimes the presence of such knowledgeable colleagues is helpful. The singer, inspired by the presence of such stalwarts, strives tc give his best. But at times such a presence has an adverse effect, too. In a mehfil a singer wanting to fulfil the expectations of the listeners has ample time and opportunity to show his prowess, but during a recording session a singer has to present a complete picture of a raga, in a most delectable form, in a short duration of time. Therefore, while trying to do this the singer may come to regard the presence of such knowledgeable friends as akin to that of a bunch of jurors. When he gets into this agitated and perturbed state of mind a coherent performance becomes very difficult.
The recording session began at 9.30, but till midnight Bhimsen was tossing adrift in the cross-currents of notes of the raga Gaud Sarang. I therefore called for a coffee break. The distinguished guests, sensing Bhimsen’s predicament discreetly left, and after some time we resumed the session. Now released from ten- sion, Bhimsen, having already warmed up sufficiently, started with a bang and gave a very scintillating exposition of Raga Gaud Sarang. The replay of this recorded side had an electrify- ing effect on Bhimsen, and he who had struggled for over three hours with the notes of a single raga, recorded in succession five more ragas with his uncanny and astounding imaginative skill and rare artistry.
The session that had begun early in the night came to a close at 7.30 the next morning with six brilliant ragas to Bhimsen’s credit. An artist, when he gets into his element, is oblivious of everything except his art. Bhimsen had come with the tacit understanding that he would cut only one LP but had ended up recording material enough for three LPs. Besides the traditionally known Gaud Sarang, Brindavani Sarang, Puriya and Durga, he immortalized Ragas Kalashri and Lalit Bhatiyar, both of his own creation, which I had, as mentioned before, earmarked for re- cording during his performance in Pune.
While trying to persuade Bhimsen to come for the recording I had strongly urged that he should also render devotional Marathi items, like his previous hit seller Indrayani kathi, for recordings on extended play. Bhimsen had already, through his regular concerts, made popular some more bhaktigeets, which received a terrific response. After that night’s marathon session I did not dare to even mention the proposal for these devotional recordings. But, as if reading my mind, and pleased with his splendid innings of that night, Bhimsen said to me, ‘Well, shall we make Marathi devotional EPs also?’ Would I have said ‘No’? We fixed the recording for that afternoon. Feeling doubly blessed and very elated, I immediately requested our recording engineer and other staff to come back to the studio by 12.30. Before parting Bhimsen promised to come to my residence to pick me up. Punctually at 12.30 Bhim- sen was standing at my door. His boundless enthusiasm filled me with admiration. Even before our recording engineer and other staff arrived we were ready with the tanpuras tuned. The night long riyaz had given such a brilliance to Bhimsen’s voice that by the evening, instead of two, he recorded four Marathi bhaktigeets. At my own very first recording I had recorded four- teen songs instead of two. The late Panalal Ghosh made one LP and four EPs in a single night, but Bhimsen broke all pre- vious records by cutting six sides of 20 minutes each and four sides of 7 minutes each within a short period of 20 hours. Such a splendid performance was possible only for a stalwart like Bhimsen. All the senior officers in our company were astounded by this unbelievable feat.
For the previous 3 years the company, the trade and his fans had eagerly awaited the issue of new LPs featuring Bhimsen. I had succeeded in obtaining for them 3 LPs topped with a bonus issue of 2 EPs in just 18 hours. I was congratulated on this unique achievement, but I give all the credit for it to this giant gem of an artist.
Supreme confidence in his own abilities and unfailing loyalty are two prominent qualities of Bhimsen. Every year he observes the punyatithi (death anniversary) of his guru Sawai Gandharva with a music festival at Pune. Those privileged to attend it are indeed very fortunate, for the spectacle is one fit for the gods. For three consecutive nights about 10,000 people attend the program from 8 at night to 7 the next morning. Eminent artists in the world of Indian classical music vie with each other for a chance to appear on the stage on this occasion. There are two reasons for this. Firstly the program is at the behest of a great fellow artist like Bhimsen, and secondly it is rare and almost impossible for a musician to get a chance to perform before such a vast, discerning and appreciative audience. During these celebrations, Bhimsen works like an ordinary volunteer. On occasion he is even noticed sweeping the stage, bringing the instruments on stage and helping the artist to tune the tanpuras perfectly. He looks after the comforts of the artists and audience alike. He does this untiringly for three successive nights. One cannot help but admire him for his love and reverence for his guru.
I had made a number of 3 minute records of the late Sawai Gandharva in his life tirne. From these I selected 12 songs to form one LP and got it released during the memorable 1969 session of his anniversary arranged by Bhimsen. The late Sawai Gandharva was a disciple of Abdul Karim Khan. A galaxy of veterans are among his disciples. They include top names like Gangubai Hangal, Hirabai Badodekar, Phiroz Dastur and Bhimsen, who is the youngest of them all. The characteristics of the Kirana gharana are precision-oriented tunefulness (lagav of swaras) presentation of a bandish with an impressively grace- ful style, and a disciplined, systematic and methodical raga de- velopment, punctuated with an elegantly elaborate alap and skil- ful decoration with the choicest forms of embellishments – taans. With the help of all these, Bhimsen makes such a terrific favourable impact on his audience right from the start of the concert that listeners remain glued to their seats till the last notes of his Bhairavi. Within a few minutes of his arrival in a concert hall Bhimsen measures correctly the pulse of the audi- ence. His discerning eye unfailingly recognizes the knowledge- able in the congregation and, by the time the tanpuras are tuned, and accompaniment arranged, he has decided on the musical menu he will dish out to achieve a resounding success.
Bhimsen fully understands mass psychology. He gauges the intellectual level of the listeners within minutes of the start of the mehfil and arrives at the point of sam in a totally unexpected and startling but graceful style to receive their spontaneous en- thusiastic ‘Wah, wah’. From then on the mehfil is under his control and, for the listeners, it is a delectable treat which carries them to celestial heights. He has made a very careful study of where and how to utilize the beautiful phrases he has pre- selected. Because of this his elaborations never appear artificial. On the contrary his performance proceeds in a most natural and lucid style. He is blessed with an extremely sweet, flexible voice and with grueling riyaz he has trained it in such a way that he can always achieve the musical effects he desires. His voice, at one moment flowing smoothly like a tranquil stream, suddenly takes a mighty leap of two or more octaves in the next avartana and then, with gradually diminishing vigour, reverts gently back to sam, thus providing moments of supreme artistic pleasure. Bhimsen’s recitals are replete with many such beauti- ful moments. His full-throated voice can at his command take on a soft velvety texture, to the extreme delight of the listeners. Like an airplane on a joy-ride, he flits from one octave to an- other, from there to the next, back again to the second and again to the third, all in one breath. The listeners hold their breath in an agony of suspense, marveling at his capacity, and when he glides gracefully back to the point of sam, the entire audi- ence breathes a sigh of happy relief. Along with his artistry, this feat of physical endurance and breath control is most im- pressive. Bhimsen believes that in classical music the poetic content of the lyric is as important as thc notes of the raga. He becomes entirely absorbed with the sentiments of the bandish and this emotional merger is appreciated by listeners of all ages and levels. This is why Bhimsen’s classical singing has mass appeal.
Bhimsen is a versatile singer; he is an expert in khayal singing but he is also adept in the presentation of thumris, songs from plays, or devotional compositions. His lilting thumris (Jadu bhareli, Piya ke milan ki aas or Babul mora) and his innumerable popular Abhangs composed by the saints of Maharashtra are instances in point.
Bhimsen is a prodigy – unique – a divine miracle. We should admire his tremendous accomplishments in the realm of music, revel in the heavenly experience of his gayaki and pray to God Almighty to bless this musical genius with a long life. In the whole of India there is no one else who has atained so much and given so much to music lovers. Listeners in he U.S.A. and the U.K. love and admire him. It is a pity that our Govern- ment has only bestowed a mere Padmashri on him, instead of the higher honours deserved by an artist of Bhimsen’s calibre who has received the greatest acclaim abroad.
Volume 28 – Issue 04 :: Feb. 12-25, 2011
INDIA’S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
OBITUARY
Musical genius
PARTHA CHATTERJEE
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011) symbolised an era in Hindustani classical music.
COURTESY: FAMILY ALBUM OF GODAVARI BAI
Bhimsen Joshi at a performance. He was a true star whose popularity cut across a wide variety of listeners.
THE demise of Bhimsen Joshi on January 24 in Pune marked the end of an era in Hindustani classical or, more accurately, Margiya music. He was 89. As a singer, he was a true star whose popularity cut across a wide variety of listeners, from the rasikas, or connoisseurs, to the uninitiated who were enthralled by his marvellous voice. I remember being thrilled by his robust and miraculously honey-dripped rendering of the raaga Kalashree on All India Radio (AIR) over 40 years ago. It took me some time to realise it was a long-playing record courtesy HMV (His Master’s Voice), now Saregama, broadcast by the radio station. It must not be forgotten that he had been an AIR Lucknow staff artiste in 1941-42, doing three 10-minute broadcasts every week as a bhajan singer. He then shared a room with the not-yet-famous shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Bhimsen Joshi – he was not called a Pandit as yet – came to AIR Bombay, now Mumbai, in late 1942 so that he could be close to Pune, where stayed Sawai Gandharva, the musician who was to recognise the true potential in him and awaken the lyrical aspect of his musical persona.
It was not until 1946 that the limelight shone on him. He was 24 years old, had a powerful, very melodious voice and great tayyari, or preparedness. Whatever he sang was elegantly presented, even ‘beribboned’. He had the stamina and the strength. He became the darling of the Harballabh Music Conference in 1948 in Jalandhar, (East) Punjab, which saw a dazzling presentation by singers of the Patiala gharana, especially Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan who could sweep an audience off its feet with his virtuosity. Soon afterward, Bhimsenji conquered Calcutta (Kolkata) and had devoted listeners, especially at the prestigious Dover Lane Music Conference in the 1960s. They would forgive him for anything, including his non-musical transgressions, especially in his later years.
In 2008, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country. It was a distinction that he was to share with Bismillah Khan, his former roommate, who was honoured six years earlier.
Arduous journey
It had been a difficult, even turbulent, journey through life for Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He had run away from his home in Gadag town, in Dharwad district of Karnataka, as a young boy to pursue a vocation in music. A singer of bhajans, he had caught the spark from his mother Godavari, a pious woman. Legend has it that he sang his way in trains, ticketless, until he landed in the court of the Maharaja of Gwalior, who, pleased with his singing, gave him Rs.10 and a coconut. The boy’s wanderlust took him to many places, including Jalandhar, where he learnt under a blind dhrupad singer for some time. One can surmise that his kharaj, or genuine bass notes, may have come from the brief but valuable lessons he may have got from this unsung artiste.
COURTESY: GANGUBAI HANGAL MUSIC FOUNDATION
BHIMSEN JOSHI WITH vocalist Gangubai Hangal, both disciples of Sawai Gandharva.
Much has been written about Bhimsen Joshi’s debt to Sawai Gandharva (Rambhau Kundgolkar), a celebrated performer of Marathi Natya Sangeet and an intensely lyrical performer of khayal. Sawai Gandharva was a pupil of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the illustrious founder of the Kirana gharana, named after a village 64 kilometres from Delhi. It is indeed a charming paradox that musicians from today’s Haryana in North India could make a mark in far-off Maharashtra a hundred years ago, and that Bhimsen Joshi, a Kannada-speaking boy, should travel far north in the 1930s in search of a music guru.
It was at the Harballabh Music Conference that he first heard the great khayal singer Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan. Deeply moved by his singing, Bhimsen Joshi decided that he had to learn from him. Always forthright, he approached the Ustad and made his request. He followed him to Rampur, where Mushtaq Hussain Khan was a court singer. In an interview he gave the national television channel Doordarshan, Bhimsen Joshi said that he had learned for a year from Mushtaq Hussain Khan Saheb. He added: “ Woh bade gawaiyye theye (He was a great singer).”
If one were to pause and reflect on Bhimsen Joshi’s style and its evolution, it would become apparent that the way in which he projected his voice was mastered from Mushtaq Hussain Khan, “ Jis tarah woh apni awaaz ko phenk te theye uss sey pata chalta heye ke unhon ney Mushtaq Hussain Khan Saheb se he yeh tariqa seekha thaa” (It is quite apparent that he learnt to throw his voice in a particular way from Mushtaq Hussain Khan), notes Kailash Pande, a dedicated pupil of the very gifted Ustad Ishtiaq Hussain Khan, eldest son of Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan.
In his approach to a bandish, or composition, Bhimsenji was closer to the methods of the Gwalior-Rampur gharana singers than those of the Kirana. “ Kirana wallon ki tarah woh sirf surron par wa aakaar ke zor par badhath nahin kartey theye balki bandish ki zaroorat keye anusaar chalte theye”(Unlike the exponents of the Kirana gharana who used the progression of notes in a composition in a given raaga, Bhimsenji respected the mood of the composition), Pande adds. Of course, the sudden bursts of tender poetry amidst rugged and stable vocal technique were as much learned from Sawai Gandharva – with whom he stayed as a favourite pupil for three years, after passing the ‘dedication test’ by doing household chores happily – as it was the expression of a part of his mercurial personality.
Personal life
He married twice; the first marriage was to his cousin Sunanda Hungund in 1947, a union that produced two sons and two daughters, and the second, in 1951, was to his disciple Vatsala Dhondopant Mudholkar, who bore him two sons and a daughter. He managed to escape bigamy charges since marriage laws became stringent only in 1955, and lived with both his wives and their children by him under one roof.
It is difficult to tell where his fondness for alcohol came from, but it may have resulted from his having to cope with constant domestic tensions. He was the most sought-after vocalist in Hindustani music from 1950 until a few years before his death. He was probably the most highly paid singer of his generation. Constant travel within the country and to other continents, especially after the Festivals of India overseas, took their toll on him, but ironically brought him respite from his domestic troubles. He also sought release from his worldly problems by driving fast cars. One of his first acquisitions, on becoming a celebrity, was an American Dodge Kingsway car. He drove it at high speeds on the winding roads of the Western Ghats!
Repertoire of raagas
He was at heart a traditionalist, though enthusiastic fans claimed he was an experimentalist. It is true that his repertoire of raagas expanded considerably after he turned 60 but before that, it was small. He may have imposed this limitation on himself deliberately. One has heard him sing Sakhi ae li aali piya bin, a hoary composition in raaga Yaman, taught to students of vocal music today. He had told music critic Chetan Karnani that he sang nearly 35 raagas in the mid-1970s. The raagas that he sang with customary gusto then were Durbari Kannada, Miya ki Todi, Mian ki Malhar, Yaman Kalyan, Shudha Kalyan, Brindabani Sarang, Marwa, Shudh Kedar, Puriya Dhanashree, Multani, Maru-Bihag, Puriya-Kalyan, Bhairavi, and Gaud Sarang.
THE HINDU ARCHIVES
WITH SHEHNAI MAESTRO Ustad Bismillah Khan, once his roommate.
Bhimsenji, like almost all khayal singers of his time barring the maverick genius Ustad Ameer Khan, did not do an elaborate alaap in a given raaga. Rather, he acquainted the listener with the raaga’s contours by doing a deft sketch of its melodic progression. This done, he launched into the main body of the raaga, first through a composition in medium tempo in a given taala, or beat cycle, accompanied on the tabla. After this, he moved a drut or a quick-tempo bandish . He was in his element in these exercises. A variety of taans emanating from the navel, chest or throat burst forth like fireworks to overwhelm the listener; however, all this was done in the service of the raaga being sung. His chest tones were formidable and the timbre of his voice most pleasing. In his time, Bhimsen Joshi’s was the most attractive male voice in Hindustani music.
Bhimsen Joshi’s breath control was truly amazing. In his late middle age or even slightly later, he could take long and complicated fast taans quite effortlessly. He was matched in the area of breath control by a small-built, tobacco-addicted old virtuoso from Karnataka by the name of Mallikarjun Mansur. How the latter managed this is a medical mystery because he did not possess the bull-like physical attributes of Bhimsen Joshi, though he could match him for grit.
Bhimsenji’s immensely strong body and spirit did take a lot of punishment between the age of 40 and 60. There were dark periods when his innate musicality would intermittently desert him and he would go out of tune while giving a live concert. He conquered this folly through sheer force of character. He always retained his unusually long breath and never had to struggle for breath even during the worst period of his life, musically.
It is here that he differed from a gifted musician from Bengal, Chinmoy Lahiri, who began drinking recklessly following a failed domestic life. Lahiri, before he embarked on certain reckless musical experiments in the interpretation of raagas within khayal singing, was an artist of rare finesse. But lack of character cast him into oblivion. Lahiri was more in love with himself than his music. In contrast, Bhimsenji put his music above the troubles in his personal life. He fought his way out of a dark corner into the sunlight and stayed there.
He was always his own man. During the Emergency (1975-1977), when many artists and intellectuals were bending over backwards to please the government, he did not think it necessary to toe the line. It was at that time that he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and came to Delhi to receive it. I remember Bhimsenji asking me for a cigarette and responding thus to my felicitation for the concert that was about to begin: “ Khaak gayenge gaana iss Emergency mein (What kind of music do you expect during this Emergency)?” He was accompanied that evening on the harmonium by Pu La Deshpande, another fine and versatile artiste from Maharashtra. Bhimsenji, in spite of his contentious mood, got by that evening through sheer professionalism.
His sense of egalitarianism was for real. He sang the Abhangs – a form of religio-moral folk poetry that cut across barriers of caste – of Tukaram and Vitthal, two great social rebels who were considered saints by the so-called lower castes. Bhimsenji sang their poetry with a conviction that often surpassed his khayal singing. He brought a similar intensity of feeling when he sang the poetry of Tulsidas and Kabir, saint-poets of northern India. This understanding of a poet’s intention came as much from a well-honed intuition – he had very little formal education, which, in this case, proved to be a blessing – as from a traditional upbringing where bhajan singing was a part and parcel of family life. He acquired a kind of inner equipoise that happily contradicted his outgoing, worldly personality.
THE HINDU ARCHIVES
WITH CARNATIC VOCALIST Balamurali Krishna.
Shyamal Sarkar, a great devotee of Hindustani music and a pupil of the great sarod maestro Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan of Gwalior and Rampur, was employed in a senior position at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in 1987 when the Festival of India in Sweden happened. Bhimsen Joshi was the star attraction and was to sing for about 25 minutes immediately after the inauguration. Some suggested to Sarkar that he convince the temperamental master to present songs in a lighter genre, say, thumri, for the Swedish audience. When Sarkar finally made bold to put the suggestion before Bhimsenji, he replied gently, “ Aap chinta mat kijiye Sarkar Saheb, mein sambhaloonga.” (Don’t worry Sarkar, I’ll take care of everything.)
Sarkar remembers: “He sang ‘Poorvi’ putting his heart and soul into the raaga. The audience was mesmerised. They applauded for a full 10 minutes after he had finished.” No singer in Hindustani music had his charisma despite an endless variety of grimaces while singing.
In his later years, he widened his repertoire to include bandishes in a range of raagas. He made recordings, among others, in Bageshwari-Bahar, Bhimpalas, Bibhas, Deskar, Gaud Malhar, Megh, Maluha Kedar, Nayaki Kanada, Shudh Sarang, Suha Sugrai, Jaijawanti-Nat, Jaunpuri, Lalita-Gauri, Madhuwanti, Patdeep, Hindol-Bahar and Shankara. This was a welcome change that added a new dimension to his singing that had, in the opinion of some, depended for far too long on virtuosity. He had begun, inasmuch as was then possible, to look inwards.
Every year he organised in Pune, where he lived for the past 50 years or more, a music festival in honour of Sawai Gandharva. He saw to it that promising youngsters were also invited along with the veterans so that their talent could be appreciated by rasikas, thus giving them the confidence to sing in public with ease. Bhimsen Joshi took a personal interest in the nitty-gritty of organising the event. It was his way of thanking the public for standing by him over the years.
Fate had decreed that he be the audience’s “most loved child”. No other artist in Hindustani music in the post-Independence era was so indulged by listeners. Even in the trying years, when he frequently turned up drunk, or on occasion sang out of tune, they still loved him. He would often be drinking in the green room when his turn came, and he would refuse to go on stage. People would wait patiently for hours for him to appear on stage to sing to them. In their eyes he was the quintessential artist, and therefore needed to be protected. Once in Kolkata, he refused to stop drinking and to sing despite the organisers’ pleas. He finally appeared at dawn (in those days music festivals lasted all night) and burst into Babul Mora, Wajid Ali Shah’s immortal thumri set in the raaga Bhairavi. After he finished, there was scarcely a dry eye in the audience.
When he put health and music above self-indulgence, he became a brilliant musician once again. Erratic concert performances were behind him. He became a patriarch of Hindustani vocal music, and many youngsters sought his blessings and wanted to emulate his music. A video recording of him at 80, singing with two of his pupils, showed how much vitality was still left in him. Since it was difficult for him to sit cross-legged, he was sitting on the edge of the platform with his legs touching the floor – that was his only concession to the march of time. He sang ‘ Shyam bajayi aaj muraliya’, a bandish in Yaman Kalyan, set in Teen Taal, Madhya Laya.
His was a vivid, colourful life; full of ups and downs, but in retrospect there were definitely more ups than downs. His flamboyance was as much a part of his music as it was of his personality. There was a core of pristine simplicity behind the mask of the ‘public artist’ that he wore for years. He had served his gods and his ever loyal listeners through music, and to music he belonged. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi put all of himself into a bhajan that he often sang to round off concerts, ‘ Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada So Hi Param Pad Paegaa’ (He who worships Hari, or Vishnu, shall find the ultimate reward, salvation).
‘He created his own style’
SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY
Interview with Pandit Vijay Kichlu, classical vocalist.
SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH
Vijay Kichlu: “Bhimsenji had his own style.”
PANDIT VIJAY KICHLU is an eminent classical vocalist and musicologist. He and his brother, the late Pandit Ravi Kichlu, were famous as a vocalist duo. Born in 1930, Vijay Kichlu studied dhrupad (an old form of Hindustani classical vocals) from the Dagar brothers, who were among the foremost exponents of this tradition. In this exclusive interview, Vijay Kichlu, who knew Bhimsen Joshi for more than 50 years, spoke of the latter’s genius, his versatility, and the kind of human being he knew him to be. Excerpts:
What in your opinion was the most singular and unique aspect of Bhimsen Joshi’s singing?
The most unique aspect of any musician, for that matter not only of Bhimsen Joshi, is the personality that he brings into his music. Essentially, music is an art which one absorbs from the teachings of a guru; and you always inherit the academics, the shastra [science] that the guru imparts. But ultimately you give it your own personality. All that you have learnt, when you re-convey it, you do it in a manner that is suitable to you. So, you may not repeat exactly what you have learnt, but give the knowledge you have acquired your own character, your own touch, your own likes and dislikes – all these are reflected in your own style. This is particularly so in the case of a genius, who presents his or her own creativity while artistically expressing himself or herself. Bhimsenji was a genius, and whatever he learnt from his gurus, he gave it a shape of his own.
It is said that he took the Kirana gharana, to which he belonged, to another level with his artistic vision and genius. Please elucidate.
It is what I was telling you before. The guru teaches you according to his own personality; but then there are a lot of things in that style and knowledge that may not suit you, or is not suitable to your own rendering of your personality. There may be certain aspects of singing that are your own strengths. So what you do is to concentrate on your strong points and do away with those you are not able to absorb suitably.
The Kirana gharana today can be looked at from the styles of different musicians. Let us take the case of the great Ustad Abdul Karim Khan saheb. He was the source of Bhimsenji’s style. Now, in the same gharana was one of his cousins, Abdul Wahid Khan saheb, who stayed in Kirana in Uttar Pradesh. He and Abdul Karim Khan saheb, the two original stalwarts of the Kirana, became quite different from each other because Abdul Karim Khan saheb went to various other places before settling down in the West. He was also considerably influenced by Carnatic music. He developed a style that had a lot of diverse elements in it, and it became different from that of Abdul Wahid Khan saheb.
From his own family – by family, I mean, students, disciples and followers – came Sawai Gandharva, who was Bhimsenji’s guru. He had his own style. Both Gangubai Hangal and Bhimsenji learnt from Sawai Gandharva, yet both had styles different from each other. That is how branches in gharanas are created. But only a genius can come up with a new version of what he or she has learnt. The style that Bhimsenji created did not exist earlier although the foundation or the source is the same as those of other singers of the gharana.
Bhimsenji was also a great bhajan singer. Could you tell us about his artistic versatility?
Bhimsenji was basically a khayal singer, but he was greatly influenced by the thumri singing of Abdul Karim Khan saheb. He was also greatly influenced by the Natya Sangeet of Maharashtra, which is presented on stage in theatre. So, influenced by all these, he created his own style of bhajan singing. Bhajans are also of different types. Bhimsenji adopted a format where for hours he could present different kinds of bhajans that were completely different from the khayal style of which he was a master. Thus, Bhimsenji was known in the devotional circle as a great bhajan singer, and he created his own style there too. And, as I said, he was very good at thumri singing based on the style of Abdul Karim Khan saheb.
He always seemed like an enigmatic figure on stage. Could you tell us what he was like as a person?
What was really striking about his personality was that he was a very simple person. Very humble and very lovable. He would always wear kurta pyjama. He was invariably very pleasant to everyone. The simplicity of his character was really remarkable and he was very approachable. He never kept a distance from people who liked him, and people liked him instantly. At home too, he lived a simple life. Nothing showy or flashy. He did not believe in luxuries. His diet, attire, and conversations were all simple.
The whole world knows that Bhimsenji was very fond of alcohol, and a lot of the humour and wit connected with him was about the way he used to dodge everybody and have his drink before or after a performance. But I don’t want you to dwell too much on it because it is a different side of [his] personality.
He was a very witty person, but he did not speak much. He had a very quiet humour.
Is it true that in his single-minded pursuit of music he took up menial jobs in his early life to sustain himself?
That is a fact. He came from a simple family, and his urge for music was so strong that he could not accept the restraints his parents put on him – that he become something else, not a musician. So he ran away from his family. I believe it took his parents three or five years to trace him finally. In the meantime, he did whatever was necessary to survive.
In fact, there is a famous story that he used to work for Pahari Sanyal [legendary Bengali film actor]. Pahari Sanyal was closely associated with me. I started a major music circle in Calcutta [Kolkata], known as the Calcutta Music Circle, and Pahari Sanyal was one of its vice-presidents. He was a great lover of classical music and used to sing himself. In his lighter moments, he would say, “Bhimsenji worked with me at my place.” Later on, when he met Bhimsenji, they had a happy reunion. In his earlier days, Bhimsenji moved from place to place, from musician to musician, just for survival. He had a very tough life, but he had incredible tenacity. There was a fire within him – that he must learn music – and he sacrificed his home, his family, everything for it.
Could you tell us about his long association with Kolkata?
The reason for his close association with Kolkata is very simple. In those days, the place had 10 times more activities in the field of music than any other city in India. I am talking about the 1950s to the 1980s.
Bombay [Mumbai] at that time was very much alive as far as vocal music was concerned but not very many major music conferences were taking place there. In fact, up to the early 1980s, Maharashtra used to have only three or four big conferences. Maximum eight. Delhi used to have just one or two.
Kolkata used to have 200 such platforms. There used to be at least 30 to 40 conferences in greater Kolkata itself; then again, every suburb would have a conference. It was natural that any popular musician – and Bhimsenji in his time was the most popular vocalist of the country – would be invited frequently to the city. Bhimsenji had more occasion to perform from big platforms in Kolkata than in any other Indian city. The highest number of musical festivals he attended in a year was in Kolkata. He was the most acclaimed vocalist in the country after Amir Khan saheb and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saheb.
What is Bhimsenji’s legacy to Indian classical music?
The legacy of a musician is always from the people who follow him. There may be some direct disciples, but Bhimsenji was not known to be a great teacher. He was always so busy and involved in musical activities and performances that he did not have much time to teach directly. But followers developed, and they started following his style, and then owing to technological advances, recordings, radio, television, and so on, his music reached a lot of people. Bhimsenji’s style is followed by many younger musicians: either they learnt from him directly or from some of his disciples, or they were influenced by his style of singing and picked it up by themselves.
You see, when a musician becomes a very powerful artiste, any other young musician or musician in the making who may not be following his style of singing, that is, Kirana gharana to be exact, may still get influenced by him and adopt a lot of his characteristics. Bhimsenji’s influence spread far and wide and a lot of people started adopting not only his musical presentation but also his mannerisms on the stage. You can see that in many young musicians.
I feel it is the end of an era as far as the general standard of music making and scholarship is concerned. It remains to be seen whether anybody can really attain the heights that Bhimsenji attained. A lot of commercialism is finding its way into this field, and every musician has to travel a lot not only to make his living but because he is constantly asked to perform, after getting famous. Most of the time he is travelling. When musicians are travelling, they lose contact with their pupils, their own children and their families. So the companionship between the guru and the shishya is disturbed, and as a result, the qualitative attainment of the younger generation learning from one, directly or indirectly, is affected.
It is for this reason that we say that musicians of the calibre of Abdul Karim Khan saheb, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan saheb and Amir Khan saheb do not exist today. We can observe that every generation that follows is a little less competent and less qualitatively inspiring than the previous generation. I put Bhimsen Joshiji in a class different from today’s master musicians and different from the next generation also.
He belonged to a different era, and that era has come to an end with his passing.
Bhimsen Joshi: The Voice That Crossed the Vindhyas
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is the male voice that transcended India’s north-south musical divide and captured popular imagination
by Shishir Prasad | Feb 15, 2011
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is the male voice that transcended India’s north-south musical divide and captured popular imagination
Bhimsen Joshi: The Voice That Crossed the Vindhyas
Image: Raghu Rai/indiatodayimages.com
So who can be described as the voice of India? Arguably it would have to be Lata Mangeshkar and M.S. Subbulakshmi. At least 70 percent Indians would have loved their voice and their singing. In the age of coalition governments that’s as good a majority as we will ever get on anything. Now try the same question but with a gender twist. Who can be described as the male voice of India? The certainty disappears.
S.P. Balasubrahmanyam — great singer — doesn’t cross the Vindhyas frequently enough. Yesudas had a great run in the Seventies but only for a brief while. The great G.N. Balasubramaniam went virtually unknown to large parts of the North. Madurai Mani Iyer, God bless his quarter-tones, would draw a blank in most parts of India. M. Balamuralikrishna is a legend, but would again stop short of Narmada. Kishore Kumar, in his hey days, was reasonably popular down south and perhaps still is to an extent. Ditto for Mohammed Rafi. But it is doubtful if they ever held the popular imagination there.
That’s why Bhimsen Joshi is so important. His voice travelled right across India. He was, perhaps after Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the one singer who caught popular imagination even though he was a classicist. His popularity down south is much more than what Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan ever had. For many, Bhimsen Joshi’s mass popularity was because of television, because of his participation in public service films like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and Baje Sargam aired on Doordarshan in the late Eighties. That might sound like blasphemy but reveals a deeper truth. He could take a classical ditty and deliver it in a manner that just about anyone could appreciate. It wasn’t unusual for people to use their fake baritone to try and sing Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada after they left a Joshi concert. “Even in those Doordarshan films where many stalwarts performed, his portions stood out,” says Shubha Mudgal, a Hindustani classical vocalist.
Truth be told, classical music, especially Hindustani with its accent on improvisation, can be terribly boring and tedious if it falls in the wrong hands or throat. Repetitive phrasing, wooden singing and unimaginative development (badhat) are some reasons why the laity doesn’t warm up to this form of music. Joshi could never be accused of this. He knew what could catch his audience’s ear.
“It is hard to describe that attribute. It could have been a well-timed murki [a mini-cascade of notes] or a well-positioned khatka [playful use of adjacent notes],” says Mudgal.
Indeed, Joshi understood that the dry and rigorous terrain of classical music needed the drip irrigation of alankaars (ornamental movements) to keep the listener alive.
One of life’s more thrilling moments is to experience the profusion of glide notes simulating zero gravity in the listener’s consciousness while listening to Joshi’s Shuddh Kalyan. G.N. Joshi, who was the artiste and repertoire person for HMV from 1938 to 1970, recalls in his superb book Down Melody Lane that way back in 1944 — when Joshi was just 22! — he was already a master at presenting a song. And he began his recording career recording Hindi and Kannada Bhajans. He soon graduated to recording a poem, Uttar Druva Dum, written by D.R. Bendre.
At that time, he had not yet established his credentials as a traditional classical singer, but his voice and his stylish singing later found its way into his classical delivery as well. That does not lessen his rigour, only increases its lustre.
Much has been made of his brilliant voice; and yet when you ponder over it you are struck by how oversized it is, especially in the middle octave. The voices of singers like Kumar Gandharva or Mallikarjun Mansur had a quicksilver quality and Jasraj a spiritual gravitas, but Joshi’s voice had raw power and that’s where the intriguing part of his music came from.
As he began the development of a raga he would try and keep the raw power of voice on a tight leash, merely exhibiting a quiet menace. And then as he moved into faster paced part of the raga he would let it rip, his voice bucking across octaves at tremendous pace. The transition of his voice from a filly to a stallion, in the course of an hour, blindsided listeners into submission. Now of course, he is on to eternal music and his listeners have to make do with the silence. Damn!
This article appeared in Forbes India Magazine of 25 February, 2011
Keywords: Classical Singer, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Lata Mangeshkar, Subbulakshmi
A friend recalls Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
Last updated on: January 24, 2011 10:35 IST
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
In 2009, Mohan Nadkarni, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s biographer, wrote exclusively for rediff.com recalling his long association with the legend. We re-publish the feature.
It is rare that a biography of an artiste is published during his lifetime; every word in the narration of this biography is truthful.’
This is what the maestro, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, said, releasing the first edition of my book, titled, Bhimsen Joshi: The Man and His Music, way back in 1983.
And it was the maestro who had visited me at home and asked me to write his life-story! This tiny biography, incidentally, caught the attention of HarperCollins publishers, in collaboration with Indian publisher Rupa & Co. They commissioned me to revise and update the edition and publish it under their joint auspices in 1994.
News of the conferment of the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award on the maestro, was indeed like a miracle that has simply happened. Doubly so, in a land where one has to be either thoroughly dead, or get woefully old and ailing to deserve State recognition!
Especially for this writer, only seven months junior to him in age, this great event is truly overwhelming. Indeed, I am at a loss to know what to say, how to say, and how much to say, as I write these lines. I turn nostalgic and my thoughts take me down memory lane. Way back to February 1943 — February 16, to be precise.
That was the day of his first broadcast from All India Radio, Bombay (as the city was then called). I still remember his programme schedule of three sittings of 20 minutes each: Miyan Ki Todi in the morning (Daiya Bat Dubar); then raga Marwa (Ab Mil Aaye) at dusk; and finally, raga Puriya (Piya Gunawanta), later in the evening.
Like me, whoever might have heard these radio sessions would have been left in no doubt that a brilliant star had risen on the musical horizon.
This musical acquaintance gradually matured into personal friendship, almost to a point when we could be on abusing terms! By then I had taken to writing on Hindustani music as a freelance writer and concert reviewer in 1954 in The Times of India and its sister publications. I cannot remember the number of occasions we may have met on and off the concert auditorium.
Indeed, in retrospect, we find that few contemporary Hindustani vocalists have enjoyed such tremendous popularity and for so long as Bhimsenji. One can even say that few could equal his box-office appeal, his phenomenal professional career at home as well as abroad has more than fulfilled the hopes and expectations raised by him in the early ’40s.
Image: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi presents a music programme on the occasion of Nehru’s birth centenary in 1998
Photographs: India Abroad archives
At the same time, in the course of his incredible climb to greater and still greater heights, Bhimsenji’s approach to Khayal music underwent many significant changes, which evoked diverse reactions from his audiences. I am inclined to view the changes in his vocalism against the background of the qualitative changes witnessed on the wider musical scene after the attainment of political freedom.
This is equally true of the widening singing repertoire strictly outside the Hindustani traditional fare — like his Sant Vani in Marathi, Kannada, Hindi; the Marathi stage hits; his playback singing, and his scoring music for Marathi stage presentations.
Bhimsenji’s great musical moments are truly great. Indeed, at such moments he reveals a rare genius — when the spirit seizes him in his creative ecstasy. Behind the powerful voice, amazing breath control, fine musical sensibility and an unwavering grasp of the fundamentals lies something that can only be termed sui generis.
E M Forster comes to mind in this context. To him, music was of two types: One, that reminded him of something, and the other, ‘music itself.’ Bhimsenji symbolises the latter type — he is music itself. In this sense, I place him in the brilliant galaxy of some of the all-time greats whom I have heard for the last five decades and more, and who evoked an identical reaction in me.
Most of them, alas, have passed into oblivion and I regard Bhimsenji as one of the last –if not the last, perhaps — surviving titans of the present generation of Hindustani vocalists.
In the mid-’80s, Bhimsenji seemed to succumb to glamour and money. True, he made history in the world of Hindustani vocal music when he won the Platinum Disc from HMV for his outstanding contributions. This was truly a triumph for the artiste and the recording company.
Image: Bhimsen with former President APJ Abdul Kalam
In contrast, it was more anguish than anger with which I viewed the maestro’s teaming up with a variety of ‘partnerships’ — like those with Lata Mangeshkar, Balamurali Krishna, the eminent Carnatic vocalist, not to speak of his ‘teamship’ with painter M F Husain.
These were all State-sponsored extravaganzas, ostensibly presented to promote the much-vaunted theme of national integration. It was doubly ironical that Bhimsenji’betrayed’ himself by frankly revealing what he really felt.
But his appearance in Doordarshan feature Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, devised to promote national integration, rightly earned him incredible acclaim. His impassioned utterance, the complete identification of the man with his music is what has made Pandit Bhimsen Joshi the unrivalled Hindustani vocalist of our time.
True enough, here is a man who has loved and lived his life with all his romance and intensity and one who has sought to reflect it so eloquently to his music — be it classical, light classical, devotional or the popular variety, like the Doordarshan number — who has ever fused so subtly in his ‘personality-bound’ vocalism in all its anguish and ecstasy.
Image: File photo of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi with Balamurali Krishna at a concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbxd_zndHhU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KcyLPtHkVM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL78yLFCG-U&feature=related
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi critical
Indo-Asian News Service
Pune, January 15, 2011
First Published: 16:19 IST(15/1/2011)
Last Updated: 16:23 IST(15/1/2011)
5 Comments
Eminent Hindustani classical vocalist and Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s condition is “grim” in a hospital in Pune, his physician said on Saturday. “He is on a ventilator and requires periodic dialysis. He is critical, but there has been no further deterioration in his health in the past 12
hours,” Atul Joshi, his consulting physician since over a decade, told IANS.
Pandit Joshi, who would be 88 on Feb 4, was rushed to the Sahyadri Hospital Dec 31 following old-age related ailments and general weakness, his physician Joshi said.
Panditji continues to remain in the intensive care unit of the hospital and is being treated for ailments related to the upper respiratory tract, kidney and intestines, he said.
His daughter Shubhada Mulgund told media persons that her father’s health was a matter of concern as he was not responding to medical treatment.
Pandit Joshi was conferred Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, in 2008.
Showing 5 comments
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Love4all [Moderator] 21 minutes ago
May God bless Pt. JoshiJi whose few classical-devotional songs tuned my heart for the love for the Supreme.
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Navin Rai [Moderator] 1 hour ago
One of the greatest artist this subcontinent ever had. I feel really concerned for Panditji. he has been like an institution of music. His way of singing is very unique. May god bless him with strength. Lets prey that he recovers fast.
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Raj [Moderator] 3 hours ago
I am sad to her this. My most favorite singer is not feeling well. I love his music, voice. dont know what else to say. i want to listen to him, now. really sad.
1 person liked this.
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Sri [Moderator] 3 hours ago
May he recover or suffer less. Still remember the Joshi rendition of “Sur kee nadiyaan… OOooOO, sooru mile hamaara”..
2 people liked this.
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SITA_SASTRY03 [Moderator] 1 hour ago in reply to Sri
VERY SORRY TO HEAR THAT PANDIT IS SUFFERING MAY GOD GIVE HIM STRENGTH TO FACE THIS SITUATION AN RECOVERFAST.
Bhimsen Joshi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhimsen Joshi
Birth name Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
Also known as Pandit (Pt.) Bhimsen joshi, Panditji, Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Bhim-Anna, Anna, etc.
Born February 4, 1922 (1922-02-04) (age 88)
Origin Gadag, Karnataka
Genres Hindustani Classical, Khayal, Thumri, Bhajan, Abhang, etc.
Occupations Hindustani Classical vocalist
Years active 1941–2008
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Kannada: ಪಂಡಿತ ಭೀಮಸೇನ ಗುರುರಾಜ ಜೋಷಿ, born February 4, 1922) is an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He is the most recent recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, awarded in 2008.[1]
Early life
He was born into a Kannada Brahmin family in the town of Gadag in northern part of Karnataka state.[2][3] His father, Gururaj Joshi, was a school teacher. Bhimsen is the eldest in a family of 16 siblings. Some of the siblings still live in their ancestral home in Gadag.[4] Bhimsen lost his mother when he was young, and his step mother raised him.
Musical Training
Until the first half of the 20th century, Khyal was principally taught in the Guru Shishya (master-disciple) tradition. Bhimsen’s guru Sawai Gandharva was the chief disciple of Abdul Karim Khan, who along with his cousin Abdul Waheed Khan was the founder of the Kirana Gharana school of Hindustani music.
Search for a Guru
Pt. Joshi heard a recording of Utd. Abdul Karim Khan’s Thumri “Piya Bin Nahi Aavat Chain” in Raag Jhinjhoti when he was a child, which inspired him to become a musician. In 1933, the 11-year-old Pt. Joshi left Dharwad for Bijapur[disambiguation needed] to find a master and learn music.[3] With the help of money lent by his co-passengers in the train Bhimsen reached Dharwar first and later went to Pune. Later he moved to Gwalior and got into Madhava Music School, a school run by Maharajas of Gwalior, with the help of famous Sarod player Utd. Hafiz Ali Khan. He traveled for three years around North India, including in Delhi, Kolkata, Gwalior, Lucknow and Rampur, trying to find a good guru.[5] Eventually, his father succeeded in tracking him down in Jalandar and brought young Bhimsen back home. Bhimsen Joshi is also popularliy known as Anna (elder Brother) or Bhim-Anna[3]
Pt. Sawai Gandharva
In 1936, Pt. Rambhau Kundgolkar (alias Sawai Gandharva), a native of Dharwad, agreed to be his guru. Bhimsen Joshi stayed at his house in the traditional guru-shishya (teacher-student) tradition, gleaning knowledge of music from his master as and when he could, while performing odd-jobs in his house. Another renowned vocalist from the Kirana Gharana, Gangubai Hangal, was a co-student of Bhimsen during this time. Joshi continued his training with Sawai Gandharva till 1940.
Career
Pt. Joshi moved to Mumbai in 1943 and worked as a Radio Artist. He first performed live at the age 19. His debut album, containing a few devotional songs in Kannada and Hindi, was released by HMV when he was 22.
Hindustani Classical Music
Bhimsen’s music has been hailed by both the critics and the masses. His performances have been marked by spontaneity, accurate notes, dizzyingly-paced taans which make use of his exceptional voice training, and a mastery over rhythm. He was ever the wanderer, engendering brilliant phrases and taans more intuitively than through deliberation. Never the one to be controlled by the rigours of theory, he sailed high, sometimes floundering, nevertheless reaching out to the stars.[6] He makes occasional use of sargam and tihaais, and favours traditional compositions of the Kirana gharana. Over the years he has specialized in a few ragas, which he usually performs. Some of Pt. Joshi’s more popular Raags include Shuddha Kalyan, Miyan Ki Todi, Puriya Dhanashri, Multani, Bhimpalas, Darbari, and Ramkali. Other than Utd. Abdul Karim Khan, Pt. Joshi has been influenced by many musicians, including Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar, Begum Akhtar and Utd. Amir Khan. Pt. Joshi’s own style emerged over the years after assimilating various elements from what he liked in different musical styles and Gharanas.[7]
Devotional Music
In devotional music, Pt. Joshi is most acclaimed for his Kannada, Hindi and Marathi Bhajan singing. His commercially successful CDs Daaswani and Enna Paliso included Kannada Bhajans, and Santawani included Marathi Abhangs.
Patriotic Music
Pt. Joshi is revered in India for his work in the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara music video (1985), which begins with him. Pt. Joshi was also invited to sing for the Bharat Bala production of the Indian National Anthem music video (2000).
Playback Singing
Joshi has sung for several films, including Basant Bahar (1956) with Manna Dey, Birbal My Brother (1973) with Pt. Jasraj and Nodi Swami Naavu Irodhu Heege. He also sung for films Tansen(1958)[citation needed] and Ankahee(1985).
Sawai Gandharva Music Festival
Pt. Joshi organized the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival as an homage to his guru, Pt. Sawai Gandharva, along with the Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal in 1953, marking Pt. Gandharva’s first death anniversary. The festival has been held ever since, typically on the second weekend of December in Pune, Maharashtra and has become not only a cultural event for the city, but an annual pilgrimage for Hindustani Classical Music lovers all over the world. Pt. Joshi conducted the festival annually since 1953, until his retirement in 2002.
Students
Pt. Joshi has taught many students, several of whom have gone onto commercial success.
* Pt. Madhav Gudi
* Shrikant Deshpande
* Pt. Vinayak Torvi
* Upendra Bhat
* Shrinivas Joshi, Pt. Joshi’s son.
* Pt. Rajendra Kandalgaonkar
* Anand Bhate
Personal life
This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2010)
Pt. Joshi’s family arranged his marriage at his early age to a girl named Sunanda Katti; she was his cousin. They had four children together; two sons and daughters.Later, Pt. Joshi married Vatsala Mudholkar with whom he had two sons, Jayant and Shrinivas, and one daughter, Shubhada. Sunanda died in 1992 and Vatsala passed away in 2005. Elder son Jayant is a painter and younger son, Shrinivas is a vocalist and composer and has issued a few commercial recordings. Pt. Bhimsen Joshi has been a very private and down to earth person. He likes to lead a very quiet and simple life.
Pt. Joshi is also known to have a fondness for automobiles with a soft corner for classic Mercedes'.
He was reputed to do without the services of a chauffeur well into his seventies and to drive well over the legal speed limit.
Awards and Recognitions
* 1972 – Padma Shree
* 1976 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
* 1985 – Padma Bhushan
* 1985 – National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
* 1986 – “First platinum disc” [8]
* 1999 – Padma Vibhushan
* 2000 – “Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar” [9]
* 2001 – “Nadoja Award” from Kannada University [10]
* 2002 – Maharashtra Bhushan [11]
* 2003 – “Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram” by Government of Kerala[12]
* 2005 – Karnataka Ratna
* 2008 – Bharat Ratna
* 2008 – “Swami Haridas Award” [13]
* 2009 – “Lifetime achievement award” by Delhi government[14]
* 2010 – “S V Narayanaswamy Rao National Award” by Rama Seva Mandali, Bangalore
References
1. ^ “Bharat Ratna for Vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi”. Rediff. http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/04ratna.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
2. ^ “Kannadiga family”. The Hindu. 2002-10-31. http://frontlineonline.info/thehindu/mp/2002/10/31/stories/2002103100070100.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
3. ^ a b c “Relentless riyaz- Bhimsen Joshis recipe for success”. Deccan Herald. 2008-11-05. http://deccanherald.com/Content/Nov52008/national2008110598978.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-05. [dead link]
4. ^ “Naughty lad turned muse is ‘Bharat Ratna’”. Deccan Herald. 2008-11-06. http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov62008/state2008110599086.asp.
5. ^ “A class apart”. Mumbai Mirror. 2008-11-06. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=91&contentid=2008110620081106034527780499316b0.
6. ^ “Seeking the stars”. Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2008-11-07. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/11/07/stories/2008110751130100.htm.
7. ^ “A man of few words”. Sakaal Times. 2008-11-07. http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/11/07201634/A-man-of-few-words.html. Retrieved 2008-11-18. [dead link]
8. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1229441
9. ^ http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001117/tnews.htm
10. ^ ‘Nadoja’ for Bhimsen Joshi
11. ^ Times Of India Article
12. ^ “Award presented to Bhimsen Joshi”. The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2003-12-02. http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/02/stories/2003120208750400.htm.
13. ^ Bhimsen Joshi to be presented Swami Haridas Award
14. ^ Bhimsen happy about Delhi govt award
Further reading
* Nadkarni, Mohan (1983). Bhimsen Joshi: the man and his music. Prism Communications.
* Nadkarni, Mohan (1994). Bhimsen Joshi: a biography. Indus, New Delhi. ISBN 8172231261.
* Majumdar, Abhik (2004). Bhimsen Joshi: A Passion for Music. Rupa & Co. ISBN 8129103540.
External links
* Bhimsen Joshi
* Bhimsen Joshi Picture Album
* Bhimsen Joshi: List of Classical Vocal Recordings
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Bharat Ratna laureates
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) · C. Rajagopalachari (1954) · C. V. Raman (1954) · Bhagwan Das (1955) · Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) · Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) · Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) · Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) · Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) · Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) · Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) · Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) · Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) · Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) · Indira Gandhi (1971) · V. V. Giri (1975) · K. Kamaraj (1976) · Mother Teresa (1980) · Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) · Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) · M. G. Ramachandran (1988) · B. R. Ambedkar (1990) · Nelson Mandela (1990) · Rajiv Gandhi (1991) · Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) · Morarji Desai (1991) · Abul Kalam Azad (1992) · J. R. D. Tata (1992) · Satyajit Ray (1992) · A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) · Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) · Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) · M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) · Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) · Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) · Ravi Shankar (1999) · Amartya Sen (1999) · Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) · Lata Mangeshkar (2001) · Bismillah Khan (2001) · Bhimsen Joshi (2008)
Bharat Ratna
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Persondata
Name Joshi, Bhimsen
Alternative names
Short description Vocalist
Date of birth 1922-02-04
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/#Bhimsen_Joshi“
Categories: 1922 births | Recipients of the Bharat Ratna | Hindustani singers | Indian musicians | Kannada people | Recipients of the Karnataka Ratna Award | Living people | Recipients of the Padma Bhushan | Recipients of the Padma Shri | Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan | Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award | Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship | People from Gadag | Recipients of the Maharashtra Bhushan Award | Marathi-language singers | Marathi playback singers
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