Bhimsen Joshi

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Bhimsen Joshi
Birth name Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
Born February 4, 1922 (1922-02-04) (age 86)
Origin Gadag, Karnataka, India
Genre(s) Hindustani Classical Music - Khayal and light forms
Occupation(s) Hindustani classical vocalist
Years active 1941–present

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Kannada: ಪಂಡಿತ ಭೀಮಸೇನ ಗುರುರಾಜ ಜೋಷಿ, Marathi: पंडित भीमसेन गुरुराज जोशी, born February 4, 1922) is a renowned Indian vocalist. A descendant of the Kirana Gharana (stream) of Hindustani classical music tradition, he is particularly renowned for the Khayal form of singing.

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[edit] Background

Till the first half of the 20th century, this form of singing was principally taught in the Guru Shishya (or the Master-disciple ) tradition. 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.

[edit] Early life

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was born in a Kannadiga family in the small town of Gadag in Gadag district in the state of Karnataka .[1] His father was a conservative school-master. In 1933, the 11-year-old Bhimsen left his home on his own to learn singing through the Guru-Shishya tradition. He spent three years in Gwalior, Lucknow and Rampur in North India trying to find a good guru. His father succeeded in tracking him and brought young Bhimsen back home.

In 1936, Rambhau Kundgolkar, popularly known as Sawai Gandharva, agreed to teach Bhimsen in Hindustani classical music. Bhimsen Joshi stayed with him from 1936 to 1940. He then left his guru and set out on his own, following a strict regimen of up to sixteen hours of daily riyaz (practice).

Bhimsen Joshi first performed live at the age 19. His debut album, comtaining a few devotional songs in Kannada and Hindi, was released when he was 20.

He has started an annual classical musical festival called the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival' in the memory of his guru. This festival is held in Pune every December.

His son Sriniwas is also a vocalist and a composer.

[edit] Awards and recognitions

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ S.R.R.. Still magical. Metro Bangalore plus, Thursday, Oct 31, 2002. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2007-12-15.

[edit] External links


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