| Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1, 1900 |
| Origin | Bombay (now Mumbai) |
| Died | February 14, 1974 (aged 74) |
| Genres | Hindustani classical music |
| Occupations | vocalist, musicologist |
| Years active | S.N.Ratanjankar stated learning of basics of Hindustani classical Music at the age of 8. Attended many music conferences from the age of his teens |
Pt. Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar (January 1, 1900 – February 14, 1974) was a distinguished scholar, teacher of Hindustani classical music, and vocalist from the Agra gharana. Foremost disciple of Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande & Ustad Faiyaz Khan of Baroda State, he also remained principal of Bhatkhande Music Institute (Bhatkande Sangeet Sansthan), Lucknow for many years, where he trained many noted names in the field of music.[1][2]
In 1957 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, and in 1963, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, awarded him its highest honour for lifetime achievement, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.[3]
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His father Shri Narayan Govind Ratanjankar was born in Mumbai. Shri krisna's grand father, Govindrao came to Mumbai in the middle of 19th century. After graduation Shrikrishna's father, Narayanrao joined as Police officer in the then British regim and who was well versed with the Sitar. At the age of 7, S.N.Ratanjankar was trained under the guidance of Pt. Krishnam Bhatt of Karwar. He also received instruction from Pt. Anant Manohar Joshi (Gwalior gharana) and later under Ustad Faiyaz Khan of Agra gharana. In 1911, he started training with vocalist and musicologist, Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and is today his most known disciple.[4] In 1926, he did graduation from Bombay University .
He was the Principal of Bhatkhande Music University (earlier known as Marris Music College), at Lucknow for several years, later was appointed as Vice-Chancellor Indira Sangeet kala Vishva Vidyalaya, Khairagarh, M.P.. Later he was once again called to head the Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth on 2 years cotract. His students include K. G. Ginde, SCR Bhatt,[5] Chidanand Nagarkar, V.G. Jog, Dinkar Kaikini, Shanno Khurana,[6] Sumati Mutatkar, Acharya Prabhakar Chinchore, C R Vyas, Chinmoy Lahiri, and Roshan Lal Nagrath (music director).
As a vocalist he sang Dhrupad and Khayal styles of Agra gharana. A known vaggeyakara (pronounced "vAggeyakArA") like his mentor Bhatkande, Ratanjankar has more than 800 compositions under his pen name "Sujan", notated and documented diligently by his disciple K. G. Ginde.[7] He also published numerous books including, Geet Manjari, Taan Sangrah, Sangeet Shiksha, Abhinava Geet Majari etc.
He also composed some new ragas such as Marga Bihag, Kedar Bahar, Sawani Kedar, Saalag Varali and Yamani Bilawal.
He was appointed as the Chairman of jurys of Auditions of "AIR" All India Radio, during which time in mid 1950s, he was involved in a re-auditioning controversy, which involved re-auditioning of the Indian musicians performing over on AIR, who opposed it and thus greatly diminished his reputation among Indian classical musicians.[8]
In 1957 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.[9]