Sawai Gandharva Biography 
Sawai Gandharva was a doyen of Kirana Gharana of Hindustani music. He was also known as a Marathi stage actor. He was the first and foremost disciple of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the founder of Kirana Gharana. The great vocalist Pt. Bhimsen Joshi was his disciple. He popularized Kirana style of singing through his disciples Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Dr. Gangubai Hangal, Firoz Dastur and Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru. His real name is Ramchandra Kundgolkar and he was born on January 19, 1886, in Kundgol, Dharwad, Karnataka.
In his childhood days, he was known as Rambhau. His father Ganesh Saunshi, was a local clerk of a landlord. Young Ramchandra was not interested in studies and he spent his time in reciting poems and songs at school. He was admired by his teachers. Later he studied at Lamington High School in Hubli. But his studies seized when his father was not able to find his travel expenses to Hubli. After that his father put him under the tutelage of Balwantrao Kolhatkar from whom Ramchandra learnt learned 75 Dhrupad compositions, 25 Tarana compositions and hundreds of other compositions and a few taals. When Kolhatkar died in 1898, his learning was incomplete. After the death of his guru Balwantrao Kolhatkar, he spent his time on travel.
During his school days at Hubli, Gandharva used to watch dramas on his travel. He actively participated in the daily cultural events in Hubli also. In one such occasion his voice attracted Ustad. Abdul Karim Khan’s singing and made him his disciple in the year 1901 with the promise that he should learn for at least 8 years under him. During this time, he joined drama theatre as a singer and thus was not able to complete his music studies formally. As a part of theater, he has also played female characters on stage. In 1942, his concert career ended abruptly after he suffered a paralytic stroke. Yet he continued teaching till he died in 1952 aged 66.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 20, 2014
