Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande

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Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande Profile

  • Name:
  • Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
  • Born:
  • August 10, 1860
  • Died:
  • September 19, 1936

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande Biography

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was a famous musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani Classical Music. He explained the ragas in simple language and composed several bandishes which explained the grammar of the ragas. He has also edited numerous manuscripts like Swara Mela Kalanidhi by Ramamatya, Raga Tarangini by Lochan, Sangeet Kalp Drumankur by Kashinath Shashtri Appa Tulsi, Raga Manjari by Pundarik Vithal and Raga Lakshanam.

 

Vishnu was born in 1860, August 10 at Walkeshwar, Mumbai. His college education was completed at Elphinstone College in Mumbai and Deccan College in Pune. Later he graduated with a degree in Law in 1885 and started his career as a lawyer two years later. During his college days, his stint to music prompted him to learn music. He learnt sitar from Vallabhdas and vocal music from Raojiba, a Dhrupad singer. His advanced learning in Hindustani music was under great names like Belbagkar, Ali Husain Khan, and Vilayat Hussain Khan. Later he became a member of Gayan Uttejak Mandali, a musical circle in Mumbai.

 

Vishnu researched on music travelling India wide and meeting gurus of different gharanas. He also learnt ancient works like Natya Shastra and Sangeet Ratnakara. After the death of his wife and daughter, Bhatkhande abandoned his legal practice and completely dedicated his life to music and its research. While at Rampur he became the disciple of legendary Veena Player Ustad Wazir Khan, the descendant of Miyan Tansen. Bhatkhande's first published work, Swar Malika included detailed descriptions of all prevalent ragas.

 

In 1909, he published Shri Mallakshaya Sangeetam in Sanskrit, under the pseudonym 'Chatur Pandit'. To make it easy assessable to common man, he published commentary on his own Sanskrit grantha in Marathi. That work too needed numerous years to complete. In 1916, he reorganized the Baroda state music school, and later established the Madhav Music College in Gwalior.

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Updated: February 24, 2014

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