Vithal Rao Biography 
Pandit Vithal Rao was a legendary ghazal singer from Hyderabad. He was the official court singer to Moazzam Jah, the second son of the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad. He was well-versed in Urdu and occasionally sang in Parsi. Known for his mastery performances as a ghazal singer, this soulful singer with a beautiful melodious voice has been associated with the field since pre-independent era. He was the last court singer in the court of Nizam of Hyderabad. He passed away on June 25, 2015. He was brought to the hospital in a critical condition, as an unidentified person.
With his death, a great era belonging to many ghazal maestros came to an end! He was brought to Gandhi Hospital at a critical condition. At that time no one identified this renowned singer and Rao passed away the following day. He was identified the next day from the morgue only after the postmortem was conducted and the body was embalmed. After shining as a glorious star in ghazal world for several years, it was a pathetic end to a great artist! He went missing when Pandit Vithal Rao along with his family members had visited Shirdi earlier that month.
He was born in Hyderabad in 1929. Vithal Rao Aatmaram Shivpurkar is his full name. He popularised the Ghazals written by Hyderabadi writers. Tabla maestro Ustad Sardar Khan has accompanied him for many concerts. Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, Ek chamele ke mandve tale, Nindiya Na Aaye, Maine teri aaakho mein pada, O Sitamgar Tera Muskurana Kaam Aane Ke Qabil etc are among his popular ghazals. He sang ghazals for many popular Hyderabadi and Hindi writers too. Ghazal exponent Talat Aziz knew him personally since his childhood days, where Talat’s father singer Abdul Azim Khan from Hyderabad used to encourage him.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 19, 2016
