Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar
Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar (born March 14, 1963 in Mumbai) is a distinguished vocalist from the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. Born into a family of Sanskrit scholars and classical musicians—his father was renowned Marathi theatre actor Prabhakar Panshikar—he began formal musical training at age 11 under Pandit Vasantrao Kulkarni. At 17, he entered into a rigorous 20-plus-year discipleship with the late kishori Amonkar, and also studied under her mother Mogubai Kurdikar, inheriting a deeply authentic and emotive vocal style marked by intricate meend, gamak, and powerful taans.
An ‘A’-Grade artist at All India Radio and Doordarshan, Panshikar has received several prestigious awards including the Manik Verma Puraskar, Sangeet Kala Ratna, Zee Gaurav Puraskar, Maharashtra Times Sanman, Upadhye Smriti Puraskar, Ramkrishnabua Vaze Puraskar, and Dr. Prabha Atre Award. He has toured internationally—Europe, USA, the Middle East—and released acclaimed albums spanning pure classical and semi-classical genres like thumri, ghazal, bhajan, and abhang. He has also composed music for Marathi theatre, including the award-winning musical drama Avgha Rang Ekachi Zala.
At the Darbar Festival 2013 in London, Pandit Panshikar delivered a moving recital that showcased his deep-rooted mastery of the Jaipur-Atrauli tradition. Accompanied by harmonium and tabla, he presented a well-structured program featuring a slow vilambit alap and an expansive composition in Raag Bhoop Nat, followed by a dynamic drut that displayed his powerful taans and rhythmic command. Listeners and critics praised the performance for its emotional depth, technical clarity, and seamless integration of classic Jaipur-Atrauli aesthetics—reinforcing his status as one of the most compelling voices of contemporary Hindustani classical music.
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