Gauravam

  Vocalist                                                
 

Pt. Indudhar Niroḍy was born on 11th July 1935 in Puttūr (Daks͟͟hinā Kannaḍa District – Karnāṭaka State). He comes from a family which had the musical lineage. His grand-father was a practising Sitār player and his father had learnt Vocal Music from Pt. Nīlakāntbuā Shāstrī at Hospeṭ. 

Pt.Niroḍy was initiated into music at the young age of 10 by his father Niroḍy Sunderrāo and had the opportunity of learning at Uḍupī (Karnāṭaka) from Gawaī Pitre Rāmarāo, a disciple of Pt. Vināyakrāo Paṭwardhan. He had the unique distinction of giving his first concert in Hindustanī Music at his age of 12 at Kundāpur (Karnāṭaka) which was appreciated by all who had heard him.  On migrating to Mumbaī in 1951, he was further trained by Pt. Gurudatt HebĪekar.  At the same time, he came under the tutelage of Stalwarts in Hindustanī Classical Music – Āchārya SCR Bhaṭ, Āchārya KG Ginde, Pt. Dinkar Kaikiṇī and Pt. Chidānand Nagarkar.  He received intensive training under them for well over two decades.

 It has been his good fortune that being amongst the senior-most disciples of his mentors, apart from receiving systematic training from them, he has also had the opportunity of giving vocal accompaniment to them during concerts, thereby maintaining a close association with them over the years. This has helped him to assimilate and imbibe some of the finest aspects of Rāgadarī Sāṅgīta in his own music. He is a stickler for tradition However, he improvises his music with great imagination giving importance to the aesthetic contents of the Bandish-s. While his forte is Khayāl singing, having received training in Āgrā Gharānā style, he is equally comfortable in rendering Dhrupad-Dhamar-s and T͟humrī-s. He has performed at various centres in the Country and received laudable appreciation from the connoisseurs. He has also given Lecture-Demonstrations on various aspects of Hindustanī Classical Music at several Institutions in Karnāṭaka. He is also a visiting Professor with Karnāṭaka University, Dhārwāḍ and Dr. Gaṅgubaī Haṅgal Music & Performing Arts University, Mysūru. 

Awards and achievements:-

• In the year 1955, at his age of 20, he won the FIRST PRIZE in the All India Music competition conducted by the All India Radio and received the coveted prize at the hands of then the President of India, Hon. Dr. Bābū Rājendra Prasād. 
• “Gaurav Prashasthi” by the Karnāṭaka Sangīt and Nṙtya Academy, Government of Karnāṭaka for the year 2005-06 which is the highest award conferred on a musician by them. 
•  “Rājya Saṅgīta Vidwān puraskār” by the Government of Karnāṭaka in the year 2014.
• Guruvarya Sawāī Gandharva Rāsṭrṭya Saṅgīta Puraskār 2015 by Srī Sawāī Gaṅdharva Smārak Vishwastha Samsthe, Kunḍgol.
• Central Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Academi Award for the year 2014 by the President of India, Hon. Shrī Praṇab Mukherjee.
• Honorary Doctorate Degree by Dr. Gangūbāī Haṅgal Music & other Performing Arts University, Mysūru on 30.11.2015.
• Apart from these, he has been honoured by several other prestigious Institutions – Gana Bhāratī, Saptasūr Balaga, Sangīt Kalākār Manḍalī BeṅgaĪūru, Swara Saṅkula Saṅgītha Sabhā and others. He was also conferred the title of Saṅgītha Kalā Tapasvī by Srī Purandara Tyāgarāja mattu Vaggeyekarara Arādhanost͟hava Samiti Mysūru in 2003.
• He was a Member on the Advisory Committee of Dr. Gangūbāī Haṅgal Music & Performing Arts University Mysūru.
• He is a “Top” grade Artiste of All India Radio and has been performing since 1955 on AIR and later in Doordarshan as well.
• He was a Senior Executive in Life Insurance Corporation of India, retired from the services in the year 1995. Since then he has devoted all his time for the development of Hindustanī Classical Music. 
• His Lecture Demonstrations in English on how to develop the 10 basic Rāga-s of Hindustanī Classical Music have been video recorded and are available for the general public both in DVD form and on the internet. Kannaḍa version is likely to be released shortly.
• His greatest achievement in the field of Music could be the successful completion of the project of Audio Recording of all the 1896 compositions which are in the Kramik Pustak Mālikā published by Pt. Vishṇu Nārāyaṅ Bhātkhanḍe. The audio recordings under the name “SAMARPAṆ” was released for the benefit of connoisseurs of music on 15th March, 2015 at Mysūru under the auspices of Swarasaṅkula Saṅgītha Sabhā, 1226, Gaṅge Raste, 3rd Cross, G&H Block, Kuvempunagar, Mysūru, 570023.