Pandit Bhimsen Joshi 98th birth anniversary: All you need to know about legendary vocalist

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi led the renaissance of Indian Classical Music with passion and power for more than four decades. The legendary Indian vocalist is popularly known for his renditions in devotional music as well as his mesmerizing performance in Indian classical music. According to All India Radio, the Ritwik Foundation of performing arts has organized a two-day musical event in Mumbai on February 3rd and 4th to commemorate his timeless legacy. As the music maestro marks his birth anniversary today, let's dive into his life journey.

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Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Early Years

Bhimsen Joshi was born into a Madhwa Brahmin family in Karnataka on February 4, 1922. He was the eldest among 16 siblings. His father Gururaj Joshi was a school teacher and he lost his mother when was a child and since then he was raised by his father and stepmother. At a young age, Bhimsen was fascinated by music and smitten with musical instruments such as Tanpura and Harmonium. It was said that Bhimsen was allured by any random musical processions, would follow them, and would lose sight of his home. He would end up sleeping at a random place and made it difficult for his parents to trace him. Eventually, his father came up with an idea of writing ‘son of teacher Joshi’ on his shirts and people from the village would hand him back to his family whenever they found him sleeping anywhere.

Bhimsen Joshi’s first music guru was Channapa of Kurtakoti. Channapa taught him the basics of Ragas Bhairav and Bhimpalasi, the exclusive vigorous style of rendering which he developed in advanced training from other teachers. Joshi next went to Pandit Shyamacharya Joshi, who was a priest and classical singer and hailed from Bagalkot. Pandit Shyamacharya taught him to sing as well as play the harmonium. In 1936, his lifelong dream of learning music from Sawai Gandharaya came true and he learned many ragas and perfected his tone, pitch, and the best of Kirana Gharana.

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Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's career 

It was revealed by Shyamacharya Joshi that it was a turning point for Bhimsen when he accompanied him to Bombay for recording his songs by HMV. After recording a few songs Joshi had to return to Bagalkot and asked Bhimsen to render the rest of the songs which proved to be a major breakthrough early in his career. Bhimsen managed to get his first album released by HMV in 1942 after he gave his first live performance in the year 1941. He started to work in a radio station in Mumbai in 1943. 

Bhimsen's first major breakthrough came when he performed live in a concert that celebrated his Guru Sawai Gandharya’s 60th Birthday in 1946 where is charmed the audience with his music and was appreciated by critics as well. Bhimsen attributed a unique classical music style that influenced many musicians including the greats Begum Begum Akhtar, Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar and Ustad Amir Khan. He along with Smt. Gangubai Hangal who also belonged to the Old Dharwad district were proudly referred to as worthy son and daughter of Kirana Gharana after they took the musical style to heights.

Bhimsen Joshi served as a playback singer in many movies including Basant Bahar and Birbal My Brother. In 1964 he sang for a Marathi movie called Swayamvar Zale Siteche and his song Ramya Hi Swargahun Lanka became famous. He has also worked in the Kannada movie Sandhya Raga where he has sung extensively. He also sang for the Bengali film Tansen in 1958 and Bollywood Movie Ankahee in 1985 which later fetched him 'National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer'. Bhimsen Joshi was widely recognized in India for his Mile Sur Mera Tumhara music video in 1988 which was composed originally by him when he was asked to do so by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. 

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Awards

Bhimsen Joshi was honored with the Bharat Ratna in 2008. He was awarded all three Padma awards that are Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhusan, and also the Karnataka Ratna and Maharashtra Bhushan. In 2009 Bhimsen was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Government of Delhi. He bagged National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for his rendition in the 1985 movie Ankahee. He has also won the Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram award, the Sangeeta Natak Akademi award, and many more.

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Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Family

In 1944, Bhimsen Joshi married Sunanda Katti. The couple had four children namely Raghavendra, Usha, Sumangala, and Anand. In 1951, he got in a relationship with another woman named Vatsala Mudholkar whom he knew while working for a Kannada play titled ‘Bhagya Shree.’  Since the Bombay Presidency didn't allow bigamous marriages among Hindus, Bhimsen moved to Nagpur and got married for the second time. With Vatsala, he had three children; Jayant, Shubhada, and Shrinivas Joshi.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Death

On December 31, 2010, Bhimsen Joshi was admitted to Sahyadri Super Specialty Hospital with issues like gastrointestinal bleeding and bilateral pneumonia. Due to difficulty in breathing, he was put on ventilator support and due to convulsions, he was also put on dialysis during his stay in Hospital. Even though he got better for three days after he was taken off the ventilator, his condition worsen thereafter. Bhimsen took his last breath on January 24, 2011. He was cremated at Vaikunth Crematorium in Pune with full state honors.

Image source- Amit Paranjape Official Twitter

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