Ravi Shankar is an Indian Sitar Musician who worships music, due to the respect he earned in the music field gives him the preceding name of being a ‘Pandit’. He is known to the industry as ‘The Sitar Maestro’. He was a well known Sitar player and music composer in the later half of the 20th century.
Panditji was born in a Bengali Brahmin family on 7 April 1920, his birth name was Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury. In early life Panditji used to dance in his brother Uday Shankar’s dance group, later in 1938 he gave up dancing in order to learn playing sitar. He studied Sitar under Allaudin Khan a court musician. After completing his study Panditji worked as music composer for some time and in the years 1949 to 1956 he was the Music Director of All India Radio in New Delhi.
Panditji has done a lot of International performances, it is because of him the popularity of Indian classical music increased in European and American Countries. He kept teaching and performing in these countries with the association of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the guitarist from the Beatles George Harrison. Pop music took Panditji’s inspiration for using Indian classical instruments in Pop music. In an interview Panditji said that, he doesn’t like the use of drugs and other bad things in music as he worships music as his religion.
In 2012 Panditji was admitted to a Hospital, as he was suffering from breathing problems. Panditji passed away in this illness on 11 December 2012.