Omkarnath Thakur

Omkarnath Thakur (June 24,
1897 - December 29, 1967) was
an influential Indian educator,
musicologist, and Hindustani
classical singer. He is famously
known as "Pranav Rang", his pen-
name. A disciple of classical
singer Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
of Gwalior gharana, he became
the principal of Gandharva
Mahavidyalaya , Lahore, and later
went on become the first dean of
the music faculty at Banaras
Hindu University .
Early life and training
Thakur was born 1897 in a Jahaj
village [1] in the Princely State of
Baroda (5 km from Khambhat in
present day Anand District ,
Gujarat [3] ), into a poor military
family. His grandfather
Mahashankar Thakur was had
fought in the Indian Rebellion of
1857 for Nanasaheb Peshwa . His
father, Gaurishankar Thakur was
also in the military, employed by
Maharani Jamnabai of Baroda,
where he commanded 200
cavalrymen. [4] The family moved
to Bharuch in 1900, though soon
the family faced financial
difficulties, as his father left the
military to became a renunciate
(sanyasi ), leaving his wife to run
the household, thus by the age
of five Thakur started helping her
out by doing various odd jobs, in
mills, Ramlila troupe and even as
a domestic help. When he was
fourteen his father died. [4]
Impressed by his singing Thakur
and his younger brother Ramesh
Chandra were sponsored by a
wealthy Parsi philanthropist
Shahpurji Mancherji Dungaji in
circa 1909 to train in Hindustani
classical music in the Gandharva
Mahavidyalaya , a music school in
Bombay, under classical singer
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar .[5]
Thakur soon became an
accomplished singer in the style
of the Gwalior gharana started
accompanying his guru and other
musicians. Though later on in his
career, he developed his own
distinct style. [5] Eventually, he
made his concert debut in 1918,
though continued his training
under his guru, Paluskar, until his
death in 1931. [2]
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Career
Thakur was made the principal of
a Lahore branch of Paluskar's
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in
1916. Here he became
acquainted with the Patiala
gharana singers like Ali Baksh and
Kale Khan, paternal uncle of Bade
Ghulam Ali Khan. In 1919, he
returned to Bharuch and started
his own music school, Gandharva
Niketan. During the 1920s,
Thakur worked for the non-
cooperation movement of
Mahatma Gandhi on a local level,
as he became the President of
Bharuch District Congress
Committee of Indian National
Congress .[5] His performances of
patriotic song Vande Mataram
were a regular feature of annual
sessions of the Indian National
Congress .[6] Thakur toured
Europe in 1933 and became one
of the first Indian musicians to
perform in Europe. During this
tour, he performed privately for
Benito Mussolini.[7] Thakur's
wife Indira Devi died the same
year and he began to concentrate
exclusively on music.
Thakur's work as a performer and
musicologist led to the creation
of a music college at Banaras
Hindu University that emphasized
both, here he was first dean of
the music faculty. [2] He wrote
books on Indian classical music
and its history. Thakur's work is
criticized in contemporary music
literature as ignorant of the
contribution of Muslim musicians,
which he blamed for
deteriorating classical
music. [ citation needed ]
[neutrality is disputed ] Thakur
performed in Europe until 1954
and received the Padma Shri in
1955 [8] and the Sangeet Natak
Akademi Award in 1963. [9] He
retired in 1963 and was awarded
honorary doctorates from
Banaras Hindu University in 1963
and Rabindra Bharati University
in 1964. Having survived a heart
attack in 1954, he suffered a
stroke in July 1965, which left
him partially paralyzed for the
last two years of his life. [2]
All India Radio (Akashvani)
Archives has released double
album of his music, which also
includes his rendition of Vande
Mataram performed at the
Parliament house midnight
function on the eve of India's
independence in 1947.