A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Weapons) in Hinduism, particularly the Vedic scriptures,

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

, or Hindu philosophy; in colonial-era literature, the term generally refers to Brahmins specialized in Hindu law. Pandits (Brahmins) is the highest varna or class of sanatan dharma. Brahmins are both martial and preacher community. This community inculdes many surnames like

Tyagi Tyagi originally called Taga, is a cultivator caste who claim Brahmin status. The landholding community is confined to Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. They are often considered the highest of the agricultural castes. During t ...

Bhumihar Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...

, Mohyal,

Chibber Chibber is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Aloo Jal Chibber, Indian politician * Gauri (Chibber) Khan (born 1970), Indian film producer and designer * Manohar Lal Chibber (born 1927), Indian army officer and writer * Om Prakas ...

etc. Pandits can do agriculture also as they are among the biggest Zamindar (landlord) communities of India. Whereas, today the title is used for experts in other subjects, such as music. Pundit is an English loanword meaning "an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called upon to give their opinions to the public". Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man in the musical sense. The equivalent titles for a Hindu woman are Vidushi,https://www3.nd.edu/~adutt/Links/documents/NagandGhosh2016.pdf Pandita, or Panditain; however, these titles are not currently in widespread use. In Sanskrit, pandit generally refers to any "wise, educated or learned man" with specialized knowledge. The term is derived from ' () which means "to collect, heap, pile up", and this root is used in the sense of knowledge. The term is found in Vedic and post-Vedic texts, but without any sociological context.

Pandit as a title in Hindustani classical music

Pandit (abbreviated as Pt. and written as / in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

/ Hindi) is an honorific title for an expert person in Indian classical singing and instrumental playing, used for an Indian musician. It is used in Hindustani classical music to recognize master performers for classical singing and other performing arts, like classical dance. It is used as a Music Title. The title is awarded to musicians by their teachers, prominent individuals, or members of their gharana in recognition of their expertise. It is used in various languages including Marathi, Hindi,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

and other languages which are there in India. An Indian woman, who is an expert in Indian classical music, is given the title of pandita or vidushi. Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man.

Usage

Titles of pandit (and even ustad) are appended informally to the names of classical singers and players by their admirers, individuals or institutions, once they have reached eminence in their performing art, especially on public performances. As they are informal titles, mentioning names of eminent singers without those appendages is ok, unlike prefixes like

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

awarded formally by educational institutions. The title pandit of a classical musician and the pandit which is used as a title given to a knowledgeable person, is different. There are many pandits in Hindustani classical music, for example, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Ravi Shankar,

Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khaya ...

, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh,

Pandit Nikhil Ghosh Pandit Nikhil Jyoti Ghosh (28 December 1918 – 3 March 1995) was an Indian musician, teacher and writer, known his proficiency on the percussion instrument of tabla. He founded ''Sangit Mahabharati'', an institution of music in 1956, and perform ...

Pandit Nayan Ghosh Pandit Nayan Ghosh (born 28 April 1956) is an Indian Tabla and Sitar maestro. He is a tabla player from the Farrukhabad Gharana. Performing career Born on 28 April 1956, Pandit Nayan Ghosh received in-depth training in vocal music, Tabla and ...

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee Pandit Anindo Chatterjee is an Indian tabla player of the Farukhabad gharana school. He was born into a musical family. Chatterjee is a disciple of Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. As director of the Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla, founded by Haji V ...

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in th ...

, Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Pandit Yogesh Samsi, Pandit Vyenkatesh Kumar,

Pandit Birju Maharaj Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of ...

Pandit Kishan Maharaj Pandit Kishan Maharaj (3 September 1923 – 4 May 2008) was an Indian tabla player who belonged to the Benares gharana of Hindustani classical music. Early life and background Kishan Maharaj ji was born in Kabir Chaura, Benaras into a family ...

Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar (born 14 January 1955) is a Hindustani classical vocalist. He has received training in the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas, and is considered one of the finest representative of all three schools. Early life Ulhas was ...

Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

, Pandit Kaivalya Kumar Gurav, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pandit V.G. Jog, etc.

Synonym

As ustad is equivalent to pandit but used for a Muslim man, similarly a music title that is equivalent to pandit and used for an Indian man itself is given the title of

Vidwan In Hindu philosophy ''vidvān'' alludes to an expert in discrimination, to the one who is an expert in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu ...

. Generally this title is given to a male Carnatic classical singer or instrument player. One prominent example is Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram. For a woman Carnatic classical singer or instrument player, the title of Vidushi is given. Equivalent titles for an Indian woman are Vidushi or Pandita. Some examples are, Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, Vidushi Prabha Atre, Vidushi Gangubai Hangal, Vidushi Padma Talwalkar, Vidushi Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Vidushi Aruna Sairam, Vidushi Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Vidushi Kaushiki Chakraborty, Vidushi Anuradha Pal, Vidushi Mita Nag,http://sangeetpiyasi.org/style/images/media/2019/The_Statesman_14092019.pdf etc.

References

Puja Pandit in Bangalore

* {{Authority control Hindustani music Honorifics Indian music Men's social titles Indian surnames Hindu surnames Kashmiri tribes Kashmiri-language surnames Titles and occupations in Hinduism