Pandit Raghunath Prasanna (1913 – June 1999) was an Indian classical

shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

player. He was known for using the techniques of shehnai in flute playing, also inspired by vocal music. Raghunath Prasanna Tripura Bansuri

Personal life and family

Raghunath was born in 1913 in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

in the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. He was married to Saraswati Devi. They had seven children. One of them is the flute and shehnai player

Rajendra Prasanna Rajendra Prasanna (; born 15 April 1956) is an Indian classical flautist and shehnai (Indian oboe) player from Benares Gharana. Career Rajendra was born in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. He learnt music from his father Raghunath Prasanna a ...

, whose son Rishab, Rajesh and Ritesh play the bansuri.

Career

Raghunath Prasanna got his musical training from his father Gauri Shanker, a shehnai player, and from Dauji Mishra from Varanasi. He was the first person in the family to introduce the art of flute (tripura bansuri and Krishna bansuri) in the family tradition, known until then for shehnai playing. At an early age, Prasanna worked as a Staff Artiste at various

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

stations, including

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

and

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

. Afterwards, he attended

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

and eventually received a seat in the Song and Drama Division of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. Raghunath was also known for playing Tripura and Krishna bansuris. His techniques have been adopted by his younger brothers and disciples Vishnu and

Bholanath Prasanna Pt. Bholanath Prasanna was an Indian flute or bansuri player. He was born in Varanasi. He was the guru of celebrated flute player Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. Career Bholanath Prasanna learnt Indian classical music from his father Pt. Gauri Sh ...

s, his sons Rakesh and

s, Niranjan Prasad, and

Bhanu Bhanu may be: * an epithet of the deity Surya *Eldest son of the Hindu deities-Shri Krishna and Devi Satyabhama * the name of a place in Nepal: ** Bhanu Municipality, the current municipality ** Bhanu, Nepal, the former VDC ** * a given name; nota ...

and

Ronu Majumdar Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flautist in the Hindustani classical music tradition. Awards, nominations, and music collaborations In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the All India Radio competition, and the President's Gold Medal. He ...

Alain Daniélou Alain Daniélou (4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French historian, Indologist, intellectual, musicologist, translator, writer, and notable Western convert to and expert on the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. In 1991 he was awarded the Sa ...

has recorded his shehnai and tripura bansuri on the album '' Anthology of Indian Classical Music'' in 1955. Prasanna received the

Sangeet Natak Academi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award ( IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

(1996).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prasanna, Raghunath 1913 births 1999 deaths Indian male classical musicians Musicians from Varanasi Bansuri players Shehnai players Banaras Hindu University alumni Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian flautists 20th-century Indian male classical singers 20th-century flautists