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 Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, particularly the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

scriptures, dharma, or

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems ('' shad-darśana'') – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Andrew Nicholson ( ...

; in colonial-era literature, the term generally refers to

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

s specialized in

Hindu law Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in British India. Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophical reflections on the nat ...

. 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 stat ...

Mohyal Mohyal Brahmins (or Potohari Brahmins) are an Indian sub-caste of Saraswat Brahmins from the Punjab region, who are sometimes referred to as 'Warrior Brahmins'. Mohyal Brahmins were the ancient and one of the first Hindu rulers of Punjab and Afg ...

, Chibber etc. Pandits can do agriculture also as they are among the biggest

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

(landlord) communities of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Whereas, today the title is used for experts in other subjects, such as

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

. Pundit is an English

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

meaning "an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called upon to give their opinions to the public".

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian, , Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Marat ...

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 Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, 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 Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

) is an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

title for an expert person in Indian classical singing and instrumental playing, used for an Indian musician. It is used in

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

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 Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

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 and other languages which are there in

. An Indian woman, who is an expert in Indian classical music, is given the title of pandita or vidushi.

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

, for example,

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

Pandit Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

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 '' khay ...

Pandit Kumar Gandharva Pandit Kumar Gandharva (pronunciation:, Kn: ಕುಮಾರ್ ಗಂಧರ್ವ; 8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992), originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style ...

, Pandit Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Pandit Nikhil Ghosh,

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 Hariprasad Chaurasia, 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 Swapan Chaudhuri, Pandit Kaivalya Kumar Gurav,

Pandit Shankar Ghosh Pandit Shankar Ghosh (10 October 1935 – 22 January 2016) was an Indian tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. He was an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he followed the Patiala gharana. He wa ...

, 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. Generally this title is given to a male Carnatic classical singer or instrument player. One prominent example is

Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (born 11 August 1942), also known as Vikku Vinayakram, is an Indian percussionist. He is also known as the God of ''ghatam''. He plays Carnatic music with the ''ghatam'', an earthen pot, and is credited with popula ...

. 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