Govinda Rao Harishankar, (

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 ...

, June 10, 1958 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

– February 11, 2002 in Chennai) was an Indian player of the ''

kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic m ...

'', Khanjira or Khanjari, a tambourine-like frame drum used in the

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. He is the only kanjira player to be awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi 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 Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

, the highest national recognition given to performing artists.

Profile

Harishankar received his initial training under his father Govinda Rao. (The Malayalam film singer and classical vocalist Govind Rao was a different person.) He later learnt under Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy and then under

Palghat Mani Iyer Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Thiruvilvamalai Ramaswamy was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music. He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are ...

. He was a staff artist of the

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 ...

. Some of his best performances in albums were with the Sruthilaya group along with

Karaikudi R Mani Karaikudi Mani (born as Ganapathy Subramanyam on 11 September 1945 in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian percussionist, primarily adept in the mridangam. He is regarded by the vast majority of Carnatic connoisseurs and aficionados as ...

on the ''

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

'', T V Vasan on the ''

ghatam The ghaṭam ( sa, घटं ''ghaṭaṁ'', kan, ಘಟ ''ghaṭah'', ta, கடம் ''ghatam'', te, ఘటం ''ghatam'', ml, ഘടം, ''ghatam'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across India. It's a variant ...

'', and

Srirangam Kannan Srirangam Kannan (born 5 May 1952) is an Indian musician and artist, known for playing the morsing. He has a degree in mathematics. Profile Vidwan Srirangam S. Kannan was born on 5 May 1952 in Srirangam to K Sathyamurthy and Kamalam. Growing up ...

on the ''

morsing The morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang; Sanskrit: दंत वाद्यन्तरात्मसत्रस्य, Telugu: మోర్సింగ్, Kannada: ಮೋರ್ಸಿಂಗ್, Rajasthani: मोर� ...

''. He performed on several albums including Laya Chithra, Sruthilaya, and

Grand Finale Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

. He is considered by many as the greatest kanjira performer to date. 'Harishankar style of Kanjira playing' has become the benchmark for Kanjira playing which been hugely followed & adapted by all Kanjira players worldwide. He had

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

. He died of lung cancer when he was just 43 years old. G. Harishankar's main disciples are C. P. Vyasa Vittala, Bangalore Amrit & Nerkunam Sankar. They are performing in concerts regularly. They have been training many students & spreading the tradition to the next generations.
The Kanjira falls silent
, by Aruna Subbiah, ''KutcheriBuzz'' Magazine (online edition); February 20, 2002; Madras
", by Manna Srinivasan, ''Sruti'' magazine #210 (online edition); March, 2002; Chennai

References

1958 births 2002 deaths Kanjira players Indian percussionists People with albinism 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century drummers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award {{Carnatic-music-stub