Ram Narayan

Ram Narayan (IPA: [raːm naːˈɾaːjəɳ]; 25 December 1927 – 9 November 2024), often referred to with the title Pandit, was an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player.

Narayan was born near Udaipur and learned to play the sarangi at an early age. He studied under sarangi players and singers and, as a teenager, worked as a music teacher and travelling musician. All India Radio in Lahore hired Narayan as an accompanist for vocalists in 1944. Narayan relocated to Delhi following the partition of India in 1947, and moved to Mumbai in 1949 to work in Indian cinema.

Narayan became a concert solo artist in 1956, performing at the major music festivals of India. Narayan recorded solo albums and made his first international tour in 1964 to America and Europe with his older brother Chatur Lal, a tabla (hand drum) player who had toured with Ravi Shankar in the 1950s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2005.