Ram Narayan

Born near Udaipur on 25 December 1927, Narayan learned sarangi young and worked as a music teacher and travelling musician through his teens. All India Radio in Lahore hired him as a vocal accompanist in 1944; partition sent him to Delhi in 1947, and two years later he moved to Mumbai for film work. In 1956 he stepped into the solo arena, performing at India's major festivals and recording albums that put the sarangi front and center. His first international tour came in 1964, travelling America and Europe with his older brother Chatur Lal on tabla, who had already toured with Ravi Shankar. India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan in 2005. He died on 9 November 2024.