Patanjali
Patañjali Statue (traditional form indicating Kundalini or incarnation of Shesha)
Known for	Compiler of the Yoga Sutras

Patañjali (Sanskrit: पतञ्जलि, IPA: [pət̪əɲɟəli]; fl. 150 BCE^[1] or 2nd c. BCE^[2][3]) is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice. According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas (short comments) on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as an unspecified work of medicine (āyurveda).

In recent decades the Yoga Sutra has become quite popular worldwide for the precepts regarding practice of Raja Yoga and its philosophical basis. "Yoga" in traditional Hinduism involves inner contemplation, a system of meditation practice and ethics.

Authorship[link]

Patañjali - Modern art rendering in Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar

Whether the two works, the Yoga Sutras and the Mahābhāṣya, are by the same author has been the subject of considerable debate. The authorship of the two is first attributed to the same person in Bhojadeva's Rajamartanda, a relatively late (10th c.) commentary on the Yoga Sutras,^[4] as well as several subsequent texts. As for the texts themselves, the Yoga Sutra iii.44 cites a sutra as that from Patanjali by name, but this line itself is not from the Mahābhāṣya. This 10th century legend of single-authorship is doubtful. The literary styles and contents of the Yogasūtras and the Mahābhāṣya are entirely different, and the only work on medicine attributed to Patañjali is lost. Sources of doubt include the lack of cross-references between the texts, and no mutual awareness of each other, unlike other cases of multiple works by (later) Sanskrit authors. Also, some elements in the Yoga Sutras may date from as late as the 4th c. CE,^[3] but such changes may be due to divergent authorship, or due to later additions which are not atypical in the oral tradition. Most scholars refer to both works as "by Patanjali", without meaning that they are by the same author.

In addition to the Mahābhāṣya and Yoga Sūtras, the 11th-century commentary on Charaka by the Bengali scholar Cakrapāṇidatta, and the 16th c. text Patanjalicarita ascribes to Patañjali a medical text called the Carakapratisaṃskṛtaḥ (now lost) which is apparently a revision (pratisaṃskṛtaḥ) of the medical treatise by Caraka. While there is a short treatise on yoga in the medical work called the Carakasaṃhitā (by Caraka), towards the end of the chapter called śārīrasthāna, it is notable for not bearing much resemblance to the Yoga Sūtras, and in fact presenting a form of eightfold yoga that is completely different from that laid out by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtras and the commentary Yogasūtrabhāṣya.

The tradition that holds that all three works are by the same author is summed up in this verse from the beginning of Bhoja's Rājamārttanda commentary on the Yoga Sūtras:^[5]

yogena cittasya, padena vācāṃ, malaṃ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena ।
yo'pākarot taṃ pravaraṃ munīnāṃ patañjaliṃ prāñjalir ānato'smi ॥

पतञ्जलिप्रार्थनं॥ योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां मलं शरीरस्य च वैदिकेन । योपाकरोत्तं प्रवरं मुनीनां पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोस्मि॥

English translation: I bow with my hands together to the eminent sage Patañjali, who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar, and of the body through medicine.

Hagiography[link]

In the Yoga tradition, Patañjali is a revered name and has been deified by many groups, especially in the Shaivite bhakti tradition. It is claimed that Patañjali is an incarnation of Ādi Śeṣa, who is the first ego-expansion of Viṣṇu, Sankarshana. Sankarshana is part of the so-called caturvyūha,^[6] the fourfold manifestation of Vishnu. Patañjali is considered an incarnation of God defending the yoga. He is called Maharshi.

In one popular legend, Patañjali was born to Atri and his wife Anasuya (this would make him go back to the time of the creation by Brahma). According to this tradition, Anasuya had to go through a stern test of her chastity when the Trimurti themselves came as Bhikshuks and asked her for Bhiksha. She passed their test by accepting them as her children and fed them. She got the boon where all the three Murtis will be born to them. They were Soma Skandan or Patañjali, Dattatreya, and Durvasa.

Tamil Shaivite legend[link]

The tiger-footed Vyaghrapada and snake-footed Patanjali salute Nataraja.

Regarding his early years, a Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition from around 10th c. AD holds that Patañjali learned Yoga along with seven other disciples from the great Yogic Guru Nandhi Deva, as stated in Tirumular's Tirumandiram (Tantra 1).

Nandhi arulPetra Nadharai Naadinom
Nandhigal Nalvar Siva Yoga MaaMuni
Mandru thozhuda Patañjali Vyakramar
Endrivar Ennodu (Thirumoolar) Enmarumaame

Translation

We sought the feet of the Lord who graced Nandikesvara
The Four Nandhis,
Sivayoga Muni, Patañjali, Vyaghrapada and I (Thirumoolar)
We were these eight.

The ancient Kali Kautuvam also describes how Patañjali and Vyagrapada gathered along with the gods in Thillai near Chidambaram to watch Shiva and Kali dance and perform the 108 mystic Karanas, which formed the foundation for the system of Natya Yoga. He has also written Charana Shrungarahita Stotram on Nataraja.

This Tamil tradition also gives his birth place in South Kailash, possibly the modern day Thirumoorthy hills near Coimbatore. Some other traditions feel that his being born in Bharatavarsha - the part of the ancient world corresponding to South Asia - is beneath his godlike status, and that he must have been born in the Jambudvipa, the mythical center of the universe.

Patañjali as Siddha is also mentioned by the goldsmith-sage Bogar:

It was my Grandfather who said, "Climb and see."
But it was Kalangi Nathar who gave me birth.
Patañjali,Viyagiramar,and Sivayogi Muni all so rightly said,
"Look! This is the path!" - Bhogar 7000 (translation by Layne Little)

This tradition also holds that Patañjali was a master of dance.

Patanjali Samadhi[link]

The Jeeva Samadhi of Patanjali Maharishi is believed to be in Tirupattur Brahmapureeswarar Temple (30 km from Trichy), where Lord Brahma installed 12 Shiva Lingams and worshipped Lord Shiva to get back his Tejas.^{[citation needed]}

Shankaracharya's guru had told Shankaracharya that Patanjali was reincarnated as Govinda Bhagavatpada and was meditating in a cave somewhere in the state of samadhi.^[7]

[edit] Yoga Sūtras

The Yoga tradition is much older, there are references in the Mahābhārata, and the Gitā identifies three kinds of yoga. The Yoga Sūtras codifies the royal or best (rāja) yoga practices, presenting these as a eight-limbed system (ashtānga). The philosophic tradition is related to the Sankhya school. The focus is on the mind; the second sutra defines Yoga - it is the cessation of all mental fluctuations, all wandering thoughts cease and the mind is focused on a single thought

In contrast to the focus on the mind in the Yoga sutras, later traditions of Yoga such as the Hatha yoga focus on more complex asanas or body postures.

Relevance of his contribution to the science of yoga[link]

Patañjali defended in his yoga-treatise several ideas that are not mainstream of either Sankhya or Yoga. He, according to the Iyengar adept, biographer and scholar Kofi Busia, acknowledges the ego not as a separate entity. The subtle body linga sarira he would not regard as permanent and he would deny it a direct control over external matters. This is not in accord with classical Sankhya and Yoga.

Although much of the aphorisms in the Yoga Sutra possibly pre-dates Patanjali, it is clear that much is original and it is more than a mere compilation. The clarity and unity he brought to divergent views prevalent till then has inspired a long line of teachers and practitioners up to the present day in which B.K.S. Iyengar is a known defender. With some translators he seems to be a dry and technical propounder of the philosophy, but with others he is an empathic and humorous witty friend and spiritual guide.

[edit] Mahābhāshya

The Mahābhāṣya ("great commentary") of Patañjali on the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini is a major early exposition on Pāṇini, along with the somewhat earlier Varttika by Katyayana. Here he raises the issue of whether meaning ascribes to a specific instance or to a category:

kim punar AkritiH padArthaH, Ahosvid dravyam.^[9]

Now what is 'meaning' (artha) [of a word]? Is it a particular instance (dravya) or a general shape (Akriti)?

This discussion arises in Patanjali in connection with a sutra (Pāṇini 1.2.58) that states that a plural form may be used in the sense of the singular when designating a species (jAti).

Another aspect dealt with by Patanjali relates to how words and meanings are associated - Patanjali claims shabdapramâNaH - that the evidentiary value of words is inherent in them, and not derived externally^[10] - the word-meaning association is natural. The argument he gives is that people do not make an effort to manufacture words. When we need a pot, we ask the potter to make a pot for us. The same is not true of words - we do not usually approach grammarians and ask them to manufacture words for our use. [27] This is similar to the argument in the early part of Plato's Cratylus, where morphemes are described as natural, e.g. the sound 'l' is associated with softness.

These issues in the word-meaning relation (symbol) would elaborated in the Sanskrit linguistic tradition, in debates between the Mimamsa, Nyaya and Buddhist schools over the next fifteen centuries.

Sphota : An early phonemic theory?[link]

Patanjali also defines an early notion of sphota, which would be elaborated considerably by later Sanskrit linguists like Bhartrihari. In Patanjali, a sphoTa (from sphuT, burst) is the invariant quality of speech. The noisy element (dhvani, audible part) can be long or short, but the sphoTa remains unaffected by individual speaker differences. Thus, a single letter or 'sound' (varNa) such as k, p or a is an abstraction, distinct from variants produced in actual enunciation.^[10] This concept has been linked to the modern notion of phoneme, the minimum distinction that defines semantically distinct sounds. Thus a phoneme is an abstraction for a range of sounds. However, in later writings, especially in Bhartrihari (6th c. AD), the notion of sphoTa changes to become more of a mental state, preceding the actual utterance, akin to the lemma.

Patañjali's writings also elaborate some principles of morphology (prakriyā). In the context of elaborating on Pāṇini's aphorisms, he also discusses Kātyāyana's commentary, which are also aphoristic and sūtra-like; in the later tradition, these were transmitted as embedded in Patañjali's discussion. In general, he defends many positions of Pāṇini which were interpreted somewhat differently in Katyayana.

Metaphysics as grammatical motivation[link]

Unlike Pāṇini's objectives in the Ashtyadhyayi which is to distinguish correct forms and meanings from incorrect ones (shabdaunushasana), Patanjali's objectives are more metaphysical. These include the correct recitations of the scriptures (Agama), maintaining the purity of texts (raksha), clarifying ambiguity (asamdeha), and also the pedagogic goal of providing an easier learning mechanism (laghu).^[10] This stronger metaphysical bent has also been indicated by some as one of the unifying themes between the Yoga Sutras and the Mahābhāṣya.

The text of the Mahābhāṣya had diversified somewhat in the late Sanskritic tradition, and the nineteenth-century orientalist Franz Kielhorn produced the first critical edition and developed philological criteria for distinguishing Kātyāyana's "voice" from Patañjali's. Subsequently a number of other texts have come out, the 1968 text by S.D. Joshi and J.H.F. Roodbergen often being considered definitive.

Patanjali also writes with a light touch. For example, his comment on the conflicts between the orthodox Brahminic (Astika) groups, versus the heterodox, nAstika groups (Buddhism, Jainism, and atheists) seems relevant for religious conflict even today: the hostility between these groups was like that between a mongoose and a snake.^[11] He also sheds light on contemporary events, commenting on the recent Greek incursion, and also on several tribes that lived in the Northwest regions of the subcontinent.

Transcendental Meditation program and Patanjali[link]

New Age author George D. Chryssides, believes that the Transcendental Meditation technique taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is derived from Patañjali's Yoga.^[12][13] The TM-Sidhi Program is claimed to be based directly on the theory and practice of the Yoga sutras using a technique of Sanyama.

Actual lineal traditions of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali bear no similarity to the neo-Hindu Transcendental Meditation "sidhi" program,^[14] which cultivates yogic siddhis. Traditionally, cultivation of yogic siddhis is considered a primary impediment to Enlightenment or Cosmic Consciousness (Skt.: turiyatita) and are disallowed in the Shankaracharya tradition for this reason.^[15]

See also[link]

• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
• Bhartrihari

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Patañjali

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Patanjali

• Works by Patañjali at Project Gutenberg

Ravi Shankar
Shankar performs in Delhi in March 2009
Background information
Birth name	Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury
Born	(1920-04-07) 7 April 1920 (age 92) Varanasi, United Provinces, Indian Empire
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	composer, musician
Instruments	sitar
Years active	1939–present
Associated acts	Uday Shankar, Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Lakshmi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin, Chatur Lal, Alla Rakha, George Harrison, Anoushka Shankar, Beatles
Website	RaviShankar.org

Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on 7 April 1920), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the most known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.^[1]

Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.

In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and received three Grammy Awards. He continues to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter Anoushka.

Early life[link]

Shankar was born 7 April 1920 in Varanasi to a Bengali Brahmin family as the youngest of seven brothers.^[2][3][4] Shankar's Bengali birth name was Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury.^[2] His father, Shyam Shankar, an administrator for the Maharaja of Jhalawar, used the Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part.^[2][5] Shyam was married to Shankar's mother Hemangini Devi, but later worked as a lawyer in London.^[2] There he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Varanasi, and did not meet his son until he was eight years old.^[2] Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun".^[2]

At the age of ten, after spending his first decade in Varanasi, Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar.^[6][7] By the age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance and play various Indian instruments.^[3][4] Uday's dance group toured Europe and America in the early to mid-1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, and cinema, and became acquainted with Western customs.^[8] Shankar heard the lead musician for the Maihar court, Allauddin Khan, in December 1934 at a music conference in Kolkata and Uday convinced the Maharaja of Maihar in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe.^[8] Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and come to Maihar.^[8]

Career[link]

Training and work in India[link]

Shankar's parents had died by the time he returned from the European tour, and touring the West had become difficult due to political conflicts that would lead to World War II.^[9] Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system.^[6] Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar, learned ragas and the musical styles dhrupad, dhamar, and khyal, and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena, rubab, and sursingar.^[6][10] He often studied with Khan's children Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi.^[9] Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod.^[11]

Shankar completed his training in 1944.^[3] Following his training, he moved to Mumbai and joined the Indian People's Theatre Association, for whom he composed music for ballets in 1945 and 1946.^[3][12] Shankar recomposed the music for the popular song "Sare Jahan Se Achcha" at the age of 25.^[13][14] He began to record music for HMV India and worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 to January 1956.^[3] Shankar founded the Indian National Orchestra at AIR and composed for it; his compositions experimented with a combination of Western instruments and classical Indian instrumentation.^[15] Beginning in the mid-1950s he composed the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, which became internationally acclaimed.^[4][16]

International career 1956–1969[link]

Tabla player Alla Rakha, who was a frequent accompanist of Shankar, in 1988

V. K. Narayana Menon, director of AIR Delhi, introduced the Western violinist Yehudi Menuhin to Shankar during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952.^[17] Shankar had performed as part of a cultural delegation in the Soviet Union in 1954 and Menuhin invited Shankar in 1955 to perform in New York City for a demonstration of Indian classical music, sponsored by the Ford Foundation.^[18][19] Shankar declined to attend due to problems in his marriage, but recommended Ali Akbar Khan to play instead.^[19] Khan reluctantly accepted and performed with tabla (percussion) player Chatur Lal in the Museum of Modern Art, and he later became the first Indian classical musician to perform on American television and record a full raga performance, for Angel Records.^[20]

Shankar heard about the positive response Khan received and resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States.^[21] He played for smaller audiences and educated them about Indian music, incorporating ragas from the South Indian Carnatic music in his performances, and recorded his first LP album Three Ragas in London, released in 1956.^[21] In 1958, Shankar participated in the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO music festival in Paris.^[12] From 1961, he toured Europe, the United States, and Australia, and became the first Indian to compose music for non-Indian films.^[12] Chatur Lal accompanied Shankar on tabla until 1962, when Alla Rakha assumed the role.^[21] Shankar founded the Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai in 1962.^[22]

Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label.^[21] The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of The Beatles.^[23] Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".^[24] This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and created the raga rock trend.^[24]

Harrison met Shankar in London in 1966 and visited India for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar in Srinagar.^[14][25][26] During the visit, a documentary film about Shankar named Raga was shot by Howard Worth, and released in 1971.^[27] Shankar's association with Harrison greatly increased Shankar's popularity and Ken Hunt of Allmusic would state that Shankar had become "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by 1966.^[3][25] In 1967, he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin.^[25][28] The same year, the Beatles won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band which included "Within You Without You" by Harrison, a song that was influenced by Indian classical music.^[26][28] Shankar opened a Western branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, California, in May 1967, and published an autobiography, My Music, My Life, in 1968.^[12][22] He performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and found he disliked the venue.^[25] In the 1970s Shankar distanced himself from the hippie movement.^[29]

International career 1970–present[link]

George Harrison, U.S. President Gerald Ford, and Ravi Shankar in the Oval Office in December 1974

In October 1970 Shankar became chair of the department of Indian music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music.^[12][30][31] In late 1970, the London Symphony Orchestra invited Shankar to compose a concerto with sitar; Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra was performed with André Previn as conductor and Shankar playing the sitar.^[4][32] Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has criticized the usage of the orchestra in this concert as "amateurish".^[1] George Harrison organized the charity Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, in which Shankar participated.^[25] Interest in Indian music had decreased in the early 1970s, but the concert album became one of the best-selling recordings featuring it and won Shankar a second Grammy Award.^[28][31]

During the 1970s, Shankar and Harrison worked together again, recording Shankar Family & Friends in 1973 and touring North America the following year to a mixed response after Shankar had toured Europe with the Harrison-sponsored Music Festival from India.^[33] The demanding schedule weakened Shankar, and he suffered a heart attack in Chicago in November 1974, causing him to miss a portion of the tour.^[34] In his absence, Shankar's sister-in-law, singer Lakshmi Shankar, conducted the touring orchestra.^[34] The touring band visited the White House on invitation of John Gardner Ford, son of U.S. President Gerald Ford.^[34] Shankar toured and taught for the remainder of the 1970s and the 1980s and released his second concerto, Raga Mala, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in 1981.^[35][36] Shankar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on the 1982 movie Gandhi, but lost to John Williams' E.T.^[37] He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, from 12 May 1986 to 11 May 1992, after being nominated by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.^[14][38] Shankar composed the dance drama Ghanashyam in 1989.^[22] His liberal views on musical cooperation led him to collaboration with contemporary composer Philip Glass, with whom he released an album, Passages, in 1990.^[6]

Shankar underwent an angioplasty in 1992 due to heart problems, after which George Harrison involved himself in several of Shankar's projects.^[39] Because of the positive response to Shankar's 1996 career compilation In Celebration, Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala, with Harrison as editor.^[39] He performed in between 25 and 40 concerts every year during the late 1990s.^[6] Shankar taught his daughter Anoushka Shankar to play sitar and in 1997 became a Regent's Lecturer at University of California, San Diego.^[40] In the 2000s, he won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 and toured with Anoushka, who released a book about her father, Bapi: Love of My Life, in 2002.^[28][41] Anoushka performed a composition by Shankar for the 2002 Harrison memorial Concert for George and Shankar wrote a third concerto for sitar and orchestra for Anoushka and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.^[42][43] In June 2008, Shankar played what was billed as his last European concert,^[29] but his 2011 tour includes dates in the United Kingdom.^[44]

Style and contributions[link]

Shankar plays the raga Madhuvanti at the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran in the 1970s

Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music.^[6] His performances begin with solo alap, jor, and jhala (introduction and performances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tabla accompaniment featuring compositions associated with the prevalent khyal style.^[6] Shankar often closes his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri genre.^[6]

Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century.^[1] He popularized performing on the bass octave of the sitar for the alap section and became known for a distinctive playing style in the middle and high registers that uses quick and short deviations of the playing string and his sound creation through stops and strikes on the main playing string.^[1][6] Narayana Menon of The New Grove Dictionary noted Shankar's liking for rhythmic novelties, among them the use of unconventional rhythmic cycles.^[45] Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has argued that Shankar's playing style was not widely adopted and that he was surpassed by other sitar players in the performance of melodic passages.^[1] Shankar's interplay with Alla Rakha improved appreciation for tabla playing in Hindustani classical music.^[1] Shankar promoted the jugalbandi duet concert style and introduced new ragas, including Tilak Shyam, Nat Bhairav and Bairagi.^[6]

Recognition[link]

Shankar won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala.^[46] He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1962,^[47] and was named a Fellow of the academy for 1975.^[48] Shankar was awarded the three highest national civil honors of India: Padma Bhushan, in 1967, Padma Vibhushan, in 1981, and Bharat Ratna, in 1999.^[49] He received the music award of the UNESCO International Music Council in 1975, three Grammy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award.^[12][28][37] Shankar was awarded honorary degrees from universities in India and the United States.^[12] He received the Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1987–88, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992, and the Polar Music Prize in 1998.^{[50][51][52][53]} In 2001, Shankar was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II for his "services to music".^[54] Shankar is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1997 received the Praemium Imperiale for music from the Japan Art Association.^[6] The American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane named his son Ravi Coltrane after Shankar.^[55]

Personal life and family[link]

Shankar in 1988

Shankar married Allauddin Khan's daughter Annapurna Devi in 1941 and a son, Shubhendra Shankar, was born in 1942.^[10] Shankar separated from Devi during the 1940s and had a relationship with Kamala Shastri, a dancer, beginning in the late 1940s.^[56] An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979.^[56] In 1981, Anoushka Shankar was born to Shankar and Sukanya Rajan, whom Shankar had known since the 1970s.^[56] After separating from Kamala Shastri in 1981, Shankar lived with Sue Jones until 1986. He married Sukanya Rajan in 1989.^[56]

Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar often accompanied his father on tours.^[57] He could play the sitar and surbahar, but elected not to pursue a solo career and died in 1992.^[57] Norah Jones became a successful musician in the 2000s, winning eight Grammy Awards in 2003.^[58] Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2003.^[58]

Shankar is a Hindu and a vegetarian.^[59][60] He lives with Sukanya in Encinitas, California.^[61]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Shankar, Ravi (1968). My Music, My Life. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-20113-1. 
• Shankar, Ravi (1979). Learning Indian Music: A Systematic Approach. Onomatopoeia. OCLC 21376688. 
• Shankar, Ravi (1997). Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar. Genesis Publications. ISBN 0-904351-46-7. 

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Shankar, Ravi" (in German). Brockhaus Enzyklopädie. 20 (19th ed.). Mannheim: F. A. Brockhaus GmbH. 1993. ISBN 3-7653-1120-0. 
• Ghosh, Dibyendu (December 1983). "A Humble Homage to the Superb". In Ghosh, Dibyendu. The Great Shankars. Kolkata: Agee Prakashani. p. 7. OCLC 15483971. 
• Ghosh, Dibyendu (December 1983). "Ravishankar". In Ghosh, Dibyendu. The Great Shankars. Kolkata: Agee Prakashani. p. 55. OCLC 15483971. 
• Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-1815-5. 
• Massey, Reginald (1996). The Music of India. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 81-7017-332-9. 
• Menon, Narayana (1995) [1980]. "Shankar, Ravi". In Sadie, Stanley. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 17 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 1-56159-174-2. 
• Neuhoff, Hans (2006). "Shankar, Ravi". In Finscher, Ludwig (in German). Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik. 15 (2nd ed.). Bärenreiter. ISBN 3-7618-1122-5. 
• Schaffner, Nicholas (1980). The Boys from Liverpool: John, Paul, George, Ringo. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 0-416-30661-6. 
• Sharma, Vishwamitra (2007). Famous Indians of the 20th Century. Pustak Mahal. ISBN 81-223-0829-5. 
• Slawek, Stephen (2001). "Shankar, Ravi". In Sadie, Stanley. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 23 (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-333-60800-3. 

External links[link]

Find more about Ravi Shankar on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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Indian classical music portal

• "Ravi Shankar". Official website. http://www.ravishankar.org/. 
• "East Meets West Music". Ravi Shankar Foundation. http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/. 
• Ravi Shankar at Allmusic
• Ravi Shankar at the Internet Movie Database

Navigation boxes related to Ravi Shankar v t e Bharat Ratna laureates Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) C. Rajagopalachari (1954) C. V. Raman (1954) Bhagwan Das (1955) Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) Indira Gandhi (1971) V. V. Giri (1975) K. Kamaraj (1976) Mother Teresa (1980) Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) M. G. Ramachandran (1988) B. R. Ambedkar (1990) Nelson Mandela (1990) Rajiv Gandhi (1991) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) Morarji Desai (1991) Abul Kalam Azad (1992) J. R. D. Tata (1992) Satyajit Ray (1992) A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) Ravi Shankar (1999) Amartya Sen (1999) Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) Lata Mangeshkar (2001) Bismillah Khan (2001) Bhimsen Joshi (2008) v t e Anoushka Shankar Studio albums Anoushka Anourag Rise Breathing Under Water Live albums Live at Carnegie Hall Concert for George Benefit concerts Concert for George A Billion Hands Concert Related articles Ravi Shankar (father) Norah Jones (half-sister) v t e Norah Jones Studio albums Come Away with Me (2002) Feels Like Home (2004) Not Too Late (2007) The Fall (2009) ...Little Broken Hearts (2012) Compilation album ...Featuring Other albums First Sessions (EP) New York City The Little Willies El Madmo For the Good Times Rome Singles "Don't Know Why" "Feelin' the Same Way" "Come Away with Me" "Turn Me On" "Here We Go Again" "Sunrise" "What Am I to You?" "Those Sweet Words" "Thinking About You" "Not Too Late" "Sinkin' Soon" "Until the End" "Chasing Pirates" "Young Blood" "It's Gonna Be" "Happy Pills" Related articles Discography Tour Awards The Little Willies Ravi Shankar Anoushka Shankar My Blueberry Nights Book v t e People associated with The Beatles Personnel Neil Aspinall Dave Dexter, Jr. Geoff Emerick Mal Evans Glyn Johns Bert Kaempfert Jeff Lynne Magic Alex Ken Mansfield George Martin Giles Martin Phil McDonald Ken Scott Norman Smith Phil Spector Alistair Taylor Chris Thomas Ken Townsend Businessmen Peter Bennett Sid Bernstein Peter Brown Lee Eastman Brian Epstein Dick James Allen Klein Larry Parnes Allan Williams Musicians Eric Clapton The Dirty Mac Donovan Bob Dylan Johnny Gentle Nicky Hopkins Johnny Hutchinson Mick Jagger Brian Jones Jim Keltner David Mason Tommy Moore Chas Newby Jimmie Nicol Harry Nilsson Peter and Gordon Plastic Ono Band Billy Preston Ronnie Scott Ravi Shankar Tony Sheridan Rory Storm and the Hurricanes Andy White Writers Tony Barrow Ray Connolly Hunter Davies Mark Lewisohn Alan W. Pollack Bruce Spizer Derek Taylor Girlfriends / wives Jane Asher Pattie Boyd Astrid Kirchherr Cynthia Lennon Linda McCartney Yoko Ono Francie Schwartz Maureen Starkey Parents / guardians Mona Best Alfred Lennon Julia Lennon Jim and Mary McCartney George Smith Mimi Smith Other Bill Harry Ken Brown George Dunning Horst Fascher The Fool Robert Freeman Bruno Koschmider Richard Lester Murray the K Pete Shotton Ivan Vaughan Jürgen Vollmer Klaus Voormann Maharishi Mahesh Yogi v t e Woodstock festival Founders Michael Lang John P. Roberts Joel Rosenman Artie Kornfeld August 15, 1969 Richie Havens Sweetwater Bert Sommer Ravi Shankar Tim Hardin Melanie Safka Arlo Guthrie Joan Baez August 16, 1969 Quill Country Joe McDonald John Sebastian Carlos Santana Keef Hartley The Incredible String Band Canned Heat Mountain Grateful Dead Creedence Clearwater Revival August 17, 1969 August 18, 1969 Janis Joplin Sly & The Family Stone The Who Jefferson Airplane The Grease Band Joe Cocker Country Joe and the Fish Ten Years After The Band Blood, Sweat & Tears Johnny and Edgar Winter Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Paul Butterfield Blues Band Sha Na Na Jimi Hendrix Related Max Yasgur List of performances and events Taking Woodstock Woodstock (film) v t e Grammy Award for Album of the Year (1970s) Year Album Artist(s) Producer(s) 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (Dick Halligan, Jerry Hyman, Steve Katz, Fred Lipsius, Lou Soloff, David Clayton-Thomas, Chuck Winfield) James William Guercio 1971 Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon) Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Roy Halee 1972 Tapestry Carole King Lou Adler 1973 The Concert for Bangladesh George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann George Harrison, Phil Spector 1974 Innervisions Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder 1975 Fulfillingness' First Finale Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder 1976 Still Crazy After All These Years Paul Simon Paul Simon, Phil Ramone 1977 Songs in the Key of Life Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder 1978 Rumours Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks) Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut 1979 Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track  · Bee Gees (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb)  · KC and the Sunshine Band (Harry Wayne Casey, Richard Finch, Fermin Goypisolo, Robert Johnson, Jerome Smith)  · Kool & the Gang (Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown, Larry Gittens, Robert Mickens, Otha Nash, Claydes Smith, Dennis Thomas, Rickey West)  · MFSB  · Ralph MacDonald  · Tavares (Butch Tavares, Chubby Tavares, Pooch Tavares, Ralph Tavares, Tiny Tavares)  · The Trammps (Jimmy Ellis, Robert Upchurch, Harold Wade, Stanley Wade, Earl Young)  · Walter Murphy  · Yvonne Elliman Albhy Galuten, Arif Mardin, Bee Gees, Bill Oakes, Bobby Martin, Broadway Eddie, David Shire, Freddie Perren, Harry Wayne Casey, K.G. Productions, Karl Richardson, Ralph MacDonald, Richard Finch, Ron Kersey, Thomas J. Valentino, William Salter Complete list (1960s) (1970s) (1980s) (1990s) (2000s) (2010s) v t e Laureates of the Polar Music Prize 1992–1999 Paul McCartney / the Baltic states (1992) Dizzy Gillespie / Witold Lutosławski (1993) Quincy Jones / Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1994) Elton John / Mstislav Rostropovich (1995) Joni Mitchell / Pierre Boulez (1996) Bruce Springsteen / Eric Ericson (1997) Ray Charles / Ravi Shankar (1998) Stevie Wonder / Iannis Xenakis (1999) 2000–2009 Bob Dylan / Isaac Stern (2000) Burt Bacharach / Robert Moog / Karlheinz Stockhausen (2001) Miriam Makeba / Sofia Gubaidulina (2002) Keith Jarrett (2003) B.B. King / György Ligeti (2004) Gilberto Gil / Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2005) Led Zeppelin / Valery Gergiev (2006) Sonny Rollins / Steve Reich (2007) Pink Floyd / Renée Fleming (2008) Peter Gabriel / José Antonio Abreu / El Sistema (2009) 2010–present Björk / Ennio Morricone (2010) Kronos Quartet / Patti Smith (2011)