Classical Vocalist Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur

Pandit Mallikarjun Bheemarayappa Mansur (31 December 1910 - 12 September 1992) was an Indian Classical Singer of the Khyal style in the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana of Hindustani Classical Music.
He received all 3 National Padma Awards, the Padma Shri in 1970, Padma Bhushan in 1976 and Padma Vibhushan, the 2nd highest civilian honour given by Government of India in 1992. In 1982, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

• Early life and background :
Mansur was born on 31 December 1910 on the eve of new year, at Mansur, a village 5 km. west of Dharwad, Karnataka. His father, Bheemaraayappa was village headman, a farmer by occupation was an ardent lover and patron of music. He had 4 brothers and 3 sisters. His elder brother Baswaraj owned a theatre troupe, thus at age 9 Mansur did a small role acted inplay. Spotting the talent in his son, Mallikarjun's father engaged him to a travelling Yakshagana (Kannada theatre) troupe. The owner of this troupe took a liking to the tender and melodious voice of Mallikarjun and encouraged him to sing different types of compositions during the drama-performances. Hearing one such performance, he was picked up by Pundit Appaya Swamy under whom he had his initial training in Carnatic Music. Sometime later, he was introduced to Classical Hindustani Music under Nilkanth Bua Alurmath of Miraj who belonged to the Gwalior Gharana. The latter brought him to Ustad Alladiya Khan, the stalwart and the then patriarch of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, in the late 1920s, who referred him to his elder son, Ustad Manji Khan. Following Manji Khan's untimely death, he came under the tutelage of Ustad Bhurji Khan, the younger son of Ustad Alladiya Khan. This grooming under the Khan Brothers had the most important influence on his singing.

• Career :
Mansur was well known for his command over a large number of rare (aprachalit) ragas such as Shuddh Nat, Asa Jogiya, Hem Nat, Lachchhasakh, Khat, Shivmat Bhairav, Bihari, Sampoorna Malkauns, Lajawanti, Adambari Kedar and Bahaduri Todi, as well as his constant, mercurial improvisations in both melody and metre without ever losingthe emotional content of the song. Initially, his voice and style resembled that of Manji Khan and Narayanrao Vyas, but gradually he developed his own style of rendition.
He also remained music director with His Master's Voice(HMV) and later music advisor to All India Radio's Dharwad station.

• Books :
Mansur wrote an autobiographical book titled "Nanna Rasayatre" in Kannada, which has been translated into English as a book titled "My Journey in Music" by his son, Rajshekhar Mansur.

• Personal life :
Mallikarjun Mansur was married to Gangamma. He had 7 daughters and a son Rajashekhar Mansur. Amongst Pt. Mansur's children, Rajashekhar Mansur and Neela Kodli are vocalists. Rajashekhar Mansur was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2012.

• Legacy : To mark his birth centenary, a 3-day music festival was organized in Dharwad and Hubli from December 31 to January 2, 2011, where in singer from across India performed, also performances were held at the Kariyamma Devi temple premises at his birthplace Mansur village. His ancestral home in Mansur was also converted into a memorial.
In 2013, a 5 audio CD collection, "Akashvani Sangeet" of his music including rare "VachanaGayana" renditions, was released by All India Radio archives at a ceremony held at Srijana Rangamandir at the Karnatak College, Dharwar campus.

On his Birth Anniversary, Hindustani Classical Music And Everything pays rich tributes to the legend and are very grateful for his contributions to the Indian Classical Music. 💐🙏