Mallikarjun Mansur

Mallikarjun Mansur
Background information
Birth name Mallikarjun Bheemrayappa Mansur
Also known as Mallikarjun Manasoor
Born (1911-01-01)1 January 1911
Origin Mansur, Dharwad, Karnataka
Died 12 September 1992(1992-09-12) (aged 81)
Genres Hindustani classical music Khayal
Occupation(s) Vocalist
Years active 1928(?) – 1992
Labels HMV, Music Today, Inreco

Mallikarjun Bheemarayappa Mansur (Kannada: ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ ಮನಸೂರ) (1 January 1911 – 12 September 1992) was an Indian classical singer of the khyal style in the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana of Hindustani classical music.[1]

He received all three national Padma Awards, the Padma Shri in 1970, Padma Bhushan in 1976, and Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour given Government of India in 1992.[2][3] In 1982, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.[4]

Early life and background

Mansur was born on 1 January 1911, at Mansur, a village five km. west of Dharwad, Karnataka.[5][6] His father, Bheemaraayappa was the village headman,[5] a farmer by occupation and an ardent lover and patron of music. He had four brothers and three sisters. His elder brother Baswaraj owned a theatre troupe, and thus at age nine Mansur did a small role in a play.[7]

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 Pandit 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 (1855?- 1946), 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 Bhurji Khan, despite having 20 to 25 popular ragas only, had the most important influence on his style of singing.[7][8]

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 losing the 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.[8]

Books

Mansur wrote an autobiographical book titled Namma Rasayatre (Kannada: ನನ್ನ ರಸಯಾತ್ರೆ) in Kannada,[9] 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 seven daughters and a son Rajashekhar Mansur. Amongst Mansur's children, Rajashekhar Mansur (son) and Neela Kodli (daughter) are vocalists. Rajashekhar Mansur was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2012.[10]

Legacy

To mark his birth centenary, a three-day music festival was organised in Dharwad and Hubli from 1 to 3 January 2011, wherein singers from across India performed and performances were held at the Kariyamma Devi temple premises at his birthplace Mansur village.[11][12] His ancestral home in Mansur was also converted into a memorial.[13]

In 2013, a five audio CD collection, "Akashvani Sangeet" of his music including rare "Vachana Gayana" renditions, was released by All India Radio archives at a ceremony held at Srijana Rangamandir at the Karnatak College Dharwar campus.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Mallikarjun Mansur Biography". Underscore records. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Padma Awards". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India). Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs.
  4. ↑ "SNA: List of Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Puraskarwinners (Akademi Fellows)". Official website.
  5. 1 2 "Mallikarjun Mansur Biography". Dharwad district official website.
  6. ↑ "Weekend musical feast". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 15 September 2006.
  7. 1 2 "ITC SRA's Tribute to the Great Maestros of Hindustani Classical Music:Mallikarjun Mansur". ITC Sangeet Research Academy. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  8. 1 2 Bonnie C. Wade (1984). Khyāl: Creativity Within North India's Classical Music Tradition. CUP Archive. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-521-25659-9. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Award for Balamuralikrishna". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 2 January 2009.
  10. ↑ "Aching for Gouri...". The Hindu. 4 September 2003. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "A musical tribute to Mansur: The event was part of the centenary celebrations of the maestro". The Hindu. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Mansur memory". The Hindu. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Mansur's house to be converted into a memorial: Rs. 1 crore to be spent on the ancestral structure". The Hindu. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "All India Radio releases five CDs of recordings of Mallikarjun Mansur". The Hindu. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.

Bibliography

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