Mani Prasad

Pandit Mani Prasad
Birth name	Pandit Mani Prasad
Born	4th November 1930
Origin	Wardha, Maharashtra, India
Genres	Indian classical music
Years active	1940 -

Pandit Mani Prasad is an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition.^[1] A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for his purity in the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He is known to have made many new Ragas and given new dimensions to existing ones under his collection, Dhyan Rang Piya.

Early life

Pt. Mani Prasad was born into a family of very respected musicians. His father was the renowned vocalist of Kirana Gharana, Pandit Sukhdev Prasad who had received his training in music from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Panditji gained most of his training from his father and was also guided by his grandfather Pandit Shakti Lal and by his uncles Pandit Shankar Lal and Pandit Gopal Prasad.

Panditji gained his extensive knowledge by accompanying his father on all his tours and performances across the country. He moved from Wardha in Maharashtra to New Delhi, in his youth along with his father.

Career

Pt. Mani Prasad started his career early, being brought up in a musical family. He is ranked as a Topgrade artist by All India Radio. He is a well recognised television artist with the Doordarshan. He has performed extensively all across the world and has received much appreciation and respect everywhere.

He has not only created some new ragas but also composed many bandishes in existing ragas with the mudra Dhyan Rang Piya.^[2] He is known to have composed the raga, Raga Vihanginee for the bhajan sung and popularised by Lata Mangeshkar, Sunio Ji Araj in her film Lekin.

Among his students are many renowned artists and personalities like Rita Ganguly, Savita Devi Maharaj daughter of legendary singer Siddheshwari Devi, Maharaj Ranjit Sinh Gaekwad of Baroda, Pt. Ramesh Jule, Chandan Das, Nirmala Gopalakrishnan, Uma Garg among many others.

Some of the Ragas composed by panditji are Raga Dhyan Kalyan, Raga Dhyani Todi, Raga Vihanginee and Raga Bhoopeshwari. He is also credited to have written and composed various Bandishes for many Ragas which are his great contributions not only to Indian Classical Music but also to Indian Literature.

Honours and Awards

Panditji is the recipient of the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Swarmani Award, the Raseshwar Award, the Baba Allaudin Khan Award, the Srimati Gangubai Hangal Award, among many others.

Personal life

Panditji now lives in New Delhi. He has 3 children, Deepak Prasad, Lata Tandon and Lalit Prasad, who are also involved in the field of Indian Classical Music.

References

1. ^ http://www.kalavant.org/artists_pandit_mani_prasad.htm
2. ^ http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/06/16/stories/2006061601760200.htm

Persondata
Name	Prasad, Mani
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Date of birth	1930
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