Shrikrishna N. Ratanjankar

Sangeet Acharya Pt. Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar December 31,1900-February 14,1974 was a distinguished scholar of Indian Classical Music.

His father Shri.Narayan.Govind.Ratanjankar came to Mumbai in early 19th century as an CID officer who was well versed with Sitar Instrument.At the age of 7, Annasaheb Ratanjankar as he was known was trained under the guidance of Pt.Krishnam.Bhatt of Karwar. He also received training from Pt.Anant.(AntuBua)Manohar.Joshi and Later on Under Aftab-e-Mausique Ustad Faiyaz Khan.

The most outstanding and long-term impact was made under the guidance of Chatur Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. He was the Principal of Bhatkhande College at Lucknow for several years. His students include K G Ginde, SCR Bhatt, Chidanand Nagarkar,V.G.Jog,Dinkar Kaikini,Sumati Mutatkar, Acharya Prabhakar Chinchore, C.R. Vyas,Chinmoy lahiri, Roshan Lal Nagrath etc. He has more than 800 composition under his pen name "SUJAN". Publication are Geet manjari Part 1,2,3. He also invented new Ragas like Marga Bihag, Kedar Bahar Sawani Kedar. The most notable contributions was Raag Saalag Varali & Yamani Bilawal.When the Indira Kala Sangeet University was inaugurated in Khairagarh (Madhya Pradesh), Principal Ratanjankar was persuaded to accept the Vice-Chancellorship.

Sangeet Kalanidhi Justice Venkatrama Iyer described Ratanjankar as "the symbol of the unity of lndian music".

It was in the All India Music Conference organised in Lucknow in 1924. In that conference where music maestros from all important centres like Rampur Jaipur, Gwalior, Alwar, Dholpur, Indore, Baroda and Maihar had assembled, Shrikrishna somehow stood out like a young Abhimanyu among the revered Dronas, Bhishmas, etc. Besides being a graduate and a polished musician, he was already a profound scholar in music. His voice was in excellent form and his erudition in "Sangeet Shastra" was astounding. He could render rare and difficult ragas like Deepak, Patmanjari, Natnarayan, Bhankar, etc., with as much ease as the Prachalit (current and popular) ones like Yaman, Bilawal, Todi, Bhairavi etc.

Padma Bhushan by Government of India for his utmost contribution to Indian Classical Music. Later on he was appointed as the Chairman of "AIR" All India Radio.