West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, April 7, paid tribute to legendary sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar on his birth anniversary, calling him one of the foremost cultural torchbearers of Bengal`s Renaissance and a pride of Bengal and Bengalis.
In a post on X, CM Banerjee highlighted that the rapturous melodies of Pandit Ravi Shankar`s music have introduced Indian classical music to a new global recognition.
“On the birth anniversary of the world-renowned sitarist, one of the foremost cultural torchbearers of Bengal`s Renaissance, and the pride of Bengal and Bengalis — Pandit Ravi Shankar — I offer him my deepest reverence and heartfelt respect. The rapturous melodies of his music have introduced Indian classical music to a new global recognition,” Banerjee posted on X.
Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) was much more than a sitar virtuoso; he was a global cultural bridge who virtually single-handedly introduced the complexities of Indian classical music to the Western world.
Born in Varanasi, he spent his youth dancing in his brother Uday Shankar`s troupe before dedicating himself to the sitar under the rigorous tutelage of Ustad Allauddin Khan.
He is credited with the “sitar explosion” of the 1960s. His performance at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and Woodstock (1969) brought Indian ragas to the hippie counterculture, though he famously insisted that audiences “don`t come high” so they could truly appreciate the discipline of the music.
He was a mentor and “guru” to George Harrison (The Beatles). This relationship didn`t just add an exotic sound to pop music; it fundamentally changed how Western musicians thought about drone, structure, and spirituality.
Together with Harrison, he organised the first-ever major benefit concert of its kind, setting the blueprint for future global humanitarian efforts like Live Aid.
He composed the hauntingly beautiful scores for Satyajit Ray`s Apu Trilogy and Richard Attenborough`s Gandhi, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
Ravi Shankar`s trophy cabinet was one of the most distinguished in musical history: Bharat Ratna (1999), India`s highest civilian honour. He won five Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. He served in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India`s Parliament) from 1986 to 1992.
His legacy continues through his daughters, Anoushka Shankar, a world-renowned sitarist who carries on the classical and crossover tradition and Norah Jones, a multi-Grammy-winning singer-songwriter (his daughter with Sue Jones).
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Pandit Ravi Shankar birth anniversary: CM Mamata calls him `Pride of Bengal`
