Biography of "Gangubai Hangal"

Born: 5 March 1913, Dharwad
Died: 21 July 2009, Hubli

Gangubai Hangal's performances leave her audiences breathless. She has an extremely powerful voice-full-throated and impassioned. It is what makes her rendition of Khayal' so distinctive.

Born in 1913, to a family of hereditary courtesan musicians from Hangal, a small village in Karnataka, Gangubai learnt Hindustani music from Master Sawai Gandharva of the Kirana Gharana. She started performing in local celebrations and Ganesh utsavas in Mumbai when she was in her mid-teens.

This doyen of Kirana Gharana is one of the senior-most performing artists in the world today. She has made music because she has felt duty-bound to pass on to the future generations what her guruji gave her. She has done this with unflagging sincerity and dedication, winning love and respect along the way for her transparently good nature. Unlike her mother, she trained in Hindustani music and not in Carnatic, as her mother was very fond of Hindustani music.