Biography of Mallikarjun Mansoor

Born: 31 December 1910, Mansur
Died: 12 September 1992, Dharwad

Mallikarjun was born on December 31, 1910, at Mansoor in Dharwar district of North Karnataka. His father Bhimrappya Mansoor had a great interest in dance and music.

From an early age he had shown keen interest in music and always ignored the formal school education. Being fed up with school education, one day he left his village and joined a drama group. Here he became a child actor and also learnt to play harmonium and classical music. Later, he took a systematic study of music from Nilkhanth Buwa.

In 1933, his records were released which consisted of ragas like Shankara, Malkaush, Gani and others; and then those were broadcasted on air. In his style of singing one could easily enjoy the music of Gwalior and Jaipur Gharanas. He was one of the oldest and traditional singers of Khayaal. Among his disciples, his son Rajshekhan and Siddam Jammal got a lot of fame in India. He was honoured with the Padma Shree and Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government. He died on September 12, 1992, in Dharwar.