Biography of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar

Born: 18 August 1872, Kurundwad

Died: 21 August 1931, Miraj

Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was born on August 18, 1872, in Maharashtra. At the age of eight, he lost his eyes.

Paluskar left his studies and went to Gwalior to learn singing from famous singer Pandit Balkrishana Echalkarajitkar. Paluskar stayed there for 12 years. Then, getting the blessings from his teacher he began touring villages of Maharashtra. During his tour, Paluskar found that the respect for music in society was deplorable. Therefore, he decided to do something in this field.

His first significant work towards correcting the image of the music in the society was that he replaced the romantic songs by devotional songs. Consequently, the popularity of Bhajans in the society started gaining a foothold. In 1901, he founded the Gandharva University at Lahore. Gandhi had given him the responsibility to take care of the National Musical Council. Later he established the Shri Ramnath Aldhar Ashram and spent his last days there singing songs. He died on August 21, 1931.