Pandit Krishnarao Shankar Pandit

Krishnarao Shankar Pandit was born in Gwalior on 26 July 1893, the son of the singer Shankarrao Pandit. His father had learnt directly from the founders of the Gwalior gharana — Haddu Khan, Nathu Khan and Nissar Hussain Khan — and Krishnarao was trained from early childhood by his father and by Nissar Hussain Khan in khayal, tappa, tarana and layakari.

He was State Musician of Satara in 1911–12, and later of Gwalior, from 1926 to 1935 and again from 1936 until his death. In 1914 he founded the Shankar Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Gwalior to teach the gharana's music beyond the court. He developed his own simple system of notation, designed a curriculum for vocal and instrumental music, and wrote eight books and many articles.

He was one of the earliest broadcasters on All India Radio, and recorded 78 rpm discs for Columbia, later LPs and cassettes for HMV. In the freedom movement he sang at sessions of the Indian National Congress, which in 1921 gave him the title "Gayak Shiromani". In 1986 HMV issued an LP of his music for the Festival of India; Doordarshan featured him in "The Great Masters" (1984), and the Films Division made a documentary on him in 1987.

He taught many students, among them his sons Laxman Krishnarao Pandit and Chandrakant Pandit, Sharatchandra Arolkar, and his granddaughter Meeta Pandit. He died in Gwalior on 22 August 1989, aged ninety-six. Neela Bhagwat's biography, "Krishnarao Shankar Pandit: A Doyen of Khayal", appeared in 1992.

Admired for a powerful, accurate voice, brilliant taans and gamak, and for the tappa and tarana singing in which the Gwalior gharana specialised. He allowed his music to be widely recorded, so that his recordings remain a reference for the Gwalior style.