Hindustani classical · born c. 1949
Padma Talwalkar
A singer who carried three gharanas into one voice, and kept returning to the discipline of her gurus.
- Instrument
- Khayal vocal
- Gharana
- Jaipur-Atrauli gharanaGwalior gharanaHer khayal training began in the Gwalior style, and she absorbed Gwalior-Agra-Jaipur elements from Gajananrao Joshi.Kirana gharanaHer first guru, Pt. Pimpalkhare, belonged to the Kirana gharana; she also studied with Nivrittibua Sarnaik of the Kirana and Jaipur schools.
- Schools & gurukuls
- Taalyogi AashramFamily and lineage of the guru
Official website & social links
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Where to start
Begin listening
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An Eternal Raga — Raga Nawakauns
Music Today
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Biography
Life
Padma Talwalkar is a Hindustani khayal vocalist based in Pune and one of the senior-most exponents of the Jaipur-Atrauli tradition. Writing in The Hindu in 2018, Shailaja Khanna described her as having "the distinction to learn from three gurus from different schools of Hindustani classical music".
Her early training was in the Gwalior style with Gangubhai Pimpalkhare. She then studied with Mogubai Kurdikar, who lists her among her prominent disciples, and afterwards with Gajananrao Joshi, described as a repository of the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas, and with Nivrittibua Sarnaik of the Kirana and Jaipur gharanas.
Her birth year is given as 1949 in some accounts; in the 2018 interview she spoke of "all my nearly 70 years". The archive records the year as approximate until a reliable source confirms it.
Musical contribution
What they brought to music
Her singing combines the Jaipur-Atrauli gayaki with material absorbed from the Gwalior, Agra and Kirana traditions through her three gurus, and she has spoken of rigorous training rather than pleasing an audience as the ground of her music.
Lineage & company
Teachers, students and musical connections
In the documented teaching trees
Where the archive's lineage research places Padma Talwalkar, and the teaching links recorded around them inside each tree.
Jaipur-Atrauli gharanaborn 1948
Senior contemporary singer drawing on more than one gharana's training.
People
Grouped by the kind of relationship the sources record — who taught this musician, who they taught, family, and the people they played with.
Teachers and gurus
Mogubai KurdikarTeacher"She is a disciple of none other than Mogubai Kurdikar."
The Hindu — Padma Talwalkar: guru's grace- Gajananrao JoshiTeacher
"She also learnt from Pt Gajanan Rao Joshi, a repository of Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas."
The Hindu — Padma Talwalkar: guru's grace - Nivrittibua SarnaikTeacher
"and from Pt Nivrittibua Sarnaik of Kirana and Jaipur gharana."
The Hindu — Padma Talwalkar: guru's grace - Gangubhai PimpalkhareTeacher
Her early training in the Gwalior style.
Wikipedia — Padma Talwalkar
Students and disciples
Gauri PathareDisciple"Padma Talwalkar's notable disciples includes Yashaswi Sirpotdar, Shalmalee Joshi, Gauri Pathare, Saylee Talwalkar, Rasika Vartak, Ankita Deole, among many others."
Padma Talwalkar — Wikipedia- Shalmalee JoshiDisciple
"Padma Talwalkar's notable disciples includes Yashaswi Sirpotdar, Shalmalee Joshi, Gauri Pathare..."
Padma Talwalkar — Wikipedia - Yashaswi SirpotdarDisciple
"Padma Talwalkar's notable disciples includes Yashaswi Sirpotdar, Shalmalee Joshi, Gauri Pathare..."
Padma Talwalkar — Wikipedia
Family
Pandit Suresh TalwalkarHusbandTabla player and teacher; the couple's children Satyajit and Savani Talwalkar are also musicians.
Darbar — Pandit Suresh Talwalkar- Savani TalwalkarDaughter
Tabla player
Darbar — Pandit Suresh Talwalkar profile
Influence
- Kishori AmonkarInfluence
"She also gratefully acknowledges her musical debt to Smt. Kishori Amonkar whose musical influences remain with her even today."
Padma Talwalkar — Wikipedia
Schools, gurukuls and institutions
- Taalyogi Aashram
Family and lineage of the guru
Recognition
Honours and recognition
Highest national honour first, then by year.
- 2016Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- 2004Pandit Jasraj Gaurav Puraskar
- 2009Vatsalabai Bhimsen Joshi Award
- 2010Rajhans Pratishthan Puraskar
- Fellowship, National Centre for the Performing Arts, MumbaiA two-year fellowship; she also held a five-year scholarship from the Bhulabhai Memorial Trust.
Community
Memories from the community
Personal recollections, not verified history
These are memories shared by listeners and musicians. They sit apart from the sourced biography above, and an editor reads each one before it appears.
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Provenance
Sources and image credits
- The Hindu — Padma Talwalkar: guru's grace, 28 September 2018 (retrieved 16 September 2026)
- Wikipedia — Padma Talwalkar (retrieved 16 September 2026; the article carries sourcing warnings and is used only for her early training and birth year, recorded here as approximate)
No photograph of this musician is published here yet; we use only images we are permitted to show, with credit.
Continue exploring
- Jaipur-Atrauli gharanaThe lineage Padma Talwalkar is associated with, and the other musicians documented within it.
- Gwalior gharanaThe lineage Padma Talwalkar is associated with, and the other musicians documented within it.
- Kirana gharanaThe lineage Padma Talwalkar is associated with, and the other musicians documented within it.
- The khayal vocalHow the instrument works, and who else in the archive plays it.
- Taalyogi AashramThe school Padma Talwalkar is connected to — what it teaches and where it is.
- All musiciansBrowse the archive by name, instrument or discipline.