Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

Prabhakar Janardan Karekar was born in 1944 into a Daivadnya family in Goa, then still under Portuguese rule, and made his life and career in Mumbai. His training came from three senior musicians — Pandit Suresh Haldankar, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki and Pandit C. R. Vyas. He began learning from Vyas in the early 1970s, an association his teacher's son, the santoor player Satish Vyas, described after Karekar's death as more than fifty years long and as close as family. The three influences together shaped a style that moved comfortably between concert khayal and the lighter Marathi forms that made him a household name: abhangs, bhajans and natya sangeet, sung with a clear carrying voice.

He was a graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, and was known as much for teaching as for performing. He founded and chaired the Swarprabha Trust, through which he trained younger musicians and organised lectures, workshops and concerts in India and abroad. He also took part in cross-genre work, recording with the American saxophonist Ornette Coleman and the sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan.

His honours include the Tansen Samman (2014), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani vocal music (2016) and Goa's highest civilian award, the Gomant Vibhushan (2021). A biography of him was written by Shakuntala Bharne. He died at his home in Mumbai on 12 February 2025, aged 80; his last rites were performed at the Shivaji Park crematorium in Dadar.

Best known for abhangs, natya sangeet and bhajans sung with a clear, carrying voice, alongside a concert khayal repertoire.