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Background

The music festival owes its inception to an all-night musical soirée organised by the Kendra’s Founder, Mrs. Sumitra Charat Ram, on the eve of the country’s independence. Several greats from the world of Indian Classical Music, such as Ustad Allauddin Khan, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Pt. Samta Prasad, and Pt. Pannalal Ghosh participated in the event, enthralling the audience until the wee hours.

The grand success of this evening resulted in the formation of the Jhankar Music Circle, which went on to organise monthly concerts as well as an annual festival.

The Jhankar Music Circle’s presentations were held at the Constitution Club, the only venue available in those days. It would not be incorrect to state that the activities of the Circle played an important role in reviving interests in Indian Classical Music.

Sir Shankarlal, the brother of Sir Shri Ram and father-in-law of Mrs. Sumitra Charat Ram, was a great patron of the Arts. After the formation of Bharatiya Kala Kendra in 1952, the Sir Shankarlal Foundation was set up in his memory. It took on the task of supporting this annual music festival and allowed it to grow into one of the oldest and most commendable festivals of India.

The Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival has featured, over the years, almost all the stalwarts of Hindustani Classical Vocal & Instrumental Music. It is a matter of great privilege for artists to be invited to perform at this festival.

In 1993, the Shankarlal Foundation felt that it could no longer assist in organising the festival and requested the Kendra to independently take on the task. The festival continues to be staged by the Kendra as the Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival and has retained its position as a landmark event in India’s cultural calendar.

Some iconic names who have performed here are Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubhai Hangal, the Dagar Brothers, Mallikarjun Mansur, Ram Chatur Malik, Sharafat Hussain Khan, Pt. Jasraj, Begum Akhtar, Girija Devi, Kishori Amonkar, Rashid Khan, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Ulhas Kashalkar among the vocalists, and Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Radhika Mohan Maitra, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Sharan Rani Backiwal, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Ram Narayan, and L. Subramaniam.

The festival is usually presented in the springtime every year at the open-air lawns of the Kendra in New Delhi.

Recorded Live Programmes

Here are some exceptional musical performances by distinguished artists of India.

A list of eminent artists who performed in the Music Festival is as follows:

  • Nishant Khan
  • Abdul Karim Khan
  • Ustad Sujat H. Khan
  • Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
  • Ali Akbar Khan
  • Pt. Jasraj
  • Girja Devi
  • Aashish Khan
  • Parveen Sultana
  • Vilayat Khan
  • Vinay Bharat Ram
  • Zakir Husain
  • Amjad Ali Khan
  • Biswajit Roy Chaudhury
  • Atul Desai
  • Shubha Mudgal
  • Mahadev Prasad Mishra
  • Gangubai Hangal
  • Pushkar Lele
  • Sulochana Yajurvedi
  • Rais Khan
  • Ishtiaq Hussain Khan
  • Ram Narain
  • Shruti Sadokar
  • Vijay Jodan
  • Parth Das
  • Drupad Samaroh
  • Radhika Mohan Moitra
  • Devendra Murdeshwar
  • Ulhas Kashalkar
  • Nikhil Banerjee
  • Kishori Amonkar
  • Pt. Amarnath
  • Bhimsen Joshi
  • Hari Prasad Cahurasia
  • Mukul Shivputra
  • Parwayan Chatterjee
  • Shiv Kumar Sharma
  • L. Subramanium
  • Munawar Ali Khan
  • R. C. Mishra
  • Sulochana Brahaspati
  • Smt. Jay Biswas
  • Malvika Kanan
  • Peyare Saheb
  • Bala Saheb
  • M. S. Subbalakshami
  • Ronu Majumdar
  • Kesarbai Kerkar
  • Debu Chawdhury
  • Nisar Ahmed Khan
  • Veena Sahasrabudde
  • Mallikarjun Mansur
  • Prabha Atre
  • Siddeshwari Devi
  • Ustab Ali Akbar Khan
  • Shahid Parvez
  • Kumar Gandharva
  • Bhadir Dagar
  • Arjit Dasgupta
  • Sandeep Chatterjee
  • Wadali Brothers
  • Pt. V. N. Pathavardhan
  • Sunita Kasalkar
  • Ali Ahmed Hussain
  • Gulam Sadiq
  • Asad Ali Khan
  • Savita Devi
  • Mangubai Kurdikar
  • Gandharva Mahavidyala
  • Ajay Chakarborty
  • T. R. Mahalingam
  • Saran Rani
  • Rehmat Ali Khan
  • Girish
  • Ram Chatur Mallik
  • Kaushiki
  • Malini Rajukar
  • C. R. Vyas
  • Pt. Channu Lal Mishra
  • Shanti Sharma
  • Dagar Brothers
  • Vasundhara Ulhakhs
  • Yashwant Bhujoshi
  • Amaan Ali Khan
  • Shobha Gurtu
  • Rita Kothari
  • Uday Bhawalkar
  • U. Shrinivasan
  • Pt. Ravi Shankar
  • Firdaus Khan
  • Biddhaditya Mukherjee
  • Ashwini Bhidhe
  • Sharafat Hussain Khan
  • Bade Gulam Ali
  • Tapas Sen
  • Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan
  • Aarti Anglekar
  • Tarun Bhattacharya
  • Amir Khan
  • L. K. Pandit
  • Vishnu Digambar
  • Meeta Pandit
  • Jitendra Abhishek
  • Hussain Bua
  • Acharya Brahaspati
  • Sunita Jhingram
  • Bhuvnesh Kumar Komkali
  • Mushtaq Hussain
  • Om Prakash Chaurasia
  • Lalit J. Rao
  • Alka Deo Harulkar
  • Indranil Bhattacharya
  • Rashid Khan
  • Gopal Mishra
  • Jaganath Mishra
  • Bade Gulam Ali
  • Sharafat Hussain
  • Nasir Ahmed Khan
  • Nazir Amminuddin Khan
  • Manjari Asnare
  • Allaudin Khan
  • Rajan Sajan Mishra

Upcoming Festivals | Programmes