File photo of sarod player Pandit Rajeev Taranath, who passed away in Mysore on June 11, 2024 | Photo credit: MA Sriram
Sarod player Pandit Rajeev Taranath, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mysore, passed away on the evening of June 11.
A source close to the 92-year-old legendary Indian classical musician said that he died at the hospital around 6.30 pm. His body will be kept for public viewing at his residence near Gnana Ganga School in Kuvempunagar, Mysuru on June 12 from 9 am to 12 noon.
Sources said the eminent musician is survived by a son who is leaving for Mysore from the US. His last rites will be performed on June 12 at 2 pm at the crematorium near the Chamundi foothills.
Pandit Rajeev Taranath was admitted to the hospital since the last week of May 2024 for treatment of a fracture. Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa, who is also the minister in charge of Mysuru district, met the sarod player at the private hospital and assured that the state government will bear the expenses of his treatment.
Pandit Taranath, a distinguished artist of the Senia Maihar Gharana, was honoured at the national level with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2019 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2000. In Karnataka, he has been awarded the Rajyotsava Award in 1996, the Chowdaiah Memorial Award in 1998, the Sangeet Vidwan Award in 2018 and the Nadoja Award in 2019.
Born on 17 October 1932 to father Pandit Taranath and mother Sumati Bai, Rajeev Taranath completed his BA Honours from Bangalore Central College securing first rank. He added another feather to his academic achievements by securing first rank with gold medal in MA in English from Mysore University in 1962.
He obtained his PhD from the University of Mysore on the topic “Image in the Poetry of TS Eliot” under the guidance of Professor CD Narasimhaiah.
He started his teaching career as a lecturer at Hamdard College, Raichur, built by his father, after which he taught at various institutions like Karnataka College, Dharwad, Regional College of Education, Mysore, Regional Engineering College and Jamal Mohamed College, Tiruchi, subsequently headed the English department at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad and taught English in Yemen.
Pandit Rajeev Taranath was also the music director for several Kannada films, including Sanskara, Pallavi, Anurupa, Paper Boats and Agunthaka, apart from Malayalam films like Kadavu and Kanchanasitha.
Condolences have started pouring in over the demise of Pandit Rajeev Taranath. Mysore district in-charge minister HC Mahadevappa and Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi have condoled the death of the famous Indian classical music singer.
