The Masters
Voices and hands that shaped Indian classical music, from Tansen to today.
78 artists
Hindustani · Historic
Tansen
Vocal (Dhrupad)
Gwalior (Senia lineage) · c. 1500–1586
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan
Vocal
Kirana · 1872–1937
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Alladiya Khan
Vocal
Jaipur-Atrauli · 1855–1946
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Faiyaz Khan
Vocal
Agra · 1886–1950
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Vocal
Patiala · 1902–1968
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Amir Khan
Vocal
Indore · 1912–1974
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
Vocal
Kirana · 1922–2011
Hindustani · Historic
Gangubai Hangal
Vocal
Kirana · 1913–2009
Hindustani · Historic
Kesarbai Kerkar
Vocal
Jaipur-Atrauli · 1892–1977
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Kumar Gandharva
Vocal
Independent (Gwalior-trained) · 1924–1992
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur
Vocal
Jaipur-Atrauli · 1910–1992
Hindustani · Historic
Kishori Amonkar
Vocal
Jaipur-Atrauli · 1932–2017
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Jasraj
Vocal
Mewati · 1930–2020
Hindustani · Historic
Begum Akhtar
Vocal (Ghazal, Thumri)
Patiala-influenced · 1914–1974
Hindustani · Historic
Girija Devi
Vocal (Thumri)
Benaras · 1929–2017
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit D. V. Paluskar
Vocal
Gwalior · 1921–1955
Hindustani · Historic
Dagar Brothers
Vocal (Dhrupad)
Dagar vani · Senior: 1919–2000 · Junior: 1933–1994
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Ravi Shankar
Sitar
Maihar (Senia-Maihar) · 1920–2012
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Vilayat Khan
Sitar
Imdadkhani (Etawah) · 1928–2004
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Nikhil Banerjee
Sitar
Maihar · 1931–1986
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Sarod
Maihar · 1922–2009
Hindustani · Historic
Annapurna Devi
Surbahar
Maihar · 1927–2018
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Allauddin Khan
Sarod & multi-instrumentalist
Maihar (founder) · 1862–1972
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Bismillah Khan
Shehnai
Benaras · 1916–2006
Hindustani · Historic
Pannalal Ghosh
Flute (Bansuri)
Maihar · 1911–1960
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
Santoor
Independent · 1938–2022
Hindustani · Historic
Ustad Alla Rakha
Tabla
Punjab · 1919–2000
Hindustani · Historic
Pandit Ram Narayan
Sarangi
Independent · 1927–2024
Hindustani · Contemporary
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Flute (Bansuri)
Maihar (trained by Annapurna Devi) · b. 1938
Hindustani · Contemporary
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
Sarod
Senia Bangash · b. 1945
Hindustani · Contemporary
Ustad Zakir Hussain
Tabla
Punjab · 1951–2024
Hindustani · Contemporary
Ustad Rashid Khan
Vocal
Rampur-Sahaswan · 1968–2024
Hindustani · Contemporary
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
Vocal
Patiala-Kasur · b. 1952
Hindustani · Contemporary
Kaushiki Chakraborty
Vocal
Patiala · b. 1980
Hindustani · Contemporary
Pandit Venkatesh Kumar
Vocal
Gwalior-Kirana (disciple of Puttaraj Gawai) · b. 1953
Hindustani · Contemporary
Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar
Vocal
Gwalior, Jaipur, Agra · b. 1955
Hindustani · Contemporary
Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande
Vocal
Jaipur-Atrauli · b. 1960
Hindustani · Contemporary
Shahid Parvez
Sitar
Imdadkhani (Etawah) · b. 1955
Hindustani · Contemporary
Anoushka Shankar
Sitar
Maihar · b. 1981
Hindustani · Contemporary
Rahul Sharma
Santoor
Independent · b. 1972
Hindustani · Contemporary
Rakesh Chaurasia
Flute (Bansuri)
Maihar · b. 1970
Hindustani · Contemporary
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Mohan veena
Maihar · b. 1950
Hindustani · Contemporary
Kala Ramnath
Violin
Mewati · b. 1967
Carnatic · Historic
Tyagaraja
Composer (Vocal)
Trinity · 1767–1847
Carnatic · Historic
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Composer (Veena)
Trinity · 1775–1835
Carnatic · Historic
Syama Sastri
Composer (Vocal)
Trinity · 1762–1827
Carnatic · Historic
Purandara Dasa
Composer
Haridasa · 1484–1564
Carnatic · Historic
Swathi Thirunal
Composer
Travancore · 1813–1846
Carnatic · Historic
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Vocal
Ariyakudi bani · 1890–1967
Carnatic · Historic
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Vocal
Semmangudi bani · 1908–2003
Carnatic · Historic
G. N. Balasubramaniam
Vocal
GNB bani · 1910–1965
Carnatic · Historic
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Vocal
Semmangudi-influenced · 1916–2004
Carnatic · Historic
D. K. Pattammal
Vocal
Dikshitar tradition · 1919–2009
Carnatic · Historic
M. L. Vasanthakumari
Vocal
GNB bani · 1928–1990
Carnatic · Historic
M. Balamuralikrishna
Vocal
Parupalli lineage · 1930–2016
Carnatic · Historic
Madurai Mani Iyer
Vocal
Madurai Mani bani · 1912–1968
Carnatic · Historic
Lalgudi Jayaraman
Violin
Lalgudi bani · 1930–2013
Carnatic · Historic
T. R. Mahalingam
Flute (Venu)
Mali bani · 1926–1986
Carnatic · Historic
S. Balachander
Veena
Self-taught · 1927–1990
Carnatic · Historic
Palghat Mani Iyer
Mridangam
Palghat bani · 1912–1981
Carnatic · Historic
U. Srinivas
Mandolin
Self-developed · 1969–2014
Carnatic · Historic
Kadri Gopalnath
Saxophone
Self-developed · 1949–2019
Carnatic · Historic
N. Ramani
Flute (Venu)
Mali bani · 1934–2015
Carnatic · Historic
T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai
Nadaswaram
Thiruvavaduthurai · 1898–1956
Carnatic · Contemporary
T. M. Krishna
Vocal
Semmangudi bani · b. 1976
Carnatic · Contemporary
Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Vocal
Calcutta K.S. Krishnamurthy lineage · b. 1968
Carnatic · Contemporary
Bombay Jayashri
Vocal
Lalgudi lineage · b. 1964
Carnatic · Contemporary
Aruna Sairam
Vocal
T. Brinda lineage · b. 1952
Carnatic · Contemporary
Sudha Ragunathan
Vocal
MLV lineage · b. 1956
Carnatic · Contemporary
T. V. Sankaranarayanan
Vocal
Madurai Mani bani · b. 1945
Carnatic · Contemporary
Abhishek Raghuram
Vocal
Palghat lineage · b. 1985
Carnatic · Contemporary
Ranjani–Gayatri
Vocal (duo)
PS Narayanaswamy lineage · b. 1970s
Carnatic · Contemporary
L. Subramaniam
Violin
Family lineage · b. 1947
Carnatic · Contemporary
Ganesh and Kumaresh
Violin (duo)
Taught by their father T. S. Rajagopalan · b. 1964 & 1967
Carnatic · Contemporary
Shashank Subramanyam
Flute (Venu)
Independent · b. 1978
Carnatic · Contemporary
E. Gayathri
Veena
Family lineage · b. 1959
Carnatic · Contemporary
Jayanthi Kumaresh
Veena
Lalgudi lineage · b. 1969
Carnatic · Contemporary
Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman
Mridangam
Palghat-influenced · b. 1935
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