Kumar Gandharva music school inaugurated in maestro’s native village Sulebhavi in Karnataka

Kumar Gandharva was born as Shivaputrayya Sidramayya Komkalimath, in Sulebhavi on April 8, 1924. He was considered a child prodigy and given the sobriquet of ‘Kumar Gandharva’ by a local seer. Early in life, he received training from his father and uncles. His father sent him to stay in the home of Pandit B. R. Deodhar, to learn from him, in Miraj in Maharashtra. In 1940, he shifted to Dewas in Madhya Pradesh to recuperate from a bout of tuberculosis. While in Dewas, he developed a unique style of singing.

Last week, many residents of Sulebhavi in Belagavi district of Karnataka gathered at the government high school in the evening to witness an important event — the inauguration of the Kumar Gandharva Sangeet Vidyalaya, a music school built to commemorate the centenary celebrations of Hindustani music legend Kumar Gandharva who was born in this village in 1924.

The school is an extension of the government high school building in Kalmeshwar Nagar, and has been funded by the Belagavi-based Markumbi Itihas Upakrama foundation. The non-residential facility will provide classes in Indian classical music to the children of surrounding villages. The school, which has space to accommodate around 50 students at one time, is stocked with several musical instruments. It will also organise musical concerts, members of the foundation said.

Jagadish Naganur, a resident of Sulebhavi, whose family runs a hotel in the house in which Kumar Gandharva was born, was thankful to the foundation for the school. “We are happy that the foundation agreed to supply music instruments, appoint teachers and run the music school. We will be very happy if the government of Karnataka expands the school to include more students,” he told The Hindu.

Minister of Women and Child Development, Disabled and Senior-Citizens Empowerment Laxmi Hebbalkar, whoi was the chief guest at the inauguration on March 31, thanked the foundation and hoped that the school would produce several young artistes as talented as Kumar Gandharva. She spoke of the life and contribution of Kumar Gandharva. She spoke of how he was a popular performer at the age of 11.

“He was not only a singer, but also an innovator. He created new ragas, and sang songs of Kabir and Nirguni bhajans set to Hindustani ragas,’‘ she said, adding that the government of Karnataka would continue to support cultural activities and festivals in historical places.

Kumar Gandharva’s daughter, Vidushi Kalapini Komkali, a well-known classical singer, and his grandson, Bhuvanesh Komkali, a young singer, inaugurated the school.

Ms Komkali said she felt emotional while visiting the village and inaugurating the music school named after her father. Bhuvanesh Komkali also visited the ancestral house of the Komkalimath family.