Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist who plays the bansuri in the Hindustani classical tradition. Unlike most other noted musicians of his generation, Chaurasia was not born into a family of musicians. His mother died when he was six years old, and he had to learn music without his father's knowledge, as his father wanted him to become a wrestler.

He started learning vocal music from his neighbour Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. A transformative period came when he studied under Annapurna Devi (daughter of Baba Allauddin Khan), who profoundly shaped his musical approach. In 1958 he joined All India Radio in Cuttack, Odisha, and later transferred to Mumbai, where he played prolifically both for the film industry and at concerts.

Together with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, he formed the celebrated duo Shiv-Hari, composing music for successful Bollywood films including Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe, and Darr. He also recorded with George Harrison and contributed to The Beatles' 1968 track "The Inner Light." He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 1992, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2000. He founded the Vrindaban Gurukul in Mumbai (2006) and Bhubaneswar (2010) to train students in the guru-shishya tradition.