Pannalal Ghosh

Born in Barisal, East Bengal [now Bangladesh] on July 31, 1911, Amulya Jyoti [nicknamed Pannalal] Ghosh was a child prodigy. He inherited his love of music and the bamboo flute [bansuri] from his grandfather, Hari Kumar Ghosh who played sitar, tabla, and pakhawaj and learned sitar from his father, Akshay Kumar Ghosh. He also learned music from his maternal uncle, Bhavaranjan Mazumdar who was a vocalist.

At age 9, Pannalal found a flute floating in the river, beginning his lifelong relationship with the bansuri. Two years later at age 11, he met a sadhu who gave him a flute and told him that music would be his salvation. Economic necessity drove him into performing music for silent films in Calcutta, where he met music director Anil Biswas.

Pannalal decided he needed a bigger flute and experimented with various materials before settling on a 32-inch bamboo bansuri. Through dedicated practice, he invented and perfected the technique to play this large instrument. In 1936 he began working with Raichandra Boral of 'New Theater' and in 1937 met his first guru, Kushi Mohammed Khan. In 1938, as music director of the Seraikella State dance troupe, he was one of the first classical musicians to visit and perform in Europe.

In 1940, Pannalal moved to Bombay and joined Bombay Talkies film studio. In 1947, his lifelong yearning to learn from a true guru was fulfilled when Ustad Allaudin Khan accepted him as his disciple, and he received intensive training at Maihar.