Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is among a few but growing classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for Hindustani classical music. H

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is among a few but growing classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for Hindustani classical music. He is probably the most accessible Hindustani musician who has done a lot to popularize the bansuri and classical music among the masses.

Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad on 1 July 1938 into a non musical family. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was very young. Hariprasad had to learn music almost in secret, scared of the father who wanted him to become a wrestler. First he started learning vocal music from Pt. Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pt. Bholanath of Varanasi. Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive Smt. Annapurna Devi (daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan).