C.R. Vyas

Born at Osmanabad in 1924, Chintaman Raghunath Vyas was groomed by Govindrao Bhatambrekar from the Kirana gharana, Rajarambuwa Paradkar, Mirashibuwa from the Gwalior gharana and Jagannathbua Purohit alias Gunidas from the Agra gharana. His musical persona was thus, shaped by the traditional khayal repertoire he had assimilated from three gharanas coupled with his individual perspective.

He was regularly featured in all the major music festivals held in India and abroad.

His khayal compositions under the pseudonym ‘Gunijan’ form a part of the performance repertoire of several vocalists. He also composed raags like ‘Dhankoni Kalyan’, ‘Sanjogiya’ and ‘Shiv-Abhogi’.

His disciples include several well-known and younger artistes.

His albums are available on many leading record labels.

Among the prestigious awards that he received were the Sangeet Natak Academi award in 1987, the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 1992, the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award in 1994, the Marathwada Gaurav Puraskar in 1998, the Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Puraskar in 1999, and the Tansen Samman in 1999.

He died at Kolkata in 2002.