Anandrao Limaye
Murali Sharma
A while ago, a friend of mine sent me a recording of a house concert
held in Pune in Jan 91, featuring a Anandrao Limaye, who I had never
heard of. Even more surprisingly, my friend mentioned that he was a
senior performer of the Jaipur gharana (there are relatively few male
vocalists of this style, although like others I have heard rumours
that the best students of Alladiya Khan actually were wealthy males
who didn't perform much in public).
The recording was beautiful- I could hear bird chirping in the background-
conveying strongly the atmosphere of a small baithak. But the singing
itself sounded very different to me from say Mallikarjun Mansur, although
it clearly was that of a master. One clear signature of the heritage from
the legendary 'Avghadh Das' was the fact that I had not
previously heard any of the ragas presented: Gaudi Lalat (NOT Gowri Lalat),
Khamaji Bhatiyar,Khat Todi, Laccha Sakh, Sukhiya Bhatiyar, and Savani Bhatiyar.
This made it even harder to appreciate, though with repeated listening I
actually became extremely fond of a couple of the pieces.
I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find out that one of our rmic
readers, Vishwas Shirgaonkar, is actually a student of his. Upon my
expressing my curiosity about his guru, he kindly wrote me a very inspiring
sketch of his guru's life. He also generously agreed to let me include in
the performers section of the FAQ, and to post it here. The following is his
account, and I am very grateful to him for sharing this in this forum:
-----------------
Pt. Anandrao Limaye (or Limayebua) is a true Jaipur gharana
singer (Alladiya Khan gayaki) having received training from Govindbua
Shaligram (Padmavati Shaligram's uncle). Govindbua Shaligram was one of
Alladiya Khan's direct disciples, lesser known since he prematurely
lost the quality of his voice due to ill health. Limayebua, now
approaching 70, has lived in Kolhapur all his life. In the early
sixties, being fully "taiyyar" and 30 years younger, he used to be
invited to sing in musical conferences around the country.
An accidental head injury during his teens had left him with a stammer
and some eyesight problems, which, initially, did not interfere with
his singing capabilities. Later, unfortunately, in his thirties, these
problems somehow flared up and his eyesight, and general health
deteriorated to such an extent as to leave him handicapped.
Having decided to remain unmarried to live to the ideal of
making music his true "first love", bereft of a supporting family, and
unwilling to burden anyone else with helping him on his musical tours,
he stopped accepting invitations to sing which involved travel. This
obviously affected his musical career, eventually leading to a 20 year
period of "adnyatvas". During this period he taught, sang locally, and,
researched bandishes, rare ragaas, and essentially did a lot of
analysis and thinking on music. This period, in his own words, helped
him mature his music tremendously. In my view, this saved him from the
temptation to dilute his music to pander to mass appeal. This has
preserved the "old world" lustre that is evident in his gayaki.
Meanwhile, although largely unknown to musical audiences in
India, Limayebua was sought out by prevailing musicians and
musicologists for his knowledge of rare compositions. Gajananbua Joshi,
who had heard about Limayebua but had never heard his music, once
requested a concert specifically for him, for which he made a special
trip to Kolhapur. Gajanbua Joshi was so impressed that he invited him
to come to Bombay to sing. This, effectively, pulled Limayebua back
into the musical mainstream after a period of 20 years. Fortunately,
since the last 15 years, he has slowly regained some of his eyesight
(after a couple of operations), and aided by his devoted shishyas,
begun travelling again.
Lately, despite his advancing age, Limayebua has been touring
all over the country to sing. He has been recorded by the National
Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) national archives, and about 4
years ago was interviewed on Doordarshan as one of the few male singers
left in the Jaipur tradition. He has been felicitated by various
organizations, and was recently invited by the the Sangeet Research
Academy in Calcutta to record some of his rare "bandishes".
-------------------------------------------
Murali
apr...@yahoo.com
jagdish...@gmail.com
> A while ago, a friend of mine sent me a recording of a house concert held in Pune in Jan 91, featuring a Anandrao Limaye, who I had never heard of. Even more surprisingly, my friend mentioned that he was a senior performer of the Jaipur gharana (there are relatively few male vocalists of this style, although like others I have heard rumours that the best students of Alladiya Khan actually were wealthy males who didn't perform much in public).The recording was beautiful- I could hear bird chirping in the background- conveying strongly the atmosphere of a small baithak. But the singing itself sounded very different to me from say Mallikarjun Mansur, although it clearly was that of a master. One clear signature of the heritage from the legendary 'Avghadh Das' was the fact that I had not previously heard any of the ragas presented: Gaudi Lalat (NOT Gowri Lalat), Khamaji Bhatiyar,Khat Todi, Laccha Sakh, Sukhiya Bhatiyar, and Savani Bhatiyar. This made it even harder to appreciate, though with repeated listening I actually became extremely fond of a couple of the pieces.I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find out that one of our rmic readers, Vishwas Shirgaonkar, is actually a student of his. Upon my expressing my curiosity about his guru, he kindly wrote me a very inspiring sketch of his guru's life. He also generously agreed to let me include in the performers section of the FAQ, and to post it here. The following is his account, and I am very grateful to him for sharing this in this forum:----------------- Pt. Anandrao Limaye (or Limayebua) is a true Jaipur gharana singer (Alladiya Khan gayaki) having received training from Govindbua Shaligram (Padmavati Shaligram's uncle). Govindbua Shaligram was one of Alladiya Khan's direct disciples, lesser known since he prematurely lost the quality of his voice due to ill health. Limayebua, now approaching 70, has lived in Kolhapur all his life. In the early sixties, being fully "taiyyar" and 30 years younger, he used to be invited to sing in musical conferences around the country. An accidental head injury during his teens had left him with a stammer and some eyesight problems, which, initially, did not interfere with his singing capabilities. Later, unfortunately, in his thirties, these problems somehow flared up and his eyesight, and general health deteriorated to such an extent as to leave him handicapped. Having decided to remain unmarried to live to the ideal of making music his true "first love", bereft of a supporting family, and unwilling to burden anyone else with helping him on his musical tours, he stopped accepting invitations to sing which involved travel. This obviously affected his musical career, eventually leading to a 20 year period of "adnyatvas". During this period he taught, sang locally, and, researched bandishes, rare ragaas, and essentially did a lot of analysis and thinking on music. This period, in his own words, helped him mature his music tremendously. In my view, this saved him from the temptation to dilute his music to pander to mass appeal. This has preserved the "old world" lustre that is evident in his gayaki. Meanwhile, although largely unknown to musical audiences in India, Limayebua was sought out by prevailing musicians and musicologists for his knowledge of rare compositions. Gajananbua Joshi, who had heard about Limayebua but had never heard his music, once requested a concert specifically for him, for which he made a special trip to Kolhapur. Gajanbua Joshi was so impressed that he invited him to come to Bombay to sing. This, effectively, pulled Limayebua back into the musical mainstream after a period of 20 years. Fortunately, since the last 15 years, he has slowly regained some of his eyesight (after a couple of operations), and aided by his devoted shishyas, begun travelling again. Lately, despite his advancing age, Limayebua has been touring all over the country to sing. He has been recorded by the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) national archives, and about 4 years ago was interviewed on Doordarshan as one of the few male singers left in the Jaipur tradition. He has been felicitated by various organizations, and was recently invited by the the Sangeet Research Academy in Calcutta to record some of his rare "bandishes".-------------------------------------------Murali
war...@verizon.net
The recording was made by me; strictly speaking it was not a house concert, but a public event at the first death anniversary of Wamanrao Deshpande. Satyasheel Deshpande sang first and appropriately rendered Bilaskhani Todi, but I did not record his portion of the program.
Limayebua's music was absolutely extraordinary.
Warren
Badri Ananth
On Monday, September 30, 2013 8:12:54 AM UTC-7, war...@verizon.net wrote:
> Limayebua's music was absolutely extraordinary.
Badri
jagdish...@gmail.com
> On Monday, September 30, 2013 8:12:54 AM UTC-7, war...@verizon.net wrote: > Limayebua's music was absolutely extraordinary. Based on the one recording of his I've heard (of Raag Baradi on parrikar.org), I completely agree. If 'apraful' is indeed willing to share some recordings, I'm sure many on RMIC would love to hear more from this Jaipur master. Badri
I did not see Baradi on parrikar.org .Please let me know where and how you find it?
Jagdish
Badri Ananth
> I did not see Baradi on parrikar.org .Please let me know where and how you find it?
http://www.parrikar.org/hindustani/marwa-page2/
-Badri
jagdish...@gmail.com
> On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 5:31:18 PM UTC-7, jagdish...@gmail.com wrote: > I did not see Baradi on parrikar.org .Please let me know where and how you find it? Towards the end of this page: http://www.parrikar.org/hindustani/marwa-page2/ -Badri,
Badri,
Thank you I got it.
Jagdish
Vasudev Athalye
A Kakirde
Vasudev Athalye
naniwadekar
>
> Would it be possible to share these recordings of Pt. Limaye Buwa on email or through whatsapp?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6P37AFC_q4
The program is in Marathi. Anand-rao Limaye (Limaye Buwa) is talking to Shriram Devasthali, in the presence of Baba Azizuddin Khan who was Bhurji Khan's son. The interview was probably telecast around 1985, just a guess. Check when Aurangabad hosted 27th Chitrapat Mahotsav (Film Festival) to find the exact year. The announcement before the program mentions the film गोष्ट धमाल नाम्याची, which is marked a 1984 film.
Deosthali-buwa does not utter a single non-Marathi word in the entire program. Limaye Buwa makes no fawning references to Baba, who was his guru of sorts, who is sitting right there. D-buwa begins his introduction by mentioning with a chuckle how Limaye buwa sang anavat Jaipur raags with consummate ease.
खट - तोडी
- विराट / वराटी ( मारवा , बिभास , भटियार)
- सुखिया बिलावल
हुसेनी कानडा
- परज
The raags sung by Limaye Buwa are mentioned in the note by the channel host.
- dn
naniwadekar
The first post in the thread, dated 1993, has this info : 'about 4 years
ago . . . was interviewed on Doordarshan as one of the few male
singers left in the Jaipur tradition' . This must be a reference to
the interview which is now available on youtube. So the interview
was recorded around 1989.
Limaye buwa's disciple Sudhir Pote is seen accompanying him. In
1990s, he was associated with Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya
Mandal. Their office in Brahmanpuri area in Miraj had excellent music
collection. In the pre-internet days, many listeners used to visit the office
from far-off places.
This must be one of very few videos of Baba Aziduddin Khan in
existence. Some links of his talks with Shruti Sadolikar are
also available. Baba mentions that he could not practise as much
as he would have wished because of some health problems. But he
was clearly a great resource of Jaipur gayaki, and Limaye Buwa has
mentioned that he started learning some rare pieces from
Baba from 1986, by which time Limaye buwa himself was much
advanced in age, but that did not stop him from continuing to learn.
- dn