Shivshankar Mukherjee

Master of the Goharvani style of Dhrupad, Pandit Shivshankar Mukherjee is the heir of a very old and rare tradition: the Senya gharana Dhrupad in Bengal. He shows on this CD an inspired and emotional music. Born in Bamaganchi (Bengal) in 1928, Shivshankar Mukherjee belongs to a family of Dhrupad singers. Educated in the traditional way (Guru Shishya parampara), he has received from his father, Anadi Bushan Mukherjee, a complete training in Dhrupad and Dhamar. Their family masters all the fours vanis of dhrupad singing but stays close to the Gohar vani. His grandfather, Kalidan Mukherjee, was the student of Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya alias “Nulo Gopal”, a famous Dhrupad singer trained by the muslim singers of the Great Moghol’s court. Those fantastic musicians came to Calcutta with the king of Awadh in his exile. Nulo Gopal Bhattacharjee was also the first teacher of Ustad Allauddin Khan. Shivshankar Mukherjee passed away in March 2004.