Balwantrai Bhatt

Balwantrai Bhatt was a noted Indian composer and musician of Hindustani Vocal Music. He was born in Bhavnagar, Gujarat to Shri Gulabrai Bhatt and Smt. Harkunvar on 23 September 1921. For his career he moved to Varanasi in a music institution named Kala Sangeet Bharati at Banaras Hindu University with his mentor. He did many compositions which were published in book form as three volumes of Bhavrang Lahari. As a vocalist, he toured Afghanistan, Nepal, Canada, and United States of America. The last king of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah was so impressed with his songs that he invited Bhayyaji to his palace to present the songs. Balwant Rai Bhatt has been awarded Padma Shri by Government of India in 1990 followed by Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2004. He was honored by prestigious Kalidas Samman in year 2007 – 08.

He reconstructed many song-forms (Prabandha) from ancient Indian musicological treatises. Being a scholar of Sanskrit language, his compositions included many rich poetic, philosophical and musical content which made him remarkable. He also composed several Bandishes in Sanskrit, along with Braj Bhasha. He used to stay in Varanasi with his wife Vasundhara Devi Vasundhara Devi is the mother of the renowned vete >> Read More... . At the age of 95, Bhayyaji passed away in Varanasi on May 2, 2016 due to old age.