Pandit Laxman Prasad

The late Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale, also known as Guni Gandharva, was a great Hindustani singer who mixed styles from the Jaipur Gharana, the Goswami Gharana, and the Kunwar Shyam Gharana. The great singer Late Pt. Govind Prasad Jaipurwale was his son and his teacher. Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale was born in 1915 and passed away in 1977. He was a famous musician who sang and wrote beautiful music in the style known as "Kunwar Shyam." Goswami Lalji Maharaj (also known as "Kunwar Shyam") wrote this lyrical and layakari-filled gayaki.

Kunwar Shyam was a saint, musician, and composer who lived alone and only sang inside the walls of Delhi's Radha-Govind temple. He died around 1911 and left behind a large body of work. Kunwar Shyam was a saint, musician, and composer who lived alone and only sang inside the walls of Delhi's Radha-Govind temple. He died around 1911 and left behind a large body of work.  We have already seen his beautiful work; think of the Chhaya Malhar versions of Ramashreya Jha (Ramrang) and Bhimsen Joshi Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi was born on 4th February 192 >> Read More... in A Tale of Two Malhars.  We will learn more about some of them in this feature. Records by Laxman Prasad are hard to find these days.  These days, we might see his life as one that wasn't weighed down by money and self-promotion. 

His oldest son, the late Govind Prasad Jaipurwale, was a great singer.  Between them, they taught taleem to many professional musicians.  Rajdulari Khan (Ali Akbar Khan's second wife), Sudha Malhotra, Kavita Krishnamurthy Kavita Krishnamurthy is the female playback singer >> Read More... , Ronu Majumdar Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flute player in the Hin >> Read More... , Meenu Purshottam, Aarti Mukherjee, Manhar, Ajit Kadkade Ajit Kadkade is an Indian singer. Ajit Kadkade was >> Read More... , Chandrasekhar Gadgil, and several other good but not famous musicians come to mind.

Girdharprasad, his only son, who is still alive, is still trying to put together the pieces of his father's work.  Girdharprasad is very good at playing the tabla, but he is also very good at playing melodies.  Even though the odds were against him, he brought to light two volumes of Sangeet Gyan Prakash that list the notated works of Laxmanprasad Jaipurwale and Kunwar Shyam. Taranath Rao and Habibuddin Khan were his favorite tabla players, and Manohar Chimote and Madan Prakash were his favorite harmonium players. All three were experts in their instruments.