Ramakant Gundecha

Ramakant Gundecha belongs to the famous brother group, "The Gundecha Brothers," along with his brother, Umakant Gundecha and Akhilesh Gundecha. He was born in Ujjain, India, and passed away in 2019 due to a heart attack in Bhopal. He was an Indian classical singer of the dhrupad genre of Dagar vanj. He was known for his simplicity and the harmony between him and his brothers. They have worked since 1985 for the labels Music Today, Saregama, Navras Records, and HMV. He was awarded the Padma Shri for art in 2012. He has also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani Music – Vocal. He studied at the Madhav Music College in Ujjain. Ramakant Gundecha has a post-graduate degree in music and commerce.

He moved to Bhopal in 1982 to train in Dhrupad music under the guidance of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar. After training for four years, he performed in Bhopal's Uttaradhikar dance and music festival. He received a scholarship from the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He also received a National Fellowship, Ustad Allauddin Khan Fellowship in 1993, Sanskriti Awards, Kumar Gandharya Award, and Dagar Gharana Award by Mewar Foundation. His work incorporates famous poetic lines and lyrics from the results of Tulsidas, Nirala, and Padmakar. He also sang the Dhrupad compositions of Mahamahopadhyay Dr. Pandit Puru Dadheech. He has also set up the Dhrupad Institute in Bhopal, India, along with his brothers.

Here, he taught music in the classic guru-shishya tradition of Dhrupad and ensured a comfortable and enriching experience for the students. He nurtured these young vocalists while also following the principles of Hindi classical music. The work of Ramakant Gundecha and his brother has been broadcasted on the British, United States of America, German and French Radios. They have recorded cassettes for Audio Rec London, Rhythm House, IPPNW Concerts Berlin, and Navras. He also received the Rajat Kamal—National Film Award for Best Music Direction (2006), Puttaraj Gawai Award from Puttaraj Gawai Pratishthan, Dharwad (2010), Spandan Sammaan (2016), Shrimati Vatsala Joshi Samman (2016), Lifetime Achievement Award by Union Bank (2017), Madhya Pradesh Gaurav Samman (2017), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2017) and Swati Tirunal Samman (2018).

His albums include Dhrupad (2009), Bhaktimala - Rama Volume 1 (1991), Bhaktimala - Rama Volume 2 (2005), Krishna Rasamrit (2011), and Classical Vocal – Umakant Gundecha and Ramakant Gundecha (2006). His work is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube.