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10 Best Facts about Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar, in full Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury, was an Indian musician, player of the sitar, composer and founder of the National Orchestra of India.

he was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of Indian music.

Shankar spent most of his youth studying music and dance and touring extensively in India and Europe with his brother Uday鈥檚 dance troupe

Ravi was the a pioneer Indian musician to tour extensively around the world.

He is often credited with bringing the sounds of the Indian raga to the Western world.

The sitar virtuoso became the world’s best-known exponent of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world

Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from the rhythms of Carnatic music.

Tune in to the 10 best facts about Ravi Shankar.

1. He gave up his Dancing Career to Learn Music

In 1935 Uday Shankar convinced the Maharaja of Maihar to allow the lead musician of his court, Allauddin Khan, to become his group鈥檚 soloist for a tour of Europe.

During the tour, Khan trained Ravi Shankar a bit and offered to train him on the condition that Shankar would abandon touring and moved to Maihar.

In 1938 Ravi Shankar gave up his dancing career and went to Maihar to study Indian classical music under Allauddin Khan.

2. Studied the Sitar for 8 Years under Baba Allauddin Khan

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At age 18 Shankar gave up dancing, and for the next seven years, he studied the sitar (a long-necked stringed instrument of the lute family) under the noted musician Ustad Allauddin Khan.

Baba Allauddin Khan had a violent temper which almost ended the pair’s relationship.

On one occasion Baba told his protege to “buy some bangles and wear them like a girl” after an unsatisfactory performance.

Shankar married Baba鈥檚 daughter Annapurna Devi in 1941 and had a son with her. Shankar鈥檚 training was complete in 1944. In the late 1940s, he separated from his wife.

3. He gave sitar Lessons to Beatles Guitarist George Harrison

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Ravi Shankar met The Beatles鈥� guitarist in London in 1966. George  Ravi’s playing that he planned to train the sitar in India.

A lot of people credit The Beatles鈥� later Indian influences to this friendship and, following several further collaborations between the musicians, 鈥淎llMusic鈥� ended up calling Ravi Shankar 鈥渢he most famous Indian musician on the planet鈥�.

When the Beatles guitarist George Harrison visited Shankar to learn the sitar. 

However,  the elevator boy at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel in Mumbai recognised him.

The pair were forced to train on a houseboat due to crowd interference.

4. Ravi Shankar was Awarded the Highest Civilian Honour in India

Ravi Shankar is one of the top sitar players of the twentieth century. He has won three Grammy Awards.

In 2001, Shankar was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II for his 鈥渟ervices to music鈥�.

He is a holder of The highest civilian honour in India 鈥� the Bharat Ratna, or Jewel of India.

5. Ravi Shankar Organised Concert for Bangladesh

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He organised the Concert for Bangladesh to mitigate the people’s suffering.

It was Shankar鈥檚 initiative, and he organized it alongside George Harrison.           

Apart from them, it had performances from other musicians including Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

The $250,000  from the concert was sent to UNICEF for Bangladesh relief.

The concert was the first-ever benefit concert of such a magnitude.

6. Ravi Shankar Daughters are Amazing Award Winning Musicians

Norah Jones sings “America The Beautiful” during a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honouring Apollo 11 astronauts Image by NASA from

Ravi Shankar had Norah with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, in 1979.

Norah is now an eight-time Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter who has sold more than 50 million records worldwide and has been named the 鈥渢op jazz artist of the decade鈥� by Billboard magazine.

Her famous album Come Away with Me was certified Diamond in 2002 and sold over 27 million copies, earning her five Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

Shankar had another lovechild in 1981 with Sukanya Rajan whom they named Anoushka Shankar.

Ravi Shankar married her mother later in 1989. 

7.  Ravi Shankar Composed a New Raga for Mahatma Gandhi 

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Shankar was asked to play 鈥渟ome mournful music without tabla accompaniment” on All India Radio following  Gandhi鈥檚 assassination.

Drawing from the name Gandhi, he took the three sargam notes that approximate it鈥斺�淕a” (third), 鈥淣i” (seventh) and 鈥淒ha” (sixth)鈥攁nd developed a new melodic theme.

He called this new raga Mohankauns since it was similar to raga Malkauns.

He later used the same raga as a refrain in his score for Richard Attenborough鈥檚 Gandhi.

8.  According to him Woodstock 1969 was his Worst

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His performance at Woodstock (1969) remains one of Shankar鈥檚 great regrets.

He termed it a 鈥渢errifying experience”, where the stoned audience reminded him of 鈥渢he water buffaloes you see in India, submerged in the mud”.

The audience’s reaction to his music disturbed him.

He resumed only when he found agents who organized concerts at classical venues, as opposed to the pop and rock agents who were handling his concerts during the period leading up to Woodstock.

9. Ravi Shankar was the First Indian to Win a Grammy

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Late Indian classical musician Pandit Ravi Shankar won a total of five Grammy Awards, making him the Indian with the most Grammy Awards.

The awards include a Lifetime Achievement Award and an Album of the Year.

Grammy Awards honoured him with a grammy becoming the first  Indian Grammy winner.

Anoushka Shankar and the musician鈥檚 other daughter and singer Norah Jones accepted the posthumous Grammy Award at a special ceremony.

10. Ravi Shankar was the Ambassador of Hindustani Classical Music

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In the course of his long career, Shankar became the world鈥檚 best-known exponent of Hindustani (North Indian) classical music, performing with India鈥檚 most-distinguished percussionists and making dozens of successful recordings.

 Shankar composed the film scores for the Indian director Satyajit Ray鈥檚 famous Apu trilogy (1955鈥�59).

In 1962 he founded the Kinnara School of Music in Bombay (now Mumbai) and then established a second Kinnara School in Los Angeles in 1967; he closed both schools some years later, however, having become disenchanted with institutional teaching.

His influence on Harrison helped popularize the use of Indian instruments in Western pop music in the latter half of the 1960s.

Shankar engaged in Western music by writing compositions for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s.

 He continued to perform until the end of his life.