Pandit Rajshekhar Mansur (16 December 1942 - 1 May 2022), was born into a musical family in Dharwad, Karnataka. As the son and disciple of Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, his musical journey began early. He imbibed his father’s music and the nuances of the Jaipur Atrauli gharana while still a child by listening to his father sing and perform at home and elsewhere. Rajshekhar Mansur ji accompanied his father-guru Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur for 30 years on various platforms across the country. His ta’lim, in keeping with the guru-shishya parampara, progressed in the course of everyday life – living, traveling and performing with Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur. Rajshekhar Mansur ji pursued his teaching career as a Professor of English at the Karnatak University, Dharwad, while also dedicating himself to music. In his career as Professor that spanned 35 years, he guided innumerable students for M. Phil and Doctoral programmes, while also furthering his training and performing along with his father-guru.
I was not fortunate enough to listen to a live concert of Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur. However, when I first heard Rajshekhar Mansur ji live in 2001 at IIT, Delhi, where he was performing for SPIC MACAY, I recall that he sang a beautiful Sawani Nat and the bandish “Anahat naad aparampar…” stayed on in my memory for a long time to come. Subsequently, I heard him several times during his visits to Delhi and developed a friendship with him, following a detailed interview of his that I did for the March-May 2005 edition of The Eye magazine, co-published by SPIC MACAY and Wisdom Tree. It was recently brought to my attention by a few of his students from Bengaluru that he was quite happy with that interview and asked them several times to ensure that it was featured on his website.
In 2012, I invited him for a recital at India International Centre for the Mehfil series which I was curating for the India International Centre, in collaboration with Jnana Pravaha Centre for Cultural Studies & Research, Varanasi and NaadSaagar Archives & Documentation Society for South Asian Music. Given that, by then, I had known him for nearly a decade and had talked to him on innumerable occasions, apart from sitting in on his recording sessions in Delhi for a set of CDs, he had given me enough space to suggest not only the repertoire for the Mehfil itself, but also request him to stay on for a week in Delhi for documentation sessions. These documentation sessions were done under the aegis of NaadSaagar Archives & Documentation Society for South Asian Music, with the generous support of Late Shri Suresh Neotia ji, who had also been kindly supporting the Mehfil series at India International Centre.
The documentation sessions were carried out at the Satish Babbar Studio in Delhi featured the following accompanying artists:
Tabla: Pandit Vinod Lele
Harmonium: Dr. Vinay Mishra
Rajshekhar Mansur ji’s young student in English literature & disciple in music Mithun Chakravarthy was also with me in the recording studio.
In what was to be the first of several more documentation sessions for which Rajshekhar Mansur ji had consented (but alas could not materialise for various reasons), the following 21 ragas were recorded:
1. Raga Gauri (Poorvi-ang): https://youtu.be/vwCoeVJuuXs
2. Raga Pat Bihag: https://youtu.be/DKpXqmLrvz0
3. Raga Nat Kamod: https://youtu.be/_Oq6UFh8k-Y
4. Raga Raisa Kanhra: https://youtu.be/T5KS7JdLml4
5. Raga Hem Nat: https://youtu.be/lR4QXC3OQFM
6. Raga Ek Nishad Bihagda: https://youtu.be/eWo0YrDraEI
7. Raga Kafi Kanhra: https://youtu.be/fPyiY9zcf54
8. Raga Gara Bageshree: https://youtu.be/jcOl4iR4x7I
9. Raga Sorath: https://youtu.be/Q7b7GalnfWY
10. Raga Dhanashree (Multani-ang): https://youtu.be/Y6Mpo_19ROU
11. Raga Bhankar: https://youtu.be/IIJntpItAMw
12. Raga Ramsakh: https://youtu.be/XdCt1cpUisk
13. Raga Devsakh: https://youtu.be/pYVfjCzfHkw
14. Raga Shivmat Bhairav: https://youtu.be/84EI7vZCtW0
15. Raga Margi Bhairav: https://youtu.be/tfdS_fQAOoM
16. Raga Kabiri Bhairav: https://youtu.be/htvoDSsq_1s
17. Raga Jogiya Asawari: https://youtu.be/6WV6Kltd-5Y
18. Raga Khat Todi: https://youtu.be/w_F39x7DssE
19. Raga Sarparda Bilawal: https://youtu.be/y5qO1sw_krk
20. Raga Gandhari: https://youtu.be/yHUYCtn24mo
21. Raga Bilawali: https://youtu.be/fQNROd15q10
Here is a link to the complete playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCoeVJuuXs&list=PLAmsAU2DOhq6wdSG6lIWc7pzmmNucSrhJ&ab_channel=IrfanZuberi
My last set of conversations with Rajshekhar Mansur ji took place at the home of his daughter Kavita Mansur in Bengaluru during October-November 2021 and he was delighted that I was working on a biography of his father-guru Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur ji. It is my pleasure to share these precious recordings with connoisseurs of Indian Classical Music, just over a year after the sad demise of Rajshekhar ji on 1 May 2022.
Recording Courtesy: NaadSaagar Archives & Documentation Society for South Asian Music, Delhi