Mysuru: Internationally acclaimed sarod maestro Pandit Rajeev Taranath (92) died after a brief illness at a private hospital in Mysuru on Tuesday.
His body will be kept for public viewing from 9 am to 12 noon on Wednesday at his residence in Saraswathipuram.
Pt Rajeev had undergone left hip replacement surgery, following a fracture and was being treated.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condoled his death and stated on X: “His sad demise is a huge loss to not just Karnataka, but the entire world of music. He was not just an artiste, but also a great humanist”.
ಜಗತ್ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ದ ಸರೋದ್ ವಾದಕ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಸುಪುತ್ರ ಪಂಡಿತ ರಾಜೀವ್ ತಾರಾನಾಥ್ ಅವರ ನಿಧನದಿಂದ ದು:ಖಿತನಾಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) June 11, 2024
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಕೀರ್ತಿ ಪತಾಕೆಯನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವದಾದ್ಯಂತ ಹಾರಿಸಿದ ರಾಜೀವ್ ತಾರಾನಾಥರ ಅಗಲಿಕೆ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ ಇಡೀ ಸಂಗೀತಲೋಕಕ್ಕೆ
ತುಂಬಲಾರದ ನಷ್ಟ.
ರಾಜೀವ್ ತಾರಾನಾಥ್ ಖ್ಯಾತ ಸಂಗೀತ ಕಲಾವಿದರು ಮಾತ್ರ… pic.twitter.com/R28P5qp5E6
Pt Rajeev performed in concerts worldwide. He was the first Indian to play sarod in the Opera House of Sydney.
His last Dasara performance in front of the illuminated Mysuru Palace was last year. He had done music direction for several Kannada and Malayalam movies.
He was honored with Padma Shri award (2019), Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy award (2000) and Nadoja award (2018) of Hampi Kannada university.
The Karnataka government had honoured him with Sangeetha Vidwan award (2018), and Karnataka Rajyotsava award (1996). He was a recipient of Karnataka Kalasri award (1983) of Sangeeta Nataka Akademi.
He was born on October 17, 1932 in Bengaluru to freedom fighter Taranath and Sumathi Bai. He secured first rank in BA (honours) at Central College, Bangalore; first rank and gold medal in MA (English) in University of Mysore (UoM) in 1962.
He did PhD in ‘Image in Poetry of T S Eliot’ from UoM, under the guidance of the late C D Narasimhaiah. He taught at Karnatak College, Dharwad in 1964; Regional College of Education in Mysuru from 1965 to 1968; He taught cinema music at the Pune Film Institute from 1981-82. He even served at University of Aden, California University. He served as head of the Indian music programme at world music department of California Institute of Arts from 1995 to 2005.
Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, former CM Basavaraj Bommai and others have condoled his death.