2003-2011 - Legacy of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi receiving the Bharat Ratna from President Pratibha Patil in 2009
A Significant Transition
The period from 2003 to 2011, culminating in the year 2011, marked a significant transition for the festival. Following the passing of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the festival was renamed to 'Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav' to honor both the guru and the disciple, creating a lasting tribute to their relationship and their contributions to Indian classical music.
The Bharat Ratna Honour
On 4 February 2009, President Pratibha Patil personally travelled to Pune to confer the Bharat Ratna—the highest civilian honour of India—on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi at his residence. The quiet ceremony, documented by national media and referenced on Wikipedia, underlined the national recognition of his unmatched contribution to Hindustani classical music.
A Moment of Recognition
The image above captures the intimate moment of that investiture: the President, seated beside the ailing maestro in his Pune home, offers the medal and citation while Joshi—wrapped in a ceremonial shawl—receives the honour with folded hands. The scene spoke to an entire nation about humility, service to art, and the respect that Indian classical music commands at the highest offices.
New Leadership
The responsibility of organizing the festival was taken up by Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal, an organization dedicated to the promotion of classical music. Under the leadership of Shrinivas Joshi, a disciple of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the festival entered a new phase while maintaining its core traditions and values.
The Guru-Shishya Tradition
This transition demonstrated the strength of the guru-shishya parampara. The festival continued not just as a musical event, but as a living embodiment of the teacher-student tradition that is central to Indian classical music. Shrinivas Joshi and the organizing committee worked to ensure that the vision and values of the founder were preserved.
An Unbroken Chain
The renaming of the festival to include both 'Sawai Gandharva' and 'Bhimsen' in the title created a powerful symbol of the unbroken chain of musical tradition, from guru to disciple, and from one generation to the next.
Festival Artists by Year
2007
The following artists performed in the 2007 edition of the festival:
- Smt. Alarmel Valli
- Shri Ulhas Kashalkar
- Shri. Rahul Sharma
- Ustad Sultankhan Saheb
- Ustad Shahid Parvej
- Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
- Pandit Jasraj
- Smt. Malinitai Rajurkar
- Shri Shivanand Patil
- Shri Ajay Pohankar
- Shri Vijay Sardeshmukh
- Ramakantji & Umakantji Gundecha
- Shri. Vinod Digrajkar
- Smt. Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar
- Shri Kaivalyakumar Gurav
- Gaikwad Brothers
- Shri. Vyankateshkumar
- Dr. Smt. Prabha Atre
- Shri. L. Subramanium
- Smt. Sudha Raghunathan
- Shri. Sandeep Apte
- Murad Ali Khan
2008
The following artists performed in the 2008 edition of the festival:
- Tukaram Daithankar
- Pt. Ajay Chakravarti
- Pt. Shivkumar Sharma
- Shri. Suhas Vyas
- Shri. Krishnendra Wadikar
- Shri. Anuj Mishra & Smt. Smruti Mishra
- Smt. Malinitai Rajurkar
- Shri. Prasad Khaparde
- Ustad Arshad Ali
- Pt. Rajan & Sajan Mishra
- Shri. Ganesh & Kumeresh
- Shri. Shrikant Deshpande
- Shri. Madhup Mudgal
- Smt. Madhuri Dandage
- Pandit Jasraj
- Dr. Smt. Prabha Atre
- Pt. Tejendranarayan Mujumdar
- Smt. Aruna Sairam
- Shri. Akhilesh Gundecha
- Pt. Ronu Mujumdar
- Shri. Vinayak Torvi
- Shri. Shrinivas Joshi
- Shri. Vyankateshkumar (PARITOSHIK)
2009
The following artists performed in the 2009 edition of the festival:
- Shri. Pramod Gaikwad
- Pt. Satyasheel Deshpande
- Smt. Devaki Pandit
- Pt. Jasraj
- Smt. Malinitai Rajurkar
- Pt. Hariprasad Chourasia
- Ut. Shahid Parvez
- Shri. Raja Miyan
- Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury
- Shri. Chandrashekar Vaze
- Shri. Nagnath Wodeyar
- Smt. Sanhitanandi
- Pt. Ulas Kashalkar
- Dr. Mallika Sarabhai
- Dr. Prabha Atre
- Shri. Ram Narayan
- Smt. Girija Devi
- Shri. Tarun Bhattacarya
- Shri. Raja Kale
- Shri. Rajendra Kandalgaonkar
- Shri. Shrikant Deshpande
- Shri. Shrinivas Joshi
- Shri. Bhavani Shankar
- Smt. Padma Talwalkar (Paritoshik)
2010
The following artists performed in the 2010 edition of the festival:
- Bhaskar Nath
- Hariprasad Chaurasia
- Parween Sultana
- Bhuvanesh Komkali
- Sudhakar Chavan
- Pandit Jasraj
- Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
- U. Shrinivasan
- Sawani Shende
- Uma Garg
- Ut. Shakir Khan
- Sharad Khaladkar
- Shivkumar Sharma
- Malini Rajurkar
- Shri. Anand Bhate
- Chandrakant Limaye
- Sameer Dublay
- Rajan - Sajan Mishra
- Samanwaya Sarkar
- Debapriya Adhikary
- Shri. Upendra Bhat
- Jaikishan Maharaj
- Padma Talwalkar
- Meena Faterpekar
- Prabha Atre
2011
The following artists performed in the 2011 edition of the festival:
- Shri. Tukaram Daithankar
- Shri. Sanjay Garud
- Shri. Satish Vyas
- Smt. Ashwini Bhide
- Shri. Ajay Pohankar
- Pt. Ronu Majumdar
- Shri. Mahesh Kale
- Smt. Shaila Datar
- Shri. Kadri Gopalnath
- Dr. Balmuralikrishnan
- Shri. Kumar Mardur
- Pt. Jasraj
- Shri. Kartik Seshadri
- Shri. Shankar Mahadevan
- Smt. Yojana Shivanand
- Smt. Malini Rajurkar
- Smt. Shama Bhate
- Ut. Amjad Ali Khan
- Shri. Sudhir Rao
- Shri. Shrinivas Joshi
- Smt. Padma Deshpande
- Dr. Smt. Prabha Atre
- Shri. Vyanteshkumar
- Dr. Smt. N. Rajam
- Shri. Omkar Dadarkar
- Shri. Dr. Nagaraj Rao Hawaldar
- Shri. Vijay Sardeshmukh