Chitravina N Ravikiran (b. 1967)

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Ravikiran was born in 1967 into a musical family, his grandfather Sri K. S. Narayana Iyengar was a renowned gottuvadhyam artiste and his father, Sri Narasimhan, is also a gifted gottuvadhyam artiste and vocalist.

In 1969,at the annual festival of the esteemed Music Academy in Madras, India, the scene was set for a truly sensational occurrence, two-year-old Chitravina N. Ravikiran became the world’s youngest performer ever. He was seated on the stage in front of the respected Experts' Committee of the prestigious Music Academy of Madras, India. The young boy stunned his highly knowledgeable audience by identifying over 325 raga-s (melodic scales) and 175 tala-s (rhythms). He also answered several complex and technical questions on various aspects of South Indian Classical (or, Carnatic) music.

The sitar maestro Pandit Ravishankar's eternal blessings were in the form of his words "If you don’t believe in God, just look at Ravikiran".

The experts stared at a true child prodigy. The Music Academy Journal records this amazing occurrence thus, "With mikes all around him and his hands full of biscuits, all the time playing, the child gave out correct answers." The Experts who were tremendously impressed proposed to award young Ravikiran a monthly stipend of 50 rupees for three years. Within a year Ravikiran had given a vocal performance at the Shanmughananda Sabha in Bombay. By the age of five the young prodigy had a repertoire armoury of over 500 compositions.

Young Ravikiran’s precocious talents were carefully nurtured by his father. By the age of twelve, Ravikiran was already a full-fledged vocal artiste and was given an A-grade ranking in All India Radio. At around this age, he switched over from vocal music to the difficult chitra vina (formerly known as the gottuvadhyam) to prove to sceptics that this instrument was indeed suited to Carnatic music. Within a short time he was a master of the chitra vina as well. Today Ravikiran is considered an unprecedented phenomenon in South Indian Classical (Carnatic) music.

The music of Ravikiran brings out the finest aspects of Carnatic music. His unruffled stately manner on the stage is just one sign of his mastery and mature musicianship. He has a dedication to perfection, always aiming to bring out the finer nuances and graces of Carnatic music. Ravikiran plays in the gayaki or vocal style of Carnatic music, which features fidelity in sruthi and laya. The austerity, traditional purity, and classicism of his musical style have earned him rave reviews from musical purists. NMN, the respected critic who wrote for The Hindu, described him as a 'Sangeetha Gnani' implying self-reverence, self-knowledge and self-control.

Despite his busy musical schedule from a young age, Ravikiran completed his Bachelors degree in Commerce (via correspondence). He has also founded the 'International Foundation for Carnatic Music' (IFCM) to promote and preserve Carnatic music, encourage research, and popularise the appreciation of Carnatic music in other countries. IFCM has extended financial support to a number of musicians, music scholars, organisers and instrument artisans. Ravikiran has written books and articles on music and is a composer of merit also. The 1994 ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ project with blues artist Taj Mahal and Vishwas Mohan Bhatt represents one of his escapades from the reverence of Carnatic classical music tradition, and illustrates the level of diversity that is synonymous with chitravina artist Ravikiran.

Discography

In alphabetical order of the title

Title	Nature	Music / recording	Contents	Label	Other Artists	Year
A Connoisseur'S Dream - Raga Varali	Carnatic Instrumental		Raga Varali	Kalakendra
Gottuvadyam	Carnatic Instrumental			OMI Music
Tribute To Great Masters	Carnatic Instrumental		Hiranmayim; Bagayanayya; Narayana Te; Kamakshi; Ragitandero; Satatam Tavaka	Chhanda Dhara
Vara Raga Laya	Carnatic Instrumental			EMI India
Young Star of Goyyuvadayam	Carnatic Instrumental		Ananda Bhairavi, Hansadhwani, Shankarabharanam, Simhendra Madhyamam, Sindhu Bhairavi	Chhanda Dhara