Buddhadev Das Gupta (1 February 1933 – 15 January 2018) was an Indian classical musician who played the

sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...

. He used to reside in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India. He was one of the artists featured in

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. It specialises in classical music recordings and was the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by C ...

' '' The Raga Guide''.

Early life and training

Buddhadev Das Gupta was born on 1 February 1933 in his maternal home at

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur, historically known as Champapuri, Champa Nagari, is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges river. It is the Bihar#Government and administration, third largest city of Bihar by population and ...

, India to parents Prafulla Mohan Dasgupta and Bhabani Dasgupta. His father was

District Magistrate The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

by profession and an avid lover of music although he never learnt music. Das Gupta stood second in the

Matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

Examination, held in 1948. He then studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the '' Bengal Engineering College'', Shibpur and stood second there, too. Much later in life, on 16 February 2010, the university awarded him an honorary D.Litt. degree. At a very early age, Buddhadev started taking sarod lessons from the sarod

maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

Radhika Mohan Maitra. His first program on the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

was as a guest artist. He eventually performed more than 17 national programs on All India Radio.

Felicitation

In 2011, Das Gupta, was offered the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, but he turned it down saying "it was far too late in the day". In January 2012, he had been conferred with the Padma Bhushan. He was awarded

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 1993 and

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

Tagore Ratna in 2011.

Autobiography

His autobiography '' Bamaner Chandrasparshavilash'' (meaning: "The desire of a

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

to touch the moon"), was periodically published in a Bengali

Magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

" Disha" and has been published in the form of book in 2004 (part-I) and in 2010 (part-II).

Disciples

Buddhadev Das Gupta was the Guru of many established and prominent musicians like Bhabanisankar Dasgupta, Anirban Dasgupta, Abanindra Maitra, Joydeep Ghosh, Atanu Raksit
Debashish BhattacharyaDebasmita BhattacharyaPrattyush BanerjeeSugato NagAbir HossainSoumik DattaSwarnendu Mandal
Arka Roy
Shounak Roy
and many more.

Death

Das Gupta died on 15 January 2018 of cardiac arrest at his residence in South Kolkata. He was 84. He had been suffering from respiratory problems for the last few days. At the time of his death, he was survived by wife and two sons.

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

said his death has created a void in the field of classical music. "A great loss for the world of classical music. Rest in Peace. Condolences to his family," she said in a tweet.

References

External links

*
Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:DasGupta, Buddhadev 1933 births 2018 deaths Hindustani instrumentalists Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sarod players University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Musicians from Bihar Indian male classical musicians People from Bhagalpur Musicians from Kolkata 20th-century Indian male musicians Indian classical musicians of Bengal