Vithal Rao Aatmaram Shivpurkar also known as Pandit Vithal Rao (1929 – 25 June 2015) was an Indian classical vocalist. He is considered to have been one of the last few maestros of 'Ghazals' and was the last court singer of the Last Nizam of Hyderabad. He is popular for singing ghazals written by Hyderabad writers, Urdu as well as Hindi ghazals.

Early life

Vithal Rao Aatmaram Shivpurkar popularly known as Vithal Rao or Guruji was born in 1929 in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, India.

Performing career

Vithal Rao was a court musician of the Last Nizam of Hyderabad. He is popular with the noble families of Hyderabad. Among his notable accompanists include Ustad Sardar Khan (tabla). Some of his notable disciples include Kiran Ahluwalia, playback and folk singer

Rahul Sipligunj Rahul Sipligunj (born 22 August 1989) is an Indian playback singer and songwriter working predominantly in Telugu cinema. He became popular with his independent songs on YouTube. Career As independent artist He started his career with online ...

, and ghazal and qawwali singer Chetan Ramlu.

Discography

Some his popular ghazals are: * ''Ek chamele ke mandve tale'' * ''Maine teri aaakho mein pada, sab bhool gaya bus yaad raha sirf Allah hi Allah'' (Sufiana Kalam) * ''Aye mere ham nasheen'' * ''Nindiya Na Aaye'' * ''O Sitamgar Tera Muskurana Kaam Aane Ke Qabil Nahin Hai'' * ''Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan'' * Ghazals of Janab Sayeed Shaheedi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Vithal Indian male ghazal singers Singers from Hyderabad, India 1929 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Indian male classical singers Singers from Andhra Pradesh