:w:en:Ram Narayan

File:Udaipur-citypalace.jpg, Udaipur, where the Maharana of Udaipur held court]]

Ram Narayan was born on 25 December 1927 in Amber village, near Udaipur in northwestern India.{{cite web|url=http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrv146.html |title=Pandit Ram Narayan: 100 colours of sarangi |last=Shanker |first=Vijay |date=11 August 2012 |website=Narthaki |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204203911/http://narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrv146.html |archive-date=4 December 2012 |access-date=30 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}Sorrell 1980, p. 11 His great-great-grandfather, Bagaji Biyavat, was a singer from Amber, and he and Narayan's great-grandfather, Sagad Danji Biyavat, sang at the court of the Maharana of Udaipur. Narayan's grandfather, Har Lalji Biyavat, and father, Nathuji Biyavat, were farmers and singers, Nathuji played the bowed instrument dilruba, and Narayan's mother was a music lover.Sorrell 1980, p. 13

Narayan's first language was Rajasthani and he learned Hindi and, later, English.Qureshi 2007, p. 108Qureshi 2007, p. 109 At the age of six or so he found a small sarangi left by the family's Ganga guru, a genealogist, and was taught a fingering technique developed by his father.Sorrell 1980, p. 14Bor 1987, p. 149 Narayan's father taught him, but was worried about the difficulty of playing the sarangi and its association with courtesan music, which gave the instrument a low social status.Sorrell 2001, p. 637 After a year, Biyavat sought lessons for his son from sarangi player Mehboob Khan of Jaipur, but changed his mind when Khan told him Narayan would have to change his fingering technique. Narayan's father later encouraged him to leave school and devote himself to playing the sarangi.

At about ten years of age, Narayan learned the basics of dhrupad, the oldest genre of Hindustani classical music, by studying and imitating the practice of sarangi player Uday Lal of Udaipur, a student of dhrupad singers Allabande and Zakiruddin Dagar.Bor 1999, p. 180 After Uday Lal died of old age, Narayan met travelling singer Madhav Prasad, originally of Lucknow, who had performed at the court of Maihar.Bor 1987, p. 151Sorrell 1980, p. 15 With Prasad, Narayan enacted the ganda bandhan, a traditional ceremony of acceptance between a teacher and his pupil, in which Narayan swore obedience in exchange for being maintained by Prasad.Sorrell 1980, p. 17

He served Prasad and was taught in khyal, the predominant genre of Hindustani classical music, but returned to Udaipur after four years to teach music school. Prasad later visited Narayan and convinced him to resign his position and dedicate his time to improvement as a musician, although the idea of giving up a steady career was not well received by Narayan's family. He stayed with Prasad and travelled to several Indian states until Prasad fell ill and advised him to learn from singer Abdul Wahid Khan in Lahore.Sorrell 1980, p. 16 Following Prasad's death in Lucknow, Narayan enacted the ganda bandhan with another teacher who gave him lessons, but soon left for Lahore and never performed the ritual again.

Narayan travelled to Lahore in 1943 and auditioned for the local All India Radio (AIR) station as a singer, but the station's music producer, Jivan Lal Mattoo, noticed grooves in Narayan's fingernails: sarangis are played by pressing the fingernails sideways against three playing strings, which strains the nails.Bor 1987, p. 30 Mattoo instead employed Narayan as a sarangi player. Traditionally, the sarangi is supposed to play after the singer and imitate the vocal performance, and play in the space between phrases.Sorrell 1980, p. 21 Mattoo advised Narayan and helped him contact khyal singer Abdul Wahid Khan, a rigorous teacher under whom Narayan learned four ragas through singing lessons.Sorrell 1980, p. 19 Narayan was allowed sporadic solo performances on AIR and began to consider a solo career.Sorrell 1980, p. 20

After the partition of India in 1947, Narayan moved to Delhi and played at the local AIR station. His work for popular singers increased his repertoire and knowledge of styles.Neuhoff 2006, pp. 911–912 Narayan played with the classical singers Omkarnath Thakur, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Hirabai Badodekar, and Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, and he accompanied singer Amir Khan in 1948, when Khan sang for the first time at AIR Delhi following the partition.{{cite news|last=Dhaneshwar |first=Amarendra |title=Saviour of the sarangi, Pandit Ram Narayan |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=18 February 2002 |url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=10069 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100725164600/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=10069 |archive-date=25 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}Qureshi 2007, p. 116 As an accompanist for vocalists, Narayan showed his own talent and came to the foreground. Singers of the city complained that he was not a dependable accompanist and too assertive, but he maintained he wanted to keep vocalists in tune and inspire them in a cordial contest.Sorrell 1980, p. 20–22 Other tabla (percussion) players and singers, including Omkarnath Thakur and Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, expressed admiration for Narayan's playing.Sorrell 1980, p. 22

Narayan became frustrated with his supporting role for vocalists and moved to Mumbai in 1949 to work independently in film music and recording.Sorrell 1980, p. 23Qureshi 2007, p. 107 He recorded three solo 78 rpm gramophone records for His Master's Voice in 1950 and an early ten-inch LP album in Mumbai in 1951, but the album was not in demand.Bor 1987, p. 152{{cite magazine|last=Chandvankar |first=Suresh |title=LP/EP Records |magazine=Screen |date=3 May 2004 |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=7421 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823015040/http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=7421 |archive-date=23 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|first=Soma |last=Ghosh |title=एक जुनून है सारंगी |url=http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/sakhi/?page=article&choice=print_article&category=6&articleid=4702&edition=200811 |date=November 2008 |work=Dainik Jagran |publisher=Yahoo! India |trans-title=Sarangi is a passion |language=hi |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128235900/http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/sakhi/?page=article&choice=print_article&category=6&articleid=4702&edition=200811 |archive-date=28 January 2011 |url-status=dead }} The Mumbai film industry offered a good salary and obscurity for work that would have lowered his stature among classical musicians.Qureshi 2007, p. 17 For the next 15 years he played and composed songs for films, including Adalat, Gunga Jumna, Humdard, Kashmir Ki Kali, Madhumati, Milan, Mughal-e-Azam, and Noor Jehan.Qureshi 2007, p. 119{{cite news|last=Suryanarayan |first=Renuka |title=Sarangi maestro returns to where it began |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=27 October 2002 |url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=33558 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819164715/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=33558 |archive-date=19 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=ramnarayansarangi.com |url=http://ramnarayansarangi.com/interview.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822061436/http://ramnarayansarangi.com/interview.htm |archive-date=22 August 2009 |access-date=25 June 2009 |publisher=Pandit Ram Narayan (Official website)}} [https://ramnarayansarangi.com Alt URL]{{cite web|url=http://dailytimes.com.pk/life-and-style/05-May-17/the-unsung-heroine |title=The unsung heroine |last=Parvez |first=Amjad |date=5 May 2017 |website=Daily Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509000159/http://dailytimes.com.pk/life-and-style/05-May-17/the-unsung-heroine|archive-date=9 May 2017|access-date=14 May 2017|url-status=dead}} For "Chalte Chalte" of 1972 film Pakeezah, composer Ghulam Mohammad made Narayan give 21 takes for the desired effect.{{cite web|url=http://www.millenniumpost.in/amp/sundaypost/inland/ghulam-mohammed-the-percussionist-composer-328826 | website=Millennium Post| title=GHULAM MOHAMMED: The Percussionist Composer|date= 24 November 2018|access-date=6 September 2023}} Narayan was considered a desired choice of film music director O. P. Nayyar.

File:Ram Narayan in New Delhi.jpg in the late 1980s.]]

Narayan performed in Afghanistan in 1952 and in China in 1954 and was well received in both countries.Sorrell 1980, p. 25 His first solo concert at a 1954 music festival in the Cowasji Jehangir Hall, Mumbai, was cut short when an impatient audience, waiting for performances by famous artists, drove him from the stage.Sorrell 1980, p. 24 Narayan pondered giving up the sarangi and becoming a singer. He later regained confidence, performed solo for smaller crowds, and was favourably received in his second attempt to play solo for a Mumbai music festival in 1956. He has since performed at the major music festivals of India. Narayan later gave up accompaniment; this decision carried a financial risk because interest in solo sarangi was not yet substantial.Neuman 1990, pp. 93, 263

After sitar player Ravi Shankar successfully performed in Western countries, Narayan followed his example.Bor 1992, p. 48 He recorded solo albums and made his first international tour in 1964 to America and Europe with his older brother Chatur Lal, a tabla player who had toured with Shankar in the 1950s.Sorrell 1980, p. 26–27 The European tour included performances in France and Germany (sponsored by the Goethe-Institut) and at the City of London Festival, England.{{cite news|title=Narayan To Give Concert Friday Night|newspaper=The Gettysburg Times|date=6 November 1968|page=1|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fEcmAAAAIBAJ&pg=3407,5609965}}

Beginning in the 1960s, Narayan often taught and gave concerts outside of India. On his Western tours he encountered interest in the sarangi because of its similarity to the cello and violin.Roy 2004, p. 206 The tabla player Suresh Talwalkar became a frequent accompanist for Narayan in the late 1960s.{{cite news|title=Narayan, maître du sarangi, en récital à Montréal|language=fr|trans-title=Narayan, master of sarangi, performs in Montreal|newspaper=Le Devoir|date=27 November 1981|page=18|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_DI0AAAAIBAJ&pg=1201,5549775}} The music of Ram Narayan and Chatur Lal is featured in the 1965 anti-war film Good Times, Wonderful Times by American filmmaker Lionel Rogosin.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/dailymotion-x3iwk1s |title=Good Times, Wonderful Times (1966) - Feature (Documentary, Drama, War) |author= |date=21 December 2015 |website=archive.org |access-date=6 September 2023}} Narayan continued to perform and record in India and abroad for the next decades and his recordings appeared on Indian, American, and European labels. During the early 1980s he typically spent months each year visiting Western nations. A 1989 UK performance of Bhairavi was covered by the Kronos Quartet on their 2009 album Floodplain. Narayan performed less frequently in the 2000s and rarely in the 2010s.{{cite news|last=Patil |first=Vrinda |title=Dying strains of sarangi |newspaper=The Tribune |date=9 December 2000 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001209/windows/main2.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820030403/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001209/windows/main2.htm |archive-date=20 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|last=Deb |first=Arunabha |title=Sarangi Is Orphaned |newspaper=Tehelka |date=10 December 2011 |volume=8 |issue=49 |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=hub101211Appraisal.asp |access-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206091116/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=hub101211Appraisal.asp |archive-date= 6 December 2011 |url-status=dead }}

File:Ram Narayan at the Shiraz Arts Festival.ogv at the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran in the 1970s. (Duration: 10:07)]]

Narayan's style is characteristic of Hindustani classical music, but his choice of solo instrument and his background of learning from teachers outside his community were not common for the genre.Sorrell 1980, p. viii He stated that he aimed to please the audience and create a feeling of harmony, and expected the audience to reciprocate by reacting to his playing.Sorrell 1980, p. 29–31

Narayan's performances were strung together from the meditative and measured alap (non-metrical introduction) and jor (performance with pulse) in dhrupad style, followed by a faster and less reserved gat section (composition with rhythmic pattern provided by the tabla) in khyal style.Sorrell 1980, p. 125 He experimented with a style of jhala (performance with rapid pulse) developed by Bundu Khan, but considered it more appropriate for plucked instruments and stopped performing it.Sorrell 1980, p. 111

The gat section included one or two parts with compositions.Sorrell 1980, p. 123 When he used two gats, the first one tended to be at a slow or medium tempo, and the second one was faster; the gats were usually performed in the 16-beat rhythmic cycle tintal.Sorrell 1980, p. 126 Narayan often completed performances with ragas associated with thumri (a popular light classical genre), which are referred to as mishra (Sanskrit: mixed) because they allow for additional notes, or with a dhun (song based on folk music).

Narayan practiced and taught using a limited number of paltas, exercises in a small scale range that are used to prepare playing different numbers of notes per bow.Sorrell 1980, pp. 70–71 Derived from paltas are lengthy note patterns called tans, which contain characteristic "melodic shapes" and were used by Narayan for fast playing.Sorrell 1980, p. 75 He used his left (fingering) hand for runs and to play an extended melodic range, and his right (bowing) hand for rhythmic accentuations. Narayan's fingering technique, his low right hand position, keeping the bow in a close to right angle to the string, and his use of the full bow length, were unusual among sarangi players.Sorrell 1980, p. 63

Magriel described four stylistic choices by Narayan that deviate from tradition and were not commonly adopted by sarangi players: extended alap without accompaniment, replacing the usual fast section of the alap (jhala) with a set of tans, performing gats influenced by an instrumental playing style while the fixed composition is based on vocal performance, and a fast repetition of scales that expands the sound into the higher and lower register as a stylistic device.Magriel 2021, p. 27

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWu9HYgkjjw Full performance of Mishra Des, recorded 1991], YouTube video by Music Today}}

Narayan was associated with the Kirana gharana (stylistic school of Kirana) through Abdul Wahid Khan, but his performance style was not strongly connected to it.Sorrell 1980, p. 27 Most of Narayan's compositions were from the singing repertoire of his teachers and were modified and adapted to the sarangi. He also created original compositions and in performance varied those he was taught.Sorrell 1980, pp. 127–128 Narayan did not favor the creation of new ragas, but developed compound ragas, including those of Nand with Kedar and Kafi with Malhar.

Narayan used a sarangi obtained from Uday Lal and built in Meerut in the 1920s or 1930s in his concerts and recordings.Sorrell 1980, p. 55 He played on foreign harp strings to produce a clearer tone.Neuman 1990, p. 228 Narayan experimented with modifications to his instrument and added a fourth string, but removed it because it hindered playing.Sorrell 1980, p. 56 In the 1940s, he exchanged gut with steel for the first string and found it easier to play, but reverted to using only gut strings because the steel string altered the sound.

File:Ram Narayan May 2007.jpg, Slough, England, in May 2007]]

Narayan increased the status of the sarangi to that of a modern concert solo instrument, made it known outside of India, and was the first sarangi player with international success, an example later followed by Sultan Khan.Slawek 2000, p. 207Bor 1992, p. 78 Narayan's simplified fingering technique allowed for glide (meend)Bor 1987, pp. 34–35 and affected the modern sarangi concert style, as aspects of his playing and tone creation were taken up by sarangi players from Narayan's recordings.

Narayan taught at the American Society for Eastern Arts and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai in the 1970s and 1980s, where he gave the first master class for sarangi.Qureshi 2007, p. 130Qureshi 2007, p. 110 Narayan privately trained sarangi players, including his daughter Aruna Narayan, his grandson Harsh Narayan, and Vasanti Srikhande.Qureshi 2007, p. 126Qureshi 2007, p. 133{{cite news|last=Pratap |first=Jitendra |title=Juggling with jugalbandis |newspaper=The Hindu |date=7 October 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/07/stories/2005100702400200.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822105217/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/07/stories/2005100702400200.htm |archive-date=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead }} He also taught sarod players,{{cite news|title=Magic in his fingers |publisher=Screen |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=6637 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822065905/http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=6637 |archive-date=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|last=Sharma |first=S. D. |title=Basant beats |newspaper=The Tribune |date=5 February 2009 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090205/ttlife1.htm#8 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412040405/http://tribuneindia.com/2009/20090205/ttlife1.htm |archive-date=12 April 2009 |url-status=dead }} including his son Brij Narayan, as well as vocalists{{cite news|last=Govind |first=Ranjani |title=Varied emotions |date=1 May 2008 |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/03/01/stories/2008030151000400.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822070402/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/03/01/stories/2008030151000400.htm |archive-date=22 August 2009 |newspaper=The Hindu |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|last=Rajan |first=Anjana |title=When the skylark sings |date=18 February 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/yw/2005/02/18/stories/2005021801090300.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821075418/http://www.hindu.com/yw/2005/02/18/stories/2005021801090300.htm |archive-date=21 August 2009 |newspaper=The Hindu |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=Quality music is forever |newspaper=The Tribune |date=3 November 2000 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001104/ldh2.htm#2 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415055540/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001104/ldh2.htm |archive-date=15 April 2009 |url-status=dead }} and a violinist.{{cite news|last=Sinha |first=Manjari |title=Tunes of friendship |date=27 February 2009 |url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/02/27/stories/2009022750750200.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308150314/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/02/27/stories/2009022750750200.htm |archive-date=8 March 2009 |newspaper=The Hindu |url-status=dead }} In 2002, he taught 15 Indian students and more than 500 students in the United States and Europe had studied with him.{{cite news|last=Suryanarayan |first=Renuka |title=Sarangi at its best |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=7 September 2002 |url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=28762 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819164649/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=28762 |archive-date=19 August 2009 |url-status=dead }} Indian music in performance: a practical introduction, released in 1980 by Neil Sorrell in cooperation with Narayan, was described as "one of the best presentations on modern North Indian music practice" by Hans Neuhoff in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.

{{Quote box|quote=My mission was to obliterate the blemish which the sarangi carried due to its social origins. I hope I have succeeded in this.|source=Ram Narayan, quoted in The Indian Express|width=20%|align=left}}

Narayan argued that appreciation of the sarangi and him came only after acknowledgment by the Western audience.{{cite news|last=Sharma |first=S. D. |title=Sarangi maestro calls present music soulless drudgery |newspaper=The Tribune |date=28 February 2008 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080229/cth2.htm#14 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430235804/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080229/cth2.htm |archive-date=30 April 2010 |url-status=dead }} He attributed the lack of sarangi students to a lack of competent teachers and said that the Indian government should assist in preserving the instrument.Bor 1987, p. 118 The Pt (Pandit) Ram Narayan Foundation in Mumbai awards scholarships to sarangi students.{{cite news|last=Tandon |first=Aditi |title=Preserving traditional melodies |newspaper=The Tribune |date=25 March 2006 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/cth2.htm#7 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820030409/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/cth2.htm |archive-date=20 August 2009 |url-status=dead }} Narayan has stated he was skeptical the sarangi would survive and said he would never give up promoting the instrument.{{cite magazine |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pandit-ram-narayan-dedicates-padma-vibhushan-award/1/193919.html |title=Solo success |author=S. Sahaya Ranjit |date=25 April 2005 |magazine=India Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616234623/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pandit-ram-narayan-dedicates-padma-vibhushan-award/1/193919.html |archive-date=16 June 2022 |access-date=3 October 2017 |url-status=dead}}

Narayan received the national awards Padma Shri in 1976, Padma Bhushan in 1991, and Padma Vibhushan in 2005.{{cite web|title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Communications and Information Technology |url=http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=0&award_year=&state=MH&field=3&p_name=Narayan&award=All |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314051235/http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=0&award_year=&state=MH&field=3&p_name=Narayan&award=All |archive-date=14 March 2012 |url-status=dead }} The Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, was presented by Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.{{cite news|title=President presents Padma awards |date=29 March 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/29/stories/2005032909011200.htm |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822130739/http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/29/stories/2005032909011200.htm |archive-date=22 August 2009 |newspaper=The Hindu |url-status=dead }} Narayan was awarded the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1974–75 and the national Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1975, and was made a fellow of the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi for 1988–89.{{cite web|title=Awardees |publisher=Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi |url=http://sangeetnatakakademi.org/awardees.html |access-date=13 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522010310/http://sangeetnatakakademi.org/awardees.html |archive-date= 22 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=SNA: List of Akademi Awardees – Instrumental – Sarangi |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |url=http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm#InstrumentalSarangi |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417012651/http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm |archive-date=17 April 2010 |url-status=dead }} He received the Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1991–92 and was presented with the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar in 1999 by P. C. Alexander, governor of Maharashtra.{{cite web|year=2006 |url=http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/hindi/award/kalidas.asp |title=राष्ट्रीय कालिदास सम्मान |language=hi |trans-title=Rashtriya Kalidas Samman |publisher=Department of Public Relations of Madhya Pradesh |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923005204/http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/hindi/award/kalidas.asp |archive-date=23 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=Sarangi maestro Pt Ram Narayan gets Aditya Birla award |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=15 November 1999 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19991115/ige15088.html |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820030919/http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19991115/ige15088.html |archive-date=20 August 2009 |url-status=dead }} He received the Rajasthan Ratna for 2013, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Honour – Classical at the 4th Global Indian Music Academy Awards 2014, and was awarded the Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015–2016 in the field of classical music by the government of Maharashtra.{{cite news|title=Govt selects 7 persons for Rajasthan Ratna Award 2013 |agency=Press Trust of India |publisher=CNN-IBN |date=16 August 2013 |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-selects-7-persons-for-rajasthan-ratna-award-2013/414669-3-239.html |access-date=8 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018005850/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-selects-7-persons-for-rajasthan-ratna-award-2013/414669-3-239.html |archive-date= 18 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Mishra |first=Ambarish |date=5 February 2016 |title=State accolade for man who brought sarangi out of kothas & on to stage |newspaper=The Times of India|publisher=The Times Group |page=10}} The biographical film Pandit Ramnarayan – Sarangi Ke Sang was shown at the 2007 International Film Festival of India.{{cite news|title=Films about India's creative legends at IFFI|agency=Indo-Asian News Service|work=Hindustan Times|date=28 November 2007|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1389699451.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025211701/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1389699451.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 October 2012|access-date=22 June 2009}} A sarangi owned by Narayan is on display in a gallery of musical instruments of the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha in Mumbai as of December 2020.{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/79612120.cms |title=Mumbai: Shanmukhananda curates gallery of musical instruments by vintage artist |last=Jaisinghani |first=Bella |date=7 December 2020 |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=26 July 2021}} He was honored with the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards "Legend" in 2024{{Cite web |title=Sur Jyotsna |url=https://www.surjyotsna.org/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZgovYG_duI3ML89C6HoaNUPqoxdSu1B1q9-nLLx7rOF4hjWkIBJRtE2Es_aem_zQlP45HPPN8_epMuEL7TGQ |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=www.surjyotsna.org}}

File:Ram and Aruna Narayan 2009 crop.jpg, London, in 2009.]]

Narayan shared a close relationship with his older brother, Chatur Lal, who learned the tabla primarily to accompany his brother's sarangi playing. Lal studied under tabla teachers in his youth, but later turned to farming. Lal visited Narayan in 1948 in Delhi after Narayan had become a professional sarangi player, and Narayan convinced Lal to work as a tabla player at the local AIR station.

Lal became an acclaimed musician, toured with instrumentalists Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan in the 1950s, and helped popularise the tabla in Western countries.Naimpalli 2005, p. 107 When Lal died in October 1965, Narayan had difficulty performing and struggled with alcoholism, but overcame the addiction after two years. Narayan assisted his brother's four children after their father's death. Chatur Lal's son, Charanjit Lal Biyavat, is a tabla player and has toured Europe with Narayan.Sorrell 1980, p. 28

Narayan's wife Sheela, a homemaker, came to Mumbai in the 1950s; they had four children.Qureshi 2007, p. 131 She died prior to 2001. His oldest son, sarod player Brij Narayan, was born on 25 April 1952 in Udaipur, and his daughter Aruna Narayan was born in 1959 in Mumbai.{{cite AV media notes |title=Raga Bairagi Bhairav, Raga Shuddh Sarang, Raga Madhuvanti |others=Aruna Narayan |year=1995 |chapter=The sarangi today |first=Jane |last=Harvey |page=5 |type=CD booklet |publisher=Nimbus Records |id=NI 5447 |location=United Kingdom}} She was the first woman to give a solo sarangi concert and emigrated to Canada in 1984.{{cite news|last=Nair |first=Malini |title=Serenading solo |newspaper=Daily News & Analysis |date=10 March 2010 |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_female-frontiers_1357319 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923161134/http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_female-frontiers_1357319 |archive-date=23 September 2012 |url-status=dead }} Another son, Shiv, who is a year younger than Aruna, learned to play the tabla, and toured Australia with his father.{{cite news|last=Murdoch|first=Anna|title=Music lesson for the West|newspaper=The Age|date=22 September 1986|page=14|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vbMnAAAAIBAJ&pg=2234,124944}} Brij Narayan's son, Harsh Narayan, plays the sarangi. In 2009, Narayan performed at BBC's The Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Aruna, and he played at the 2010 Sawai Gandharva Music Festival, Pune, with Harsh.{{cite news|last=Hewett |first=Ivan |title=BBC Proms 2009: Indian Voices – review |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 August 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/6044228/BBC-Proms-2009-Indian-Voices-review.html |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114184758/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/6044228/BBC-Proms-2009-Indian-Voices-review.html |archive-date=14 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=Sarangi, sitar maestros regale Puneites|work=The Times of India|date=11 January 2010 |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-11/pune/28129351_1_sitar-tabla-girija-devi |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811025259/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/-Sarangi-sitar-maestros-regale-Puneites/articleshow/5431478.cms |archive-date=11 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Narayan was a Hindu and had stated "music is my religion", arguing that there was no better access to divinity than music. He died on 9 November 2024, at the age of 96, in his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. His funeral was performed with state honors.{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/music/story/legendary-sarangi-player-pandit-ram-narayan-dies-at-96-2630861-2024-11-09 |title=Legendary sarangi player Pandit Ram Narayan dies at 96 |author= |date=9 November 2024 |publisher=India Today |access-date=9 November 2024}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/police-personnel-performed-full-state-honors-during-nachrichtenfoto/2183204135 |title=Legendary Sarangi Player Pandit Ram Narayan Dies At 96 |author= |date=9 November 2024 |website=Hindustan Times |publisher=Getty Images |access-date=10 November 2024}}

{{main|Ram Narayan discography}}

• {{Cite book |title=Indian music in performance: a practical introduction |last=Sorrell |first=Neil |author2=Narayan, Ram |year=1980 | publisher=Manchester University Press | isbn=978-0-7190-0756-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Narayan |first=Ram |title=एक सुर मेरा एक सारंगी का |trans-title=A tune of mine, one of the sarangi |year=2009 |publisher=Kitabghar Prakashan |location=New Delhi |language=hi |isbn=978-81-907221-2-4}}

• {{Portal inline|India}}
• {{Portal inline|Music}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Bor |first=Joep |date=1 March 1987 |title=The Voice of the Sarangi |journal=Quarterly Journal |volume=15, 16 |issue=3, 4; 1 }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Bor |first1=Joep |last2=Bruguiere |first2=Philippe |year=1992 |title=Masters of Raga |location=Berlin |publisher=Haus der Kulturen der Welt |isbn=978-3-8030-0501-4}}
• {{Cite book |last=Bor |first=Joep |last2=Rao |first2=Suvarnalata |last3=Van der Meer |first3=Wim |last4=Harvey |first4=Jane |year=1999 |title=The Raga Guide |title-link=The Raga Guide |publisher=Nimbus Records |isbn=978-0-9543976-0-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Magriel |first=Nicolas |year=2021 |title=Sarangi Style in Hindustani Music |publisher=International Music Education Research Centre (iMerc) Press |isbn=9781905351398}}
• {{Cite book |last=Naimpalli |first=Sadanand |year=2005 |title=Theory and Practice of Tabla |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7991-149-5}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Neuhoff |first=Hans |year=2006 |title=Narayan, Ram |editor=Finscher, Ludwig |encyclopedia=Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart |language=de |volume=12 |edition=2nd |publisher=Bärenreiter |isbn=978-3-7618-1122-1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Neuman |first=Daniel M. |year=1990 |orig-date=1980 |title=The Life of Music in North India |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofmusicinnor00neum |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-57516-2 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Qureshi |first=Regula Burckhardt |year=2007 |title=Master Musicians of India: Hereditary Sarangi Players Speak |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-97202-4}}
• {{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Ashok |year=2004 |title=Music Makers: Living Legends of Indian Classical Music |publisher=Rupa & Co. |isbn=978-81-291-0319-2 }}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Slawek |first=Stephen |title=Hindustani Instrumental Music |year=2000 |editor=Arnold, Alison |encyclopedia=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent |volume=5 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Sorrell |first1=Neil |last2=Narayan |first2=Ram |year=1980 |title=Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction | publisher=Manchester University Press | isbn=978-0-7190-0756-9 }}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Sorrell |first=Neil |title=Narayan, Ram |year=2001 |editor=Sadie, Stanley |encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |edition=2nd |volume=17 |location=London |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |isbn=978-0-333-60800-5}}

{{Sister project links|wikt=no|b=no|q=Ram Narayan|s=no|commons=Ram Narayan|n=no|v=no|species=no}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224183330/http://ramnarayansarangi.com/ Archived official website]
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000330264}}
• {{Discogs artist|Ram Narayan}}
• {{IMDb name | 0621256}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1990–99}}

{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayan, Ram}}

Category:1927 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century Indian male musicians

Category:All India Radio people

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Hindustani instrumentalists

Category:Indian Hindus

Category:Indian male classical musicians

Category:Musicians from Mumbai

Category:People from Udaipur district

Category:Rajasthani people

Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts

Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts

Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts

Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Category:Sarangi players