Ravi Shankar

Shankar was born on 7 April 1920 in Benares (now Varanasi), then the capital of the princely state of the same name, in a Bengali Hindu family, as the youngest of seven brothers.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 48.{{cite news |last=Hunt |first=Ken |title=Ravi Shankar – Biography |work=AllMusic |url={{AllMusic |class=artist |id=ravi-shankar-p3434/biography |pure_url=yes}} |access-date=15 July 2009}}Massey 1996, p. 159. His father, Shyam Shankar Chowdhury, was a Middle Temple barrister and scholar who was originally from Jessore district in Bengal (now Narail district, Bangladesh). A respected statesman, lawyer and politician, he served for several years as dewan (Prime Minister) of Jhalawar State, Rajasthan, and used the Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part.Ghosh 1983, p. 7. Shyam was married to Hemangini Devi who hailed from a small village named Nasrathpur in Mardah block of Ghazipur district, near Benares and her father was a prosperous landlord. Shyam later worked as a lawyer in London, England, and there he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Benares and did not meet his son until he was eight years old.

Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun". Shankar had five siblings: Uday (who became a choreographer and dancer), Rajendra, Debendra and Bhupendra. Shankar attended the Bengalitola High School in Benares between 1927 and 1928.{{cite web |title=Shankar, Ravi (Biography) |url=http://www.designbluemanila.com/test/rmaf/main/awardees/awardee/biography/123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006153100/http://www.designbluemanila.com/test/rmaf/main/awardees/awardee/biography/123 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 October 2015 |website=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation |access-date=6 October 2015}}

At the age of 10, after spending his first decade in Benares, Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar.Slawek 2001, pp. 202–203.Ghosh 1983, p. 55. By the age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance, and play various Indian instruments. Uday's dance group travelled Europe and the United States in the early to mid-1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, cinema and became acquainted with Western customs.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 50. Shankar heard Allauddin Khan – the lead musician at the court of the princely state of Maihar – play at a music conference in December 1934 in Calcutta, and Uday persuaded the Maharaja of Maihar H.H. Maharaja Brijnath Singh Judev in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe. Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and come to Maihar.

File:Satyajit Ray with Ravi Sankar recording for Pather Panchali.jpg for the sound production of Pather Panchali (1955)]]

Shankar's parents had died by the time he returned from the Europe tour, and touring the West had become difficult because of political conflicts that would lead to World War II.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 51. Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system. Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar, learned ragas and the musical styles dhrupad, dhamar, and khyal, and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena, rubab, and sursingar.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 52. He often studied with Khan's children Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi. Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 53.

Shankar completed his training in 1944. He moved to Mumbai and joined the Indian People's Theatre Association, for whom he composed music for ballets in 1945 and 1946, Dharti Ke Lal, 1946.Ghosh 1983, p. 57. Shankar recomposed the music for the popular song "Sare Jahan Se Achcha" at the age of 25.Sharma 2007, pp. 163–164.{{cite web|last=Deb|first=Arunabha|title=Ravi Shankar: 10 interesting facts|work=Mint|date=26 February 2009|url=http://www.livemint.com/2009/02/26212701/Ravi-Shankar-10-interesting-f.html|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=14 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614145024/http://www.livemint.com/2009/02/26212701/Ravi-Shankar-10-interesting-f.html|url-status=live}} He began to record music for His Master's Voice and worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 until January 1956. Shankar founded the Indian National Orchestra at AIR and composed for it; in his compositions he combined Western and classical Indian instrumentation.Lavezzoli 2Ravi ShankarRavi ShankarRavi Shankar006, p. 56. Beginning in the mid-1950s he composed the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, which became internationally acclaimed.{{cite magazine|last=Schickel|first=Richard|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953142_1953289,00.html|title=The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)|date=12 February 2005|access-date=14 October 2010|magazine=Time|archive-date=13 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013113055/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953142_1953289,00.html|url-status=dead}} He was music director for several Hindi movies including Godaan and Anuradha.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/capital-closeup/2012/12/12/a-lesser-known-side-of-ravi-shankar/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214055929/http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/capital-closeup/2012/12/12/a-lesser-known-side-of-ravi-shankar/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 December 2012 |title=A lesser known side of Ravi Shankar |work=Hindustan Times |date=12 December 2012 |access-date=12 December 2012 }}

File:Ravi Shankar flier front.jpg

V. K. Narayana Menon, director of AIR Delhi, introduced the Western violinist Yehudi Menuhin to Shankar during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 47. Shankar had performed as part of a cultural delegation in the Soviet Union in 1954 and Menuhin invited Shankar in 1955 to perform in New York City for a demonstration of Indian classical music, sponsored by the Ford Foundation.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 57.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 58.{{efn|Shankar declined to attend because of problems in his marriage, but recommended Ali Akbar Khan to play instead. Khan reluctantly accepted and performed with tabla (percussion) player Chatur Lal in the Museum of Modern Art, and he later became the first Indian classical musician to perform on American television and record a full raga performance, for Angel Records.Lavezzoli 2006, pp. 58–59.}}

Shankar heard about the positive response Khan received and resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 61. He played for smaller audiences and educated them about Indian music, incorporating ragas from the South Indian Carnatic music in his performances, and recorded his first LP album Three Ragas in London, released in 1956. In 1958, Shankar participated in the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO music festival in Paris. From 1961, he toured Europe, the United States, and Australia, and became the first Indian to compose music for non-Indian films.{{efn|Chatur Lal accompanied Shankar on tabla until 1962, when Alla Rakha assumed the role.}} Shankar founded the Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai in 1962.Brockhaus, p. 199.

Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label. The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of the Beatles.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 62.{{Cite web |url=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-121212-ravi-da-04.photoblog900.jpg |title=Photo of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar |access-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510071902/http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-121212-ravi-da-04.photoblog900.jpg |archive-date=10 May 2017 |url-status=dead }} In 1967, Shankar performed a well-received set at the Monterey Pop Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://philipgoldberg.com/wp-content/uploads/ravi-header.jpg|title=Photo of Ravi Shankar performing in late 1960s|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-date=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802032755/http://philipgoldberg.com/wp-content/uploads/ravi-header.jpg|url-status=live}}{{Pop Chronicles|47}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk60ObnbIOk Ravi Shankar performing at the Monterey Pop (June 1967)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016202541/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk60ObnbIOk |date=16 October 2016 }}, 18 min. While complimentary of the talents of several of the rock artists at the festival, he said he was "horrified" to see Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar on stage:video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5dvC5qr6Y "Jimi Hendrix Sets Guitar On Fire at Monterey Pop Festival, 1967"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001202152/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5dvC5qr6Y |date=1 October 2016 }} "That was too much for me. In our culture, we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God."[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-20690632 "Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar maestro, dies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602135139/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-20690632 |date=2 June 2018 }}, BBC, 12 December 2012. Shankar's live album from Monterey peaked at number 43 on Billboard{{'}}s pop LPs chart in the US, which remains the highest placing he achieved on that chart.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1481439/ravi-shankars-impact-on-pop-music-an-appreciation|last=Gallo|first=Phil|title=Ravi Shankar's Impact on Pop Music: An Appreciation|date=12 December 2012|magazine=billboard.com|access-date=26 July 2017|archive-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024011302/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1481439/ravi-shankars-impact-on-pop-music-an-appreciation|url-status=live}}

Shankar won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin.{{Cite web |url=http://www.musicrecordshop.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/8/2/825646484157_1.jpg |title="West Meets East" album cover |access-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018212613/http://www.musicrecordshop.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/8/2/825646484157_1.jpg |archive-date=18 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Past Winners Search|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=Shankar&title=&year=All&genre=All|access-date=7 June 2011|archive-date=25 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925205029/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=Shankar&title=&year=All&genre=All|url-status=live}} He opened a Western branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, in May 1967, and published an autobiography, My Music, My Life, in 1968. In 1968, he composed the score for the film Charly.

He performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and found he disliked the venue. In the late 1960s, Shankar distanced himself from the hippie movement and drug culture.{{cite news|last=O'Mahony|first=John|title=Ravi Shankar bids Europe adieu|work=The Taipei Times|location=UK|date=8 June 2008|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2008/06/08/2003414118|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=23 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823120732/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2008/06/08/2003414118|url-status=live}} He explained during an interview:

{{blockquote|It makes me feel rather hurt when I see the association of drugs with our music. The music to us is religion. The quickest way to reach godliness is through music. I don't like the association of one bad thing with the music.Independent Star-News, Associated Press interview, 4 November 1967.}}

In October 1970, Shankar became chair of the Department of Indian Music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music.Ghosh 1983, p. 56. In late 1970, the London Symphony Orchestra invited Shankar to compose a concerto with sitar. Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra was performed with André Previn as conductor and Shankar playing the sitar.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 221.{{efn|Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has criticized the usage of the orchestra in this concerto as "amateurish".Neuhoff 2006, pp. 672–673.}} Shankar performed at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, held at Madison Square Garden in New York. After the musicians had tuned up on stage for over a minute, the crowd of rock-music fans broke into applause, to which the amused Shankar responded, "If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy the playing more." which confused the audience. Still, the audience well received the subsequent performance.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/sitar-virtuoso-ravi-shankar-dies-at-92-1.1195654|title=Sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar dies at 92|author=Associated Press|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=11 December 2012|access-date=15 July 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715180334/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/sitar-virtuoso-ravi-shankar-dies-at-92-1.1195654|archive-date=15 July 2022|quote="Shankar was amused after he and colleague Ustad Ali Akbar Khan were greeted with admiring applause when they opened the Concert for Bangladesh by twanging their sitar and sarod for a minute and a half. 'If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy the playing more,' he told the confused crowd, and then launched into his set."}} Although interest in Indian music had decreased in the early 1970s, the live album from the concert became one of the best-selling recordings to feature the genre and won Shankar a second Grammy Award.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 66.

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| quote = As for Shankar and the sitar, they are extensions one of the other, each seeming to enter into the other's soul in one of the world's supreme musical arts. It is a thing inimitable, beyond words and forever new. For, as Shankar explained, 90 percent of all the music played was improvised.

| source =  – Paul Hume, music editor for Washington PostHume, Paul. "A Sensational Jam Session with India's Ravi Shankar", Washington Post, 11 September 1968.

}}

In November and December 1974, Shankar co-headlined a North American tour with George Harrison. The demanding schedule weakened his health, and he suffered a heart attack in Chicago, causing him to miss a portion of the tour.Lavezzoli 2006, pp. 195–96.{{efn|In his absence, Shankar's sister-in-law, singer Lakshmi Shankar, conducted the touring orchestra.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 196.}} Harrison, Shankar and members of the touring band visited the White House on invitation of John Gardner Ford, son of US president Gerald Ford. Shankar toured and taught for the remainder of the 1970s and the 1980s and released his second concerto, Raga Mala, conducted by Zubin Mehta, in 1981.{{Cite web|url=http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/following-the-first-performance-of-his-concerto-no-2-for-sitar-and-picture-id159634420|title=Photo of Ravi Shankar with conductor Zubin Mehta joking around after a concert|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-date=18 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018222330/http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/following-the-first-performance-of-his-concerto-no-2-for-sitar-and-picture-id159634420|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Rogers|first=Adam|title=Where Are They Now?|work=Newsweek|date=8 August 1994|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/NWEC/lib00285,0EC05F4D76C65508.html|access-date=10 July 2009}}Lavezzoli 2006, p. 222. Shankar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on the 1982 movie Gandhi.{{efn|Shankar lost to John Williams' ET{{cite news|title=Ravi Shankar remains true to his Eastern musical ethos|work=South Florida Sun-Sentinel|date=19 April 2005|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-9117516.html|access-date=18 July 2009 | first=Sean | last=Piccoli}}}}

He performed in Moscow in 1988,{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVVCjRE3as|title=Ravi Shankar – Inside the Kremlin|website=YouTube|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=13 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713010942/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVVCjRE3as|url-status=live}} with 140 musicians, including the Russian Folk Ensemble and members of the Moscow Philharmonic, along with his own group of Indian musicians.

He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, from 12 May 1986 to 11 May 1992, after being nominated by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.{{cite web|title='Rajya Sabha Members'/Biographical Sketches 1952 – 2003|publisher=Rajya Sabha|date=6 January 2004|url=http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/r.pdf|access-date=29 July 2010|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725110253/https://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/r.pdf|url-status=live}} Shankar composed the dance drama Ghanashyam in 1989. His liberal views on musical co-operation led him to contemporary composer Philip Glass, with whom he released an album, Passages, in 1990, in a project initiated by Peter Baumann of the band Tangerine Dream.

File:Ravi and Anoushka Shankar 2007.jpg in 2007]]

Because of the positive response to Shankar's 1996 career compilation In Celebration, Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 197. He performed between 25 and 40 concerts every year during the late 1990s. Shankar taught his daughter Anoushka Shankar to play sitar and in 1997 became a Regents' Professor at University of California, San Diego.{{cite news|title=Shankar advances her music|work=The Washington Times|date=16 November 1999|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/WT/lib00179,0EB0F3E288AD65E1.html|access-date=4 November 2009|archive-date=11 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011193750/https://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0F3E288AD65E1&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Legendary Virtuoso Sitarist Rave Shankar Accepts Regents' Professor Appointment at University of California, San Diego|work=UCSDnews|date=18 September 1997|url=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/arts/shankar.html|access-date=11 December 2014|archive-date=16 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216234325/http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/arts/shankar.html|url-status=live}}

He performed with Anoushka for the BBC in 1997 at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, England.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xB_X9BOAOU#t=33.274013|title=Ravi Shankar & Anoushka Shankar Live: Raag Khamaj (1997)|website=YouTube|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=25 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125003734/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xB_X9BOAOU#t=33.274013|url-status=live}} In the 2000s, he won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 and toured with Anoushka, who released a book about her father, Bapi: Love of My Life, in 2002.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 411.{{efn|Anoushka performed a composition by Shankar for the 2002 Harrison memorial Concert for George and Shankar wrote a third concerto for sitar and orchestra for Anoushka and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.{{cite news|last=Idato|first=Michael|title=Concert for George|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=9 April 2004|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/08/1081326843156.html|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=3 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103061845/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/08/1081326843156.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Anoushka enthralls at New York show|work=The Hindu|location=India|date=4 February 2009|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200902041040.htm|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105132244/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200902041040.htm|url-status=live}}}} After George Harrison's death in 2001, Shankar performed at the Concert for George, a celebration of Harrison's music staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2002.video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG5EdoxBVt0 Concert for George, at the Royal Albert Hall, 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424064839/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG5EdoxBVt0 |date=24 April 2017 }}

In June 2008, Shankar played what was billed as his last European concert, but his 2011 tour included dates in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|last=Barnett|first=Laura|title=Portrait of the artist: Ravi Shankar, musician|newspaper=The Guardian|date=6 June 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jun/06/ravi-shankar-musician|access-date=7 June 2011|archive-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228034939/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jun/06/ravi-shankar-musician|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/41395269.cms|title=Photo of Ravi Shankar (3rd from left) and his wife Sukanya Shankar with former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (2nd from left) and Ringo Starr (right).|website=The Times of India|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521155125/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/41395269.cms|url-status=live}}

On 1 July 2010, at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, London, England, Anoushka Shankar, on sitar, performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Murphy, which was billed the first Symphony by Ravi Shankar.{{efn|This performance was recorded and is available on CD.{{cite web|url=http://londonphilharmonic.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/new-album-ravi-shankar-symphony-exclusive-on-itunes/|title=New album: Ravi Shankar Symphony – exclusive on iTunes – London Philharmonic Orchestra News|work=London Philharmonic Orchestra News|access-date=6 May 2015|archive-date=16 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316165724/https://londonphilharmonic.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/new-album-ravi-shankar-symphony-exclusive-on-itunes/|url-status=live}} The website of the Ravi Shankar Foundation provides the information that "The symphony was written in Indian notation in 2010, and has been interpreted by his student and conductor, David Murphy."{{cite web|url=http://www.ravishankar.org/|title=Ravi Shankar|access-date=6 May 2015|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226102614/http://ravishankar.org/|url-status=live}} The information available on the website does not explain this process of "interpretation" of Ravi Shankar's notation by David Murphy, nor how Ravi Shankar's Indian notation could accommodate Western orchestral writing.}}

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File:Musicians Ravi Shankar and George Harrison in Los Angeles, Calif., 1967.jpg

The Beatles' guitarist George Harrison, who was first introduced to Shankar's music by the American singers Roger McGuinn and David Crosby,Thomson, Graeme. George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door, Overlook-Omnibus (2016) {{ISBN|1468313932}}{{rp|113}} themselves big fans of Shankar, became influenced by Shankar's music. Harrison went on to help popularize Shankar and the use of Indian instruments in pop music throughout the 1960s.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 9.{{cite book |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Robert |title=Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980 |date=2010 |publisher=Backbeat Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87930-968-8|page=235}} Olivia Harrison explains:

{{blockquote|When George heard Indian music, that really was the trigger, it was like a bell that went off in his head. It not only awakened a desire to hear more music, but also to understand what was going on in Indian philosophy. It was a unique diversion.{{rp|114}}}}

Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".Schaffner 1980, p. 64. In 1968, he went to India to take lessons from Shankar, some of which were captured on film.video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxI6IkH9Mvo "Ravi Shankar teaches George Harrison how to play sitar in 1968] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124230112/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxI6IkH9Mvo |date=24 November 2016 }} This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and popularised the raga rock trend. As the sitar and Indian music grew in popularity, groups such as the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Byrds began using it in some of their songs.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/arts/music/ravi-shankar-indian-sitarist-dies-at-92.html?hp "Ravi Shankar, Sitarist Who Introduced Indian Music to the West, Dies at 92"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106063608/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/arts/music/ravi-shankar-indian-sitarist-dies-at-92.html?hp |date=6 January 2018 }}, New York Times, 12 December 2012. The influence even extended to blues musicians such as Michael Bloomfield, who created a raga-influenced improvisation number, "East-West" (Bloomfield scholars have cited its working title as "The Raga" when Bloomfield and his collaborator Nick Gravenites began to develop the idea) for the Butterfield Blues Band in 1966.

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| quote = I think Ravi was rather taken aback, because he was a classical musician, and rock and roll was really out of his sphere. He thought it rather amusing that George took to him so much, but he and George really bonded. Ravi realised that it wasn't just a fashion for George, that he had dedication. Ravi had such integrity, and was someone to be respected, and at the same time huge fun. George hadn't really met anyone like that, and he really encouraged his interest.

| source = – Patti Boyd{{rp|119}}

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Harrison met Shankar in London in June 1966 and visited India later that year for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar in Srinagar.{{cite news|last=Glass|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Glass|title=George Harrison, World-Music Catalyst And Great-Souled Man; Open to the Influence of Unfamiliar Cultures|work=The New York Times|date=9 December 2001|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/arts/george-harrison-world-music-catalyst-great-souled-man-open-influence-unfamiliar.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=16 July 2009|archive-date=9 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609222839/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/arts/george-harrison-world-music-catalyst-great-souled-man-open-influence-unfamiliar.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|title=George Harrison, 'Quiet Beatle' And Lead Guitarist, Dies at 58|work=The New York Times|date=1 December 2001|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/01/arts/george-harrison-quiet-beatle-and-lead-guitarist-dies-at-58.html|access-date=23 October 2010|archive-date=4 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604054646/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/01/arts/george-harrison-quiet-beatle-and-lead-guitarist-dies-at-58.html|url-status=live}} During the visit, a documentary film about Shankar named Raga was shot by Howard Worth and released in 1971.{{cite news|last=Thompson|first=Howard|title=Screen: Ravi Shankar; ' Raga,' a Documentary, at Carnegie Cinema|work=The New York Times|date=24 November 1971|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/24/archives/screen-ravi-shankar-raga-a-documentary-at-carnegie-cinema.html|access-date=19 July 2009|archive-date=6 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106174736/http://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/24/archives/screen-ravi-shankar-raga-a-documentary-at-carnegie-cinema.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Raga (2010 Remaster)|url=http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/|website=East Meets West Music|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026014931/http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/|url-status=live}} Shankar's association with Harrison greatly increased Shankar's popularity, and decades later Ken Hunt of AllMusic wrote that Shankar had become "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by 1966.

George Harrison organized the charity Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, in which Shankar participated.{{Cite web|url=https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/12/12/arts/12shankar_337/12shankar_337-jumbo.jpg|title=Photo of Ravi Shankar performing at the Concert for Bangladesh|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=12 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512192957/https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/12/12/arts/12shankar_337/12shankar_337-jumbo.jpg|url-status=live}} During the 1970s, Shankar and Harrison worked together again, recording Shankar Family & Friends in 1973 and touring North America the following year to a mixed response after Shankar had toured Europe with the Harrison-sponsored Music Festival from India.Lavezzoli 2006, p. 195. Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala, with Harrison as editor.

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File:Ravi Shankar - Madhuvanti.ogv at the Shiraz Arts Festival in Iran in the 1970s]]

Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music. His performances begin with solo alap, jor, and jhala (introduction and performances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tabla accompaniment featuring compositions associated with the prevalent khyal style. Shankar often closed his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri genre.

Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century. He popularised performing on the bass octave of the sitar for the alap section and became known for a distinctive playing style in the middle and high registers that used quick and short deviations of the playing string and his sound creation through stops and strikes on the main playing string. Narayana Menon of The New Grove Dictionary noted Shankar's fondness for rhythmic novelties, among them the use of unconventional rhythmic cycles.Menon 1995, p. 220. Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has argued that Shankar's playing style was not widely adopted and that he was surpassed by other sitar players in the performance of melodic passages. Shankar's interplay with Alla Rakha improved appreciation for tabla playing in Hindustani classical music. Shankar promoted the jugalbandi duet concert style. Shankar introduced at least 31 new ragas, including Nat Bhairav,{{cite book |last1=Craske |first1=Oliver |title=Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar |date=2020 |publisher= Hachette Books |isbn= 9781566491044 |page=106 }} Ahir Lalit, Rasiya, Yaman Manjh, Gunji Kanhara, Janasanmodini, Tilak Shyam, Bairagi, Mohan Kauns, Manamanjari, Mishra Gara, Pancham Se Gara, Purvi Kalyan, Kameshwari, Gangeshwari, Rangeshwari, Parameshwari, Palas Kafi, Jogeshwari, Charu Kauns, Kaushik Todi, Bairagi Todi, Bhawani Bhairav, Sanjh Kalyan, Shailangi, Suranjani, Rajya Kalyan, Banjara, Piloo Banjara, Suvarna, Doga Kalyan, Nanda Dhwani, and Natacharuka (for Anoushka).{{cite book|last1=Shankar|first1=Ravi|title=Raga Mala: An Autobiography of Ravi Shankar|date=1999|publisher=Welcome Rain Publications|isbn=9781566491044|page=325}}{{cite book |last1=Craske |first1=Oliver |title=Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar |date=2020 |publisher= Hachette Books |isbn= 9781566491044 |page=x }} In 2011, at a concert recorded and released in 2012 as Tenth Decade in Concert: Ravi Shankar Live in Escondido, Shankar introduced a new percussive sitar technique called Goonga Sitar, whereby the strings are muffled with a cloth.{{cite news|url=https://www.indiapost.com/how-west-meets-east-in-ravi-shankars-music/|title=How West meets East in Ravi Shankar's music|newspaper=India Post News - Breaking and Latest News Worldwide - Indian Diaspora |date=26 December 2012|access-date=22 April 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422131539/https://www.indiapost.com/how-west-meets-east-in-ravi-shankars-music/|url-status=live}}

File:Ravi Shankar 2009 crop.jpg in 2009]]

• Bharat Ratna (1999){{cite web|title=Padma Awards|url=http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=0&award_year=&state=&field=3&p_name=Ravi&award=All|access-date=16 July 2009|publisher=Ministry of Communications and Information Technology|archive-date=11 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011193749/https://www.india.gov.in/|url-status=live}}
• Padma Vibhushan (1981){{cite web|date=2015|title=Padma Awards|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2015|access-date=21 July 2015|publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India}}
• Padma Bhushan (1967)
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962){{cite web|title=SNA: List of Akademi Awardees – Instrumental – Sitar |publisher=Sangeet Natak Academi |url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm| url-status=dead |access-date=29 July 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530204253/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm| archive-date=30 May 2015 }}
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1975){{cite web|title=SNA: List of Akademi Fellows |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi |url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm#1980 |access-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023617/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}
• Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1987–88{{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=29 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923005204/http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/hindi/award/kalidas.asp|archive-date=23 September 2010}}

• Ramon Magsaysay Award (1992){{cite news|title=Citation for Ravi Shankar|publisher=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation|url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationShankarRav.htm|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012095145/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationShankarRav.htm|archive-date=12 October 2009|url-status=dead}}
• Commander of the Legion of Honour of France (2000){{cite news|last=Massey|first=Reginald|title=Ravi Shankar obituary: Indian virtuoso who took the sitar to the world|work=The Guardian|date=12 December 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/12/ravi-shankar-dies|access-date=11 May 2014|archive-date=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604220607/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/12/ravi-shankar-dies|url-status=live}}
• Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for "services to music" (2001){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FikEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14|title=Sir Ravi|date=12 May 2001|page=14|magazine=Billboard|issn=0006-2510|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|volume=113|issue=19}}
• Honorary degrees from universities in India and the United States.
• Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
• Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2010){{cite web|title=Citation for Doctor of Laws honoris causa – Mr Ravi Shankar|url=http://www.unimelb.edu.au/unisec/calendar/honcausa/citation/shankar.pdf|access-date=13 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515004314/http://www.unimelb.edu.au/unisec/calendar/honcausa/citation/shankar.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2013}}

• 1964 fellowship from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund
• Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival (for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala).{{cite web|title=Archive > Annual Archives > 1957 > Prize Winners|publisher=Berlin International Film Festival|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1957/03_preistr_ger_1957/03_Preistraeger_1957.html|access-date=21 August 2010|archive-date=4 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404105035/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1957/03_preistr_ger_1957/03_Preistraeger_1957.html|url-status=live}}
• UNESCO International Music Council (1975)
• Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (1991){{cite web|title=Ravi Shankar – The 2nd Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes 1991|publisher=Asian Month|year=2009|url=http://asianmonth.com/prize/english/winner/|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707174051/http://asianmonth.com/prize/english/winner/|archive-date=7 July 2011|url-status=dead}}
• Praemium Imperiale for music from the Japan Art Association (1997)
• Polar Music Prize (1998){{cite news|last=van Gelder|first=Lawrence|title=Footlights|work=The New York Times|date=14 May 1998|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/14/books/footlights.html|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515061633/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/14/books/footlights.html|url-status=live}}
• Four Grammy Awards{{Cite web|date=23 November 2020|title=Ravi Shankar|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/ravi-shankar/6132|access-date=21 September 2021|website=GRAMMY.com|language=en}}
• 1967: Best Chamber Music Performance – West Meets East (with Yehudi Menuhin)
• 1973: Album of the Year – The Concert for Bangladesh (with George Harrison){{Cite web|title=Ravi Shankar {{!}} Biography, Music, & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ravi-Shankar|access-date=30 January 2022|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}
• 2002: Best World Music Album – Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000{{cite web |last1=Massey |first1=Reginald |title=Ravi Shankar |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/12/ravi-shankar-dies |website=The Guardian |date=12 December 2012 |access-date=20 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105062717/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/12/ravi-shankar-dies |archive-date=5 January 2025}}
• 2013: Best World Music Album – The Living Room Sessions Pt. 1{{Cite web|last=Greenburg|first=Zack O'Malley|title=Grammy Winners 2013: The Full List|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/02/11/grammy-winners-2013-the-full-list/|access-date=30 January 2022|website=Forbes|language=en}}
• Lifetime Achievement Award received at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards{{cite news |author=PTI |url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/ravi-shankar-to-receive-lifetime-grammy/article4194847.ece |title=Arts / Music : Ravi Shankar to be honoured with lifetime Grammy |newspaper=The Hindu |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=13 December 2012 |archive-date=15 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215005715/http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/ravi-shankar-to-receive-lifetime-grammy/article4194847.ece |url-status=live }}
• Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, along with George Fenton, for Gandhi.
• Posthumous nomination in the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for his album "The Living Room Sessions Part 2".{{cite magazine|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pt-ravi-shankar-gets-posthumous-grammy-nomination/1/328349.html|title=Pt Ravi Shankar gets posthumous Grammy nomination|magazine=India Today|date=7 December 2013|access-date=7 December 2013|archive-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207183337/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pt-ravi-shankar-gets-posthumous-grammy-nomination/1/328349.html|url-status=live}}
• First recipient of the Tagore Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony and universal values (2013; posthumous){{cite web |author=PTI |url=http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/art-and-theatre/sitar-maestro-pandit-ravi-shankar-to-get-tagore-award_129386.htm |title=Arts / Music : Ravi Shankar to be honoured with Tagore Award |work=Zee News |date=6 March 2013 |access-date=6 March 2013 |archive-date=7 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307200002/http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/art-and-theatre/sitar-maestro-pandit-ravi-shankar-to-get-tagore-award_129386.htm |url-status=live }}

• 1997 James Parks Morton Interfaith Award
• American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane named his son Ravi Coltrane after Shankar.{{cite news|last=Watrous|first=Peter|title=Pop Review; Just Music, No Oedipal Problems|work=The New York Times|date=16 June 1998|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/16/arts/pop-review-just-music-no-oedipal-problems.html|access-date=26 September 2010|archive-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515082341/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/16/arts/pop-review-just-music-no-oedipal-problems.html|url-status=live}}
• On 7 April 2016 (his 96th birthday), Google published a Google Doodle to honour his work.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOnicTvtiTA |title=- YouTube |website=YouTube |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-date=11 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011193823/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOnicTvtiTA |url-status=live }} Google commented: "Shankar evangelized the use of Indian instruments in Western music, introducing the atmospheric hum of the sitar to audiences worldwide. Shankar's music popularized the fundamentals of Indian music, including raga, a melodic form and widely influenced popular music in the 1960s and 70s.".{{cite web | title=Ravi Shankar's 96th Birthday | website=Google | date=7 April 2016 | url=https://www.google.com/doodles/ravi-shankars-96th-birthday| access-date=9 April 2019}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
• In September 2014, a postage stamp featuring Shankar was released by India Post commemorating his contributions.{{Cite news |last=Govind |first=Ranjani |date=3 September 2014 |title=Four of eight commemorative stamps feature musical legends from State |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/four-of-eight-commemorative-stamps-feature-musical-legends-from-state/article6376803.ece |access-date=22 December 2022 |issn=0971-751X}}

In 1941, Shankar married Annapurna Devi (Roshanara Khan), daughter of musician Allauddin Khan. Their son, Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar, was born in 1942. He separated from Devi in 1962 and continued a relationship with dancer Kamala Shastri, a relationship that had begun in the late 1940s.{{cite web|title=Hard to say no to free love: Ravi Shankar|work=Press Trust of India|publisher=Rediff.com|date=13 May 2003|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/13ravi.htm|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023171327/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/13ravi.htm|url-status=live}}

An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979. He separated from Shastri in 1981 and lived with Jones until 1986.

He began an affair in 1978 with married tanpura player Sukanya Rajan, whom he had known since 1972, which led to the birth of their daughter Anoushka Shankar in 1981. In 1989, he married Sukanya Rajan at Chilkur Temple in Hyderabad.{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Balaji-temple-in-Hyderabad-was-stage-for-Pandit-Ravi-Shankars-secret-wedding/articleshow/17593798.cms |title=Balaji temple in Hyderabad was stage for Pandit Ravi Shankar's secret wedding |work=The Times of India |date=13 December 2012 |access-date=13 December 2012 |archive-date=13 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213140713/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Balaji-temple-in-Hyderabad-was-stage-for-Pandit-Ravi-Shankars-secret-wedding/articleshow/17593798.cms |url-status=live }}

Shankar's son, Shubhendra, often accompanied him on tours.{{cite news|last=Lindgren|first=Kristina|title=Shubho Shankar Dies After Long Illness at 50|work=Los Angeles Times|date=21 September 1992|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61210384.html?FMT=ABS|access-date=31 August 2009|archive-date=5 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605024628/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61210384.html?FMT=ABS|url-status=dead}} He could play the sitar and surbahar, but elected not to pursue a solo career. Shubhendra died of pneumonia in 1992.

Ananda Shankar, the experimental fusion musician, is his nephew.

His daughter Norah Jones became a successful musician, winning five Grammy Awards in 2003{{cite news|last=Venugopal|first=Bijoy|title=Norah's night at the Grammys|work=Rediff.com|date=24 February 2003|url=http://www.rediff.com/us/2003/feb/24grammy.htm|access-date=5 November 2009|archive-date=24 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724194306/http://www.rediff.com/us/2003/feb/24grammy.htm|url-status=live}} and overall ten Grammy Awards as of 2025.{{Cite web |title=Norah Jones {{!}} Artist {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/norah-jones/13227 |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=grammy.com}}

His daughter Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2003. Anoushka and her father were both nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards for separate albums.{{cite news|last=Jamkhandikar|first=Shilpa|title=It's Ravi Shankar versus daughter Anoushka at the Grammys|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/anoushka-ravi-shankar-grammys-idINDEE8B50CN20121206|access-date=12 December 2012|work=Reuters|date=6 December 2012|archive-date=9 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209043013/http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/12/06/anoushka-ravi-shankar-grammys-idINDEE8B50CN20121206|url-status=dead}}

Shankar was a Hindu,{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/24us1.htm|title=In Her Father's Footsteps|last=Melwani|first=Lavina|date=24 December 1999|work=Rediff.com|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=23 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823064435/http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/24us1.htm|url-status=live}} and a devotee of the Hindu god Hanuman. He was also an "ardent devotee" of the Bengali Hindu saint, Sri Anandamayi Ma. Shankar used to visit Anandamayi Ma frequently and performed for her on various occasions. Shankar wrote of his hometown, Benares (Varanasi), and his initial encounter with "Ma":

Varanasi is the eternal abode of Lord Shiva, and one of my favorite temples is that of Lord Hanuman, the monkey god. The city is also where one of the miracles that have happened in my life took place: I met Ma Anandamayi, a great spiritual soul. Seeing the beauty of her face and mind, I became her ardent devotee. Sitting at home now in Encinitas, in Southern California, at the age of 88, surrounded by the beautiful greens, multi-colored flowers, blue sky, clean air, and the Pacific Ocean, I often reminisce about all the wonderful places I have seen in the world. I cherish the memories of Paris, New York, and a few other places. But Varanasi seems to be etched in my heart!Dunn, Jerry Camarillo (2009). My Favorite Place on Earth: Celebrated People Share Their Travel Discoveries. National Geographic Books. p. 213.

Shankar was a vegetarian.{{cite news|title=Signing up for the veg revolution|work=Screen|date=8 December 2000|url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001208/shtakes.htm|access-date=10 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409193812/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001208/shtakes.htm|archive-date=9 April 2008}} He wore a large diamond ring that he said was manifested by Sathya Sai Baba.{{cite web|title=Ravi Shankar, Sai Baba, and the Huge Diamond Ring|url=http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/ravi-shankar-sai-baba-and-the-huge-diamond-ring/|date=27 April 2011|first=Tom|last=Schnabel|publisher=KCRW|access-date=14 June 2016|archive-date=17 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617102046/http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/ravi-shankar-sai-baba-and-the-huge-diamond-ring/|url-status=live}} He lived with Sukanya in Encinitas, California.{{cite news|last=Varga|first=George|title=At 91, Ravi Shankar seeks new musical vistas|publisher=signonsandiego.com|date=10 April 2011|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/10/91-ravi-shankar-seeks-new-musical-vistas/|access-date=25 April 2011|archive-date=14 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414071934/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/10/91-ravi-shankar-seeks-new-musical-vistas/|url-status=live}}

Shankar performed his final concert with daughter Anoushka on 4 November 2012 at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California.

On 9 December 2012, Shankar was admitted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, San Diego, California, after having complained of breathing difficulties. He died on 11 December 2012 at around 16:30 PST at age 92 after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery.{{cite news |author=Allan Kozinn |title=Ravi Shankar, Sitarist Who Introduced Indian Music to the West, Dies at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/arts/music/ravi-shankar-indian-sitarist-dies-at-92.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB |quote=Mr. Shankar died in San Diego, at a hospital near his home. He had been treated for upper-respiratory and heart ailments in the last year and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery last Thursday, his family said. ... |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 December 2012 |access-date=13 December 2012 |author-link=Allan Kozinn |archive-date=16 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216042946/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/arts/music/ravi-shankar-indian-sitarist-dies-at-92.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/12/13/global-home/13shankar-image4/13shankar-image4-jumbo.jpg|title=Photo of Ravi Shankar in January 2012|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=12 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512194251/https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/12/13/global-home/13shankar-image4/13shankar-image4-jumbo.jpg|url-status=live}}

The Swara Samrat festival, organized on 5–6 January 2013 and dedicated to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, included performances by such musicians as Shivkumar Sharma, Birju Maharaj, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, and Girija Devi.{{cite news|title=Classical legends leave their mark|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-08/music-events/36215627_1_pt-jasraj-classical-legends-pt-ravi-shankar|access-date=9 January 2013|archive-date=21 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121065754/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-08/music-events/36215627_1_pt-jasraj-classical-legends-pt-ravi-shankar|newspaper=The Times of India|url-status=dead}}

{{main|Ravi Shankar discography}}

{{see also|List of composers who created ragas}}

• {{cite book |title=My Music, My Life|url=https://archive.org/details/mymusicmylife00shan|url-access=registration|last=Shankar|first=Ravi|year=1968|publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-671-20113-1}}
• {{cite book |title=Learning Indian Music: A Systematic Approach|url=https://archive.org/details/learningindianmu00shan|url-access=registration|last=Shankar|first=Ravi|year=1979|publisher=Onomatopoeia |location=Lauderdale |oclc=21376688 |author-mask=2 }}
• {{cite book|title=Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar|last=Shankar|first=Ravi|year=1997|publisher=Genesis Publications|isbn=0-904351-46-7|location=Guildford |author-mask=2 }}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Brockhaus Enzyklopädie |title=Shankar, Ravi |language=de |edition=19th |year=1993 |publisher=F. A. Brockhaus GmbH |volume=20 |location=Mannheim |isbn=3-7653-1120-0}}
• {{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Dibyendu |editor-first=Dibyendu |editor-last=Ghosh |title=The Great Shankars |date=December 1983 |publisher=Agee Prakashani |location=Kolkata |page=7 |chapter=A Humble Homage to the Superb| oclc=15483971}}
• {{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Dibyendu |editor-first=Dibyendu |editor-last=Ghosh |title=The Great Shankars |date=December 1983 |publisher=Agee Prakashani |location=Kolkata |page=55 |chapter=Ravishankar | oclc=15483971}}
• {{cite book |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |year=2006 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=0-8264-1815-5}}
• {{cite book |title=The Music of India |last=Massey |first=Reginald |year=1996 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=81-7017-332-9}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Menon |first=Narayana | author-link = V. K. Narayana Menon|editor-first=Stanley |editor-last=Sadie | editor-link = Stanley Sadie|encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |title=Shankar, Ravi |edition=1st |year=1995 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |volume=17 |location=London |isbn=1-56159-174-2}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Neuhoff |first=Hans |editor-first=Ludwig |editor-last=Finscher | editor-link =Ludwig Finscher|encyclopedia=Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik |title=Shankar, Ravi |language=de |edition=2nd |year=2006 |publisher=Bärenreiter |volume=15 |isbn=3-7618-1122-5}}
• {{cite book |title=The Boys from Liverpool: John, Paul, George, Ringo |last=Schaffner |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Schaffner |year=1980 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=0-416-30661-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/boysfromliverpoo00scha }}
• {{cite book |title=Famous Indians of the 20th Century |last=Sharma |first=Vishwamitra |year=2007 |publisher=Pustak Mahal |isbn=978-81-223-0829-7}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Slawek |first=Stephen |editor-first=Stanley |editor-last=Sadie |encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |title=Shankar, Ravi |edition=2nd |year=2001 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |volume=23 |location=London |isbn=0-333-60800-3}}

{{Refend}}

{{Sister project links|wikt=no|b=no|q=Ravi Shankar|s=no|commons=Ravi Shankar|n=no|v=no|voy=no}}

• {{Official website|url=http://www.ravishankar.org/}}
• {{Official website|url=http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/|name=East Meets West Music}} Ravi Shankar Foundation
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3434|label=Ravi Shankar}}
• {{NPG name}}
• [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ravi-shankar Ravi Shankar Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection (2009)
• {{imdbname|0788170}}

{{Ravi Shankar}}

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