Ram Narayan - Contributions and Recognition

Contributions and Recognition

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. Narayan's simplified fingering technique allows for glide (meend) 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. Narayan privately trained sarangi players, including his daughter Aruna Narayan Kalle, his grandson Harsh Narayan, and Vasanti Srikhande. He also taught sarod players, including his son Brij Narayan, as well as vocalists and a violinist. In 2002, he taught 15 Indian students and more than 500 students in the United States and Europe had studied with him. 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 Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.

"My mission was to obliterate the blemish which the sarangi carried due to its social origins. I hope I have succeeded in this."

Narayan argued that appreciation of the sarangi and him came only after acknowledgment by the Western audience. 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. The Pt (Pandit) Ram Narayan Foundation in Mumbai awards scholarships to sarangi students, but Narayan stated he was skeptical the sarangi would survive.

Narayan received the national awards Padma Shri in 1976, Padma Bhushan in 1991, and Padma Vibhushan in 2005. The Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, was presented by Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Narayan was awarded the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1974–75, the national Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1975, and was made a fellow of the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi for 1988–89. 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. He also received the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, the Shiromani Award, and the Rajasthan Welfare Association Award. The biographical film Pandit Ramnarayan – Sarangi Ke Sang was shown at the 2007 International Film Festival of India.