Independence Struggle
As much as he wanted to liberate classical music from dogmatic chains, Paluskar was interested in India's independence movement. When the brave Lala Lajpat Rai was arrested in 1907, he sang a composition of the famous song Pagree Sambhal Jatta. Paluskar used to attend the conventions of the Indian National Congress and sing his own composition of Vande Mataram, the national song of India, in Raga Kafi. Paluskar was a master at setting old religious songs to classical tunes - the most famous being Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram. This was Gandhi's favourite Bhajan and was sung daily by the satyagrahis during the famous Dandi March. He also composed a variation of the patriotic song Saare Jahan Se Achcha. Such was his fame that when King George V came to India, Paluskar was asked to perform at the Royal Garden of Lahore.
Read more about this topic: Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
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