Hirabai Barodekar (1905-1989)

Hirabai Barodekar, one of the most famous names in Indian Hindustani classical music, had won not only critical acclamation for her voice and renditions but had also managed to win the hearts of the common man. Hirabai Barodekar was named Champakali when she was born in the year 1905. She was a member of the Kirana Gharana family of Hindustani classical music in Bombay. Her parents, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Tarabai Mane, had fled from the city of Baroda to settle in Bombay.

Hirabai Barodekar 's initial taalim was from her elder brother Sureshbhabu Mane later she had her taalim from Abdul Wahid Khan who was her father’s cousin. She often performed with her sister Saraswati Rane. 

Hirabai had a very successful career. Her sweet and melodious voice was much appreciated. She was also an expert in Khayal, Thumri, Marathi Natyageet and Bhajan. She was the popular face of classical music and credited with having popularized classical music among the masses. Hirabai appeared in her first public performance under patronage of Kesarbai Kerkar at the age of 15. She was a pioneer of concerts by women artists in India. She was the first female artist to introduce ticketed concerts in India. Her rendition of 'Taar Sa' was very popular.She made Kirana gharana more popular and rich. She started the Nutan Sangeet Vidyalaya for  music taalim to girls, staged several plays through the platform of this school. As was the norm in those days, recording companies changed the name of the artist to make it more appealing. That is how Champakali became Hirabai Barodekar. Hirabai received several awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1955 and the Padma Bhushan in 1970. She also performed abroad and travelled various parts of the world like China, East African countries and so on. Her disciples who carried her legacy are Saraswati Rane, Prabha Atre, Malati Pande, Janaki Iyer, Shaila Pandit, Suvarna Chandrashekharan. She was considered the nightingale of India, chosen to sing vande matram (National Anthem) on Indepence day (1947) . Hirabai passed away at the age of eighty-four, on 20 November 1989.