The Rashtrapati Bhavan announced late Tuesday that Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the Hindustani classical music legend, will be honoured with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ - the highest civilian award of India.

The other distinguished honors the 86-year-old classical vocalist has received till date are - the Padma Shri (1972), Padma Bhushan (1985) and Padma Vibhushan (1999), the Maharashtra Bhushan (2002) from the state government, the Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1975), Tansen Sanman award from the MP government (1998), and Karnataka Sanman (2005).  

Joshi belongs to the ‘kirana’ gharana and resides in Pune. Born on February 4, 1922, in Gadag, Karnataka, Joshi ran away from home when he was eleven years old, in search of a good music teacher. He finally enrolled as a disciple of Sawai Gandharva, the foremost disciple of Abdul Karim Khan, whom Joshi admired. In accordance with the ‘guru-shishya’ tradition, Joshi started living with his guru.

Joshi’s illustrious singing career, spanning over seven decades, took off with his first performance at the age of 19. Though he shifted to Mumbai in 1943, his real break came in 1946 at a concert to mark the 60th birthday of Sawai Gandharva.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is a big draw at the Sawai Gandharva music festival held in Pune every year.