Ravi Shankar, was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999.
Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He was a recipient of the Indian civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Gopal Shankar Mishra was an Indian musician and music teacher, who played the vichitra veena.
Pandit Ritwik Sanyal is an Indian classical singer and the Dhrupad maestro from Varanasi. He is a retired professor and Ex Dean from the department of vocal music at the faculty of performing arts at Banaras Hindu University. On 5 April 2023, Pandit (Dr.) Ritwik Sanyal was conferred the Padma Shri award for 2023 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the revival and propagation of the Dhrupad tradition, both as an academician and performer. A recipient of the esteemed Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2013, presented by the then Hon. President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal has now received the 4th highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, from President of India, Droupadi Murmu.
Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of being the ever first artist in history to perform in the House of Commons, London. Famously proclaimed the "sitar artist of the century" by veena great Balachander, he has performed in thousands of concerts since the 1970s in India, America, Australia, the UAE, and almost all of Europe.
Pandit Chhannulal Mishra is a celebrated Hindustani classical singer from Banaras, a noted exponent of the Kirana gharana (school) of the Hindustani classical music and especially the Khayal and the 'Purab Ang' – Thumri.
Samta Prasad was an Indian classical musician and tabla player from the Benares gharana. He played tabla in many Hindi films including, Meri Surat Teri Ankhen (1963) and Sholay (1975), and film music composers Rahul Dev Burman and Bappi Lahiri were his disciples.
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was an Indian sitar player. Khan received the national awards Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (2006) and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1987.
Pandit Devabrata (Debu) Chaudhuri was an Indian sitarist and teacher. He was conferred the Padmabhushan and Padma Shri awards. He was the writer of six books, composer of eight new ragas and numerous musical compositions. From 1963 he has appeared in numerous radio broadcasts, and he was a disciple of Mushtaq Ali Khan. He is considered a leading sitarist of Post War era. He is regarded as one of the leading proponents of Senia Style. He was the former Dean and Head, Faculty of Music, University of Delhi. His music is noted for its sweet singing ringing tone. He lived with his son, daughter-in law and niece at Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi.
S. Ballesh Bhajantri is a popular Indian classical Hindustani shehnai player. He is a disciple of shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan, he is benares gharana shehnai player and a patiala gharana hindustani vocalist, ghazal singer, Indian playback singer and musician, Ballesh is credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. He is also a Prasar Bharati's All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan artist.
Pandit Manilal Nag is an Indian classical sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal. He was given the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2020.
Deobrat Mishra is an Indian sitarist. He is an exponent of the Benares Gharana school of Indian classical music. He plays Banarasi Thumri on sitar.
Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi is a key branch of the Uttar Pradesh state government's Department of Culture. Each year the Academy Awards for excellence in performance of music, art and literature are awarded at the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Rajeshwar Acharya is a Hindustani classical vocalist from Varanasi, India. In 2019, he was conferred the Padma Shri honour by the President of India for his contribution to the field of arts.
Hiralal Yadav was an Indian folk singer, who was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2019. He was awarded the Yash Bharti Award in 2015.
Kaushal Kishore Mishra (also Koushal Kishor Mishra) (born 1957) is a retired professor of political science at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He was formerly the Dean (27th) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, preceding Arvind Kumar Joshi. Previously, he has been the head of the department of Political Science at Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University from 2014 to 2017. He has been the chair of the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Chair. He edited the Indian Journal of Political Science from 2016 to 2018.
Ajita Srivastava is an Indian singer, educationist and a social worker. Srivastava is known for popularizing and promoting the Kajari folk songs, a popular form of folk music from Mirzapur and the surrounding region. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2022 by the Government of India for her contributions in the field of arts.
Kamlakar Tripathi is an Indian physician and Former Professor in the Department of Medicine, BHU Institute of Medical Sciences. He has been the Head of Nephrology Department. He has served as the Chairman of the Department of General Medicine, BHU from 1998 to 2001 and the President of the Indian Hypertension Society from 2008 to 2009. He also held the responsibility of Dean in-charge of the BHU Institute.
Baba Yogendra was an Indian artist, pracharak (campaigner) for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and one of the founding members of Sanskar Bharti. He was conferred with Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2018 in the field of arts.
