At the turn of the twentieth century, Indian classical music lived in courts and private salons, passed on orally behind closed doors. One man changed that forever: Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931), a blind vocalist from Pune who believed that music is a sacred art that belongs to every human being.

Gandharva Mahavidyalaya — the first open music school

In 1901 Paluskar founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore — the first institution of Indian classical music run on public lines, and in 1908 a second school in Bombay. For the first time, students of every caste, creed and background could learn classical music openly, in a disciplined academic environment, sitting together before their teacher.

Notation and textbooks

Paluskar’s greatest practical gift was notation. He developed a precise system for writing ragas and compositions, published printed textbooks, and set graded examinations — turning an oral art into a teachable science without freezing its soul. His system is still used across India’s music institutions.

Music as worship

Paluskar began his concerts with prayer and ended them with national songs; his setting of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram became immortal through Mahatma Gandhi’s prayer meetings. He restored dignity to the musician as a respectful citizen and teacher, not a court entertainer.

The tradition today

Our school stands in this lineage. The step-by-step syllabus, the written notation, the morning discipline of swara practice, and the ideal that anyone who sincerely seeks may learn — all of it comes from Paluskar’s vision, carried forward through generations of teachers to our classrooms in Pune and online across Europe.