Draft:Shahir Pirajirao Sarnaik

Shahir Pirajirao Sarnaik (July 28 1909 - Dec 30 1992) was a famous Shahir, i.e. a balladeer, of repute. He was born in Kolhapur in a poor family. He learnt the martial skills of lathi and dand-patta in the taleem (gymnasium) run by Amatya Pant Bawdekar in the Shivaji Peth area of Kolhapur city. His master Narayan Rao Yadav was fond of wrestling and composing Powada, a form of Ballad extolling heroic historical events. They would sing the powadas of Shahir Lahari Haider at the court of the Chhatrapati in Kolhapur. In the same taleem, the famous Shahir Nanivdekar would perform the dand-patta and hold performances of his Powadas. These influences inspired the art of young Pirajirao.

He had his first public performance as a Shahir singing powada at Shivaji Peth Chowk in Kolhapur around 1931. His maiden performance was a success and he was invited to perform in the Ganesh festival in Pune.These programs were a resounding success due to Pirajirao's gift of a very melodic and ringing voice. In a short span, he became very famous as a Shahir of great repute and even performed many times on the All India Radio (AIR).

Pirajirao excelled at several forms of ballads, such as powada, fatka, gondhal and lavanee that he himself composed. He also gave voice to the compositions of famous poets like Ga Di Madgulkar, Lahari Haidar, Vasant Bapat and those songs were a hit. He played background vocals for the film Sawkari Paash. In the year 1950, Shahir Pirajirao Sarnaik took the initiative to organize a grand Shahir Sammelan at the Khasbag wrestling stadium in Kolhapur. He had the honor to perform at the All India Radio Conference in New Delhi before the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Premier of USSR, Bulganin. Pirajirao's repertoire and his accomplishments changed the society's attitude towards the art of Shahiri.

He was conferred with the Shahir-Tilak award in 1936. The Kolhapur Chhatrapati honored him with the title of Shahir-Visharad in 1950. He was also honored with awards like Shahir Amar Sheikh Foundation's Gadima Award (1990). Shahir Pirajirao Sarnaik is widely regarded as the foremost Shahir in Maharashtra due to his unique gift of crisp narration, inspired singing, throw of voice and an impeccable command over the Marathi language. All these aspects together made his performances extremely evocative. Art lovers of Kolhapur have erected a bust of Pirajirao Sarnaik at the premises of Keshavrao Bhosale theater in Kolhapur.