Mukund Lath, prominent cultural historian and exponent of Mewati gharana, passes away at 82

Mukund Lath, prominent cultural historian, scholar, and an exponent of the Mewati gharana passed away on 6 August, 2020 at the age of 82. Born in 1937 in Kolkata, West Bengal, Lath graduated from Delhi University in English and acquired a master’s degree in Sanskrit Literature from Jadavpur University in 1965. His flourishing career in academia began with his association with the University of Rajasthan at the Department of History and Indian Culture, where he taught until his retirement in the year 1997. During his time in Jaipur, Lath dived more deeply into the intricacies of music and culture, translating several medieval texts and critiquing music practices and traditions of the past and present — while widening his focus to include to the tenets of natya. Some of his noted works on performing arts are A Study of Dattilam: A Treatise on the Sacred Music of Ancient India (1978), Sangita evam Chintan (1992), and Transformation as Creation (1998). Lath was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 2010 for his trailblazing contributions to the filed of arts and cultural history. A trained singer in Indian classical music, Lath studied under the tutelage of Pandit Maniram, Ramesh Chakravarti, and later more rigorously, under Pandit Jasraj, whom he also accompanied on several tours and concerts. It is due to Pandit Jasraj’s efforts, along with his apprentices including Lath, that the Mewati gharana has become one of the most recognisable genres of Hindustani classical music.