Satyabhamabai Pandharpurkar

Satyabhamabai Pandharpurkar was a Marathi artist of lavani. Lavani is the amorous songs in Tamasha. She was born in Sangli district. She did not receive any formal education. She showed an aptitude for music at an early age of 10-year-old. At her early age she was made to join a lavani group led by Godavaribai Punekar, her first teacher. She later learnt dance, qawwali, and ghazal as well.

Her gurus in lavani singing included Narayanrao Utpat, Dnyanoba Utpat, Dadba Vairagkar, Machchindra Utpat, Vithoba Eitwadkar, and Rambhau Utpat. She returned after four years with Punekar`s group but, after staying with family members who tried to exploit her talent, escaped to Punekar Mandal, where she found several Shahiri lavanis of the Peshwa period. The time was late eighteenth century. She internalized the musical and performatory conventions. Marrying Shri Shinde at the age of 20, she established her own sangitbari i.e. one of Tamasha`s two varieties troupe in Pune. Beginning in the diwankhana or private hall manner, she adopted baithakicha or `seated style` later as her staple. Her lavani career spans more than five decades, her last performance on 2 May 1992 at the Yashwantrao Pratishthan, Pune. She received numerous awards from the Maharashtra Government and Sangeet Natak Akademi for her singular service to lavani, and participated as a resource person in traditional lavani training programmes for young girls.

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