Govindrao Patwardhan


Pandit Govindrao Patwardhan was a well-known harmonium and organ player.

Early life

Patwardhan was from the village Adur near Guhagar in Konkan. He cherished a passion for music from his early childhood. He used to participate in the musicals and various program in his village. He had no formal education or training of playing the harmonium. After his basic education, he came to Mumbai and was working with Mumbai Police. He was staying in Girgaon. He had immense respect for Pandit Rambhau Marathe, Pandit Vasantrao Deshpande and Pandit Chota Gandharv and considered them as his Gurus.

Career

Patwardhan contributed a lot in musical plays. He has played both the harmonium and the organ in various plays and concerts. He has played the harmonium in many Natyasangeets. He has played harmonium with Pandit Ram Marathe, Pandit Suresh Haldankar, Pandit Kumar Gandharv.
When he was playing organ with Chota Gandharva, due to age, Chota Gandharv was not able to sing properly, that time, Patwardhan expressed the finest play on organ by playing the exact song. This action was well appreciated by the audience. Once, due to rain the play was canceled. To avoid making the people who had come for the play nervous, Patwardhan arranged the separate showing of organ in the nearly temple which lasted for more than 6 hours in the night.
A lot of his recordings are available in the market

Awards

A musical program is been celebrated with his name in Dombivli
A short film on him was published in 2014 by Mehendale motion pictures.

Personal details

Patwardhan was a very soft-spoken person. He used to work in the police department in Mumbai. He had a family in Girgaon.