Dr. Anuradha Raturi is a classical vocalist trained in the Dāgar Bānī tradition of Dhrupad, a musicologist and a distinguished folk artist from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. She is the disciple of Padma Shri Pandit Ritwik Sanyal, the senior most exponent of the Dāgar Bānī tradition and a renowned scholar of music. Anuradha is a science graduate and holds a Master’s degree in Music, awarded with a gold medal from H.N.B. Garhwal University. She went on to complete her Ph.D. at Banaras Hindu University under the mentorship of her guru, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal. Her doctoral research, titled “Synergy of Sounds: An Analytical Study with Special Reference to Indian Classical Music,” investigates the intricate relationships between the science and philosophy of sound and the expressive dimensions of Indian classical music, offering fresh insights into both its theoretical foundations and practical applications.
Born in the Garhwal hills of the Himalayas to a Sanskrit scholar, Anuradha inherited a deep intellectual tradition, complementing it with academic excellence of her own. Anuradha has authored numerous research papers and articles, encompassing both traditional and interdisciplinary perspectives on Indian Classical Music. In her various lectures and presentations, Anuradha explores Indian Classical Music through both conventional and innovative, multi-disciplinary lenses. In recognition of her scholarly work, she was granted the Junior Fellowship in Hindustani Vocal Music by CCRT, New Delhi, supporting her project exploring the “Tantrāgama Philosophy of Nāda: Indian Classical Music Perspective.” She has also received several accolades, including the UGC Junior Research Fellowship in 2012 and Devbhumi Pratibha Puraskar. Anuradha began her musical journey with the folk music and theatre traditions of the Garhwal Himalayas, actively preserving these living art forms through performance and practice. She co-founded Pandavaas, an organization working for nurturing and reviving the folk traditions of Uttarakhand. Her commitment to the region’s artistic legacy also led her to conduct independent research on The Rare Folk Traditions of the Garhwal Region of the Himalayas.
Dr. Raturi currently serves as the Program Director of Kala-Prakash, a cultural organization based in Varanasi, and has been actively associated with INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) for several years. She is a scholar of National Centre of Performing Arts, Mumbai as well. She is also a well-recognized voice in the field of art and culture, known for her work as an announcer and presenter. Through her independent scholarship, creative practice, and educational endeavors, Anuradha has been significantly contributing to the conservation and propagation of traditional Indian art and culture.
At the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, Dr. Anuradha Raturi will be pursuing a research project titled “Understanding Sacred Sound in Indian Classical Music: The Śaivāgama Perspective.” This project seeks to explore the practices of sacred sound in Indian Classical music and understand the dynamic of ideology and pragmatism; devotion and spirituality; discipline and improvisational freedom; cognition and intuition and the ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’ in the context of Śaivāgama