R. Of. Bijapure (English: RK Bijapure, born 7 January 1917; died 19 November 2010) was an Indian classical instrumentalist. He was a famous player of the musical instrument harmonium. He was named Pandit Ram Kallo Bijapur alias Pandit R. Of. Was also known as Bijapure or Vijapur Master.
R. Of. Bijapure was born in 1917 in Kagwad, Belgaum district, Karnataka. His father Kallopant Bijapur was a playwright and musician. R. Of. The first Guru of Bijapur was Annagari Malaiya. He took further training in harmonium from Rajwade, Govindrao Gaekwad and Hanmantrao Walvekar. He also learned vocal music from musical stalwarts, prominent among whom are Ramkrishnabua Vaze, Pt. Shivrambua Vaze, Pt. Kagalkarbua and Pt. Uttarakarbua. R. Of. As part of his education, Bijapure had obtained the degrees of Sangeet Visharad (Vocal) and Sangeet Alankar from All India Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.
CareerR. Of. Bijapure worked as a music director and harmonium player for Venkara Rao Shirahatti’s drama company, as a harmonium player for the HMV Company, as a music examiner for the Akhila Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and for the Government of Karnataka. He has his own unique style of harmonium solo. He has given solo performances in Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolhapur, Hubli, Dharwad and all the major music centers of the country.
Pandit R during the festival of Russia in India. Of. A Russian delegation was mesmerized after listening to Bijapure’s solo. He specifically recorded his fast finger playing on the harmonium keyboard on video. As a musician he was associated with four generations of singers including Pandit Ramakrishnabua Vaze, Pandit Shivrambua Vaze, Pandit Kagalkarbua, Pandit Sawai Gandharva, Pandit D.V. Paluskar, Pandit Vinayakbuwa Uttarakar, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Dr. Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, PTA Manik Verma, Dr. Prabha Atre, Kishori Amonkar etc. are included. He has a unique style of accompaniment. He uses the available pauses in between to add charm to the concert as a complement to the main performers. Building a constant rapport with the audience is another highlight of his presentation.
R as music guru. Of. Bijapure started “Shri Ram Sangeet Mahavidyalaya” in 1938. More than 10,000 students learned under his tutelage. His famous disciples include Sudhanshu Kulkarni, Ravindra Mane, Ravindra Katoti, Kunda Welling, Sridhar Kulkarni, Mala Adhipak, Aparna Chitnis, Madhuri Bhave, Deepali Marathe and Mahesh Telang.
1985 – Karnataka Kala Tilak Award by Sangeet Nritya Academy
1992 – Nadashree Award by Hindustani Sangeet Kalakar Mandali, Bangalore
1999 – Sanghakar Award, Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Pune
2001 – State Music School Award at Dussehra Festival held in Mysore
2003 – T. Chokdayah Award
2006 – ‘Mahamopadhyay’ title by All India Gandharva College Board
R. died on November 19, 2010 due to age-related health issues. Of. Bijapure died. He continued actively teaching his disciples till his last days.
