Shruti Adhikari

Shruti Adhikari was born in Bhopal into a family deeply rooted in Indian classical music. She is the granddaughter of Pandit Balabahi Umedkar Kundal, revered as the last court musician of the Gwalior Kingdom, a legacy that shaped her early musical environment. Her formal training began at the age of five, when she was introduced to both vocal and instrumental music under a structured and disciplined framework.

Over the years, Shruti developed proficiency across several instruments, including santoor, sitar, violin, harmonium, and tabla, alongside sustained training in Indian classical vocal music. Parallel to her performance training, she built a strong academic foundation, earning a postgraduate degree in Indian classical vocal music with distinction. She was awarded Kovid in Sitar with a Gold Medal, Prabhakar in Tabla, and Vid in Violin, each with distinction, reflecting her comprehensive command over multiple musical disciplines.

Shruti Adhikari achieved a notable milestone by becoming the first woman santoor player to be featured in the inaugural Horizon Series organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Bhopal. Expanding her contribution beyond solo performance, she founded Panchnaad, an ensemble of five female Indian classical instrumentalists. The group is unique in its all-women format and performs Indian classical music concerts across India, reinforcing its role in both artistic excellence and cultural representation.