Swami Pagal Das
(1920-1997)
* Photo taken from: Swami Pagal Das Ji by Seema Johori, Mahamaya Publishing House, 2007.
About Pagal Das
Ramshankar Das of Ayodhya was among the great 20th C masters of the Pakhawaj. He was better known by the sobriquet Pagal Das (“Pagal” in this context meaning eccentric). He traced his musical lineage to the Kudau Singh tradition of pakhawajis. He received the Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1988 per SNA’s lousy website.
There is a biographical work on Swami Pagal Das out now. The details are – Pandit Ramshankar Das (Swami Pagal Das Ji) by Seema Johori, Mahamaya Publishing House, New Delhi, 2007, (mahamayaph@rediffmail.com), ISBN: 81-8325-034-3.