Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (present dayPrayagraj) in the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh.[2] His mother died when he was six years old. He had to learn music without his father's knowledge, as his father wanted him to become a wrestler. Chaurasia did go to theAkhada and trained with his father for some time, although he also started learning music and practising at his friend's house.[3]
He has stated,
I was not any good at wrestling. I went there only to please my father. But maybe because of his strength and stamina, I'm able to play thebansuri even to this day.[4]
— Hariprasad Chaurasiaa
Hariprasad Chaurasiya in concert, accompanied byUdai Mazumdar of Benares Gharana
Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage ofBholanath Prasanna ofVaranasi for eight years. He joined theAll India Radio,Cuttack,Odisha in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer.[2][5] Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusiveAnnapurna Devi, daughter ofBaba Allaudin Khan. She only agreed to teach him if he was willing to unlearn all that he had learnt until then.[6] Another version is that she only agreed to teach him after he took the decision to switch from right-handed to left-handed playing to show her his commitment.[7] In any case Chaurasia plays left-handed to this day.
Apart from classical music, Hariprasad has collaborated withShivkumar Sharma, forming a group calledShiv-Hari.[8] The pair composed music for many popular movies, including Silsila and Chandni, and created some highly popular songs. Chaurasia also collaborated withBhubaneswar Mishra, forming the pair "Bhuban-Hari" (in line with Shiv-Hari), and the pair composed music for many Odia movies, creating numerous songs that were hugely popular in the state. These include Muje janena kaha baata (sung bySuman Kalyanpur; movie: Gapa helebi Sata); and all songs from Maa o Mamata, and many more.
Chaurasia's nephew and pupilRakesh Chaurasia is a highly accomplished flautist now, and has been performing globally with such eminent maestros asZakir Hussain.
He serves as the artistic director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands.[9] He was also the founder of the Vrindavan Gurukul in Mumbai (opened 2006) and Vrindavan Gurukul in Bhubaneshwar (opened 2010). Both of these institutes are schools dedicated to training students inbansuri in theGuru-shishya tradition.[10]
Chaurasia has married twice, first to Kamala Devi[14] and then Anuradha Roy.[3][15] He has three sons. With first wife Kamala Devi he has two sons, Vinay and Ajay. With Anuradha, Chaurasia has a son named Rajeev. Chaurasia has five granddaughters and a grandson.[16] His nephewRakesh Chaurasia is also a flautist and carrying forward the family legacy.[17][18]
The music for the filmSirivennela (1986) was composed byK. V. Mahadevan which revolves around the role of Hari Prasad, a blind flautist played bySarvadaman Banerjee and flute renditions by Chaurasia.[30]
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