Apandit (Sanskrit:पण्डितः,romanized: paṇḍitaḥ;Hindi:पंडित,romanized: paṇḍit;[1] also spelledpundit, pronounced/ˈpʌndɪt,ˈpændɪt/;[2] abbreviatedPt. orPdt.) is an individual with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge inHinduism,[1] particularly theVedic scriptures,dharma, orHindu philosophy; in colonial-era literature, the term generally refers to lawyers specialized inHindu law.[3] Whereas, today the title is used for experts in other subjects, such asmusic.[4][5] Pandit entered English as theloanwordpundit, referring to a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through themass media.[6]Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man in the musical sense.[5] The equivalent titles for a Hindu woman areVidushi,[7][8]Pandita, orPanditain;[9] however, these titles are not currently in widespread use.[10]
InSanskrit, pandit generally refers to any "wise, educated or learned man" with specialized knowledge.[11] The term is derived frompaṇḍ (पण्ड्) which means "to collect, heap, pile up", and this root is used in the sense of knowledge.[12] The term is found in Vedic and post-Vedic texts, but without any sociological context.
Pandit (abbreviated as Pt. and written asपंडीत/पंडित inMarathi/Hindi) is anhonorific title for an expert person in Indian classical singing and instrumental playing, used for an Indian musician. It is used inHindustani classical music to recognize master performers for classical singing and other performing arts, likeclassical dance.[13] It is used as a music title. The title is awarded to musicians by their teachers, prominent individuals, or members of theirgharana in recognition of their expertise.[14] It is used in various languages including Kannada, Marathi, Hindi,Bengali,Punjabi and other languages which are there inIndia. An Indian woman, who is an expert in Indian classical music, is given the title of pandita or vidushi.Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man.
Titles of pandit (and even ustad) are appended informally to the names of classical singers and players by their admirers, individuals or institutions, once they have reached eminence in their performing art, especially on public performances. As they are informal titles, mentioning names of eminent singers without those appendages is acceptable, unlike prefixes likeDr. awarded formally by educational institutions.[14]
The title pandit of a classical musician and the pandit which is used as a title given to a knowledgeable person, are different.
As ustad is equivalent to pandit but used for a Muslim man, similarly a music title that is equivalent to pandit and used for an Indian man itself is given the title ofvidwan. Generally this title is given to a maleCarnatic classical singer or instrument player. One prominent example isVidwan Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram.
For a female Carnatic classical singer or musician, the title of Vidushi is given.
Equivalent titles for women are Vidushi[7][8] or Pandita (Sanskrit:पण्डिता,romanized: paṇḍitā;Hindi:पंडित).
TheKashmiri Pandits are a Hindu clan from theKashmir Valley inJammu and Kashmir. Pandit as a last name is used by bothKashmiri Hindus andKashmiri Muslims of Hindu lineage.[15]
Sheikh: local converts, subdivided into numerous subgroups. Most largely retain their family names, or patronyms (kram), indicating their original profession, locality or community—such as Khar (carpenter), Pampori (a place), Butt andPandit (Brahmin), Dar (kshatriya)—but with increasing Islamization, some have dropped these
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