Pt. Rajendra Kulkarni

Rajendra Kulkarni hails from land of Hindustani musical masters. He was born in the beautiful city of Belgaum in the year 1961. His father, Shri Bhagawantarao, alias Balasaheb Kulkarni – Bedakihalkar, is a Radio Artist himself, playing flute as well as violin and is closely connected with ‘Art-Circle’ of Belgaum. Rajendrajee is the sixth of his four brothers and two sisters, all of whom are well-placed in their respective walks of life. The whole family is culturally rich.Rajendrajee developed interest in basuri at an early age of six.

Rajendrajee excelled throughout his academic life, even getting a whopping 90 % in XII. He applied for higher education in Engineering and got the admission. At this stage he realized that his real passion is basuri / classical music and not the engineering studies. Hence, he gave up engineering and opted for B.Sc. instead. He was ranked second in the college. He was also declared ‘The Best student of the Year’. 

He is employed with State Bank of India since 1988.

Rajendrajee married Manjiri, in 1989. They have two daughters – Madhuwanti & Shalmali. Madhuwanti is a Bharatnatyam dancer and Shalmali is a talented actress.