Sorry to inform you that our respected Guruji, Pandit Ravi Bellare passed away today, Saturday, April 16, 2005, at Loma Linda Medical Center ICU around 3.30 pm. Some of his close family, friends, and many disciples were present. His brilliant presence, his artistic ability, creativity, vast knowledge of music and musicology, and kind gentle nature will be missed by everyone, especially family, friends, music lovers and his many students. We pray that the Almighty will give strength to all individuals that adored and respected him, to overcome this collosal loss. May his soul rest in eternal and blissful peace.

Vivek Ullal

Pandit Ravi Bellare was raised and initiated into the art and science of tabla, pakhawaj and classical music by his uncle, the late Pandit Taranath Rao, who served on the faculty of Cal Arts from 1978 through 1990. Bellare has studied dance, vocal and Instrumental music from the great Guru's and Ustad's of different gharana's from his time including Ustad Haji Shamshuddin Khan, Pandit B.R. Deodar and Pandit Sunder Prasad. A child protoge on tabla, Ravi first perfromed a tabla solo for AIR Bombay at the age of 5. He has accompanied such legendary musicians as Ustad Allaudin Khan, Pandit Eknath Pandit, and Pandit Pannalal Ghosh. He served as the administrator and assistant director to Pandit Ravi Shankar for the Kinnara School of music in Bombay.

Shashi Bellare (Ravi's twin brother - himself an exceptional tabaliya) and Ravi performing a tabla duet at Talmiki Wadi in Tardeo, Bombay for the punyathiti (death anniversary) concert honoring his guru Ustad Haji Shamshuddin Khan.

As a dancer, he has performed throughout Europe, Israel and India, presenting Kathak, Bharatanatyam and folk dance styles. He served as a choreographer and music director to Ram Gopal throughout a decade of international touring.

Bellare has also produced visual arts in the medium of oil, acrylic, bass relief, silk screen, wood carving and sculpture. His work depicts the images of India's classical music as reflected in the "Nayikas", the poetic themes of seperation and unification, inherent in Raga and Tala systems. He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the J.J. School of Arts in Bombay.

Ravi Bellare has collected a vast compendium of knowledge from ancient and modern scholarship in the field of the history and theory of rhythm, melody and the dance forms of India. While on his first trip to Europe as a director of a cultural delegation from India, Bellare was invited as an assiciate to the University of Berlin where he spent three years conducting original research in the libraries of Indian treateses gathered in that country. Bellare is able to speak and write with great authority on the arts of India in their ancient forms as well as the development of modern idioms.

Tabla	Pakhawaj	Vocal

Kathak	Bharatnatyam