Saikat Bhattacharya

Saikat Bhattacharya has been playing the Sitar for over twenty-five years. Playing the sitar has been his passion and devotion.
Saikat’s first teaching began under the supervision of his first Guru Pandit Manilal Nag of Calcutta, in India.
At present, Saikat is a disciple of the world’s number one sitarist Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan.
Saikat has made numerous public performances in India and Australia. In Australia, he has regularly performed at the Woodford Folk Festival, Queensland Multicultural Music Festival, Queensland Conservatorium, programs of Multicultural Affairs Victoria, Melbourne Hindustani Classical Music Society, University of Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and several other public and private programs. Saikat is now based in Melbourne for the last four years after having spent about twelve years in Brisbane.
Saikat’s first Guru - Pandit Manilal Nag, a veteran sitar maestro from Calcutta is a world-famous name in the world of Indian classical music. The sitar master is the major living exponent of the Vishnupur gharana.
Saikat’s current Guru: Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan descends from six generations of sitarists. He is the leading exponent of the Etawah Gharana, a musical tradition or "family" committed to this most famous of Indian instruments. For Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, the Sitar and Self are identical entities, and music is not just a discipline but life itself – vibrating and pulsating and full of colour.