First Lady of Santoor, Dr. Varsha Agrawal is the one and only female Classical Solo Santoor player from India who has received international recognition for her brilliant performance on Santoor. Dr. Varsha is awarded by President of India and Ministry of WCD as a First Lady of Santoor.

Santoor is rare musical instruments of Kashmir and to find a female artist playing on this is rarest, Dr. Varsha Agrawal is a dedicated Santoor player who displays remarkable genius. It is really a great pleasure listening to her performance. Her audience is always spellbound when she reaches the zenith of expression during her performance.

Jhalawar is the place where the childhood memories of great Sitar player, Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar have been fondly cherished. Dr. Varsha, grand daughter of renowned Physician of Rajasthan Dr. Kalyanmal Agrawal, belongs to Jhalawar.

Dr. Varsha is an emerging Classical Solo Santoor Player of Sufiyana Gharana of Kashmir & Sopori Baz. She is one of the most brilliant established artists of Santoor. She has been continuously performing on Santoor in various cities of the country & abroad. She has polished her art by strenuous training and ‘Riyaz’ and has won appreciation from audiences all over the country & abroad.

She started learning Vocal & Tabla at an age of six from Shri Elahi Bakshji Jhalawar & Shri Girdhari Lalji Dangi, Ajmer (Raj.), since then she has been learning Vocal, Tabla & Santoor under the able guidance of Pt. Lalit Mahantji Ujjain who is a renowned Tabla Artist of Banaras Gharana and a leading disciple of Padmavibhushan Pt. Kishan Maharajji, Varanasi and Lt. Pt. Riz Ramji Desad, Mumbai of Delhi Gharana.

At present Dr. Varsha is the ‘Gandabandh’ disciple of renowned Santoor player, Saint of Santoor, king of strings Padm Shri Pandit Bhajan Sopori ji.

Dr. Varsha Agrawal is the one and only female artist of Sufiyana Gharana from India and has received international recognition for her brilliant performance on Santoor. She is the regular “A” grade artiest of santoor by AIR (All India Radio) and Doordarshan. She is the first female Santoor Maestro of india whose interview “Shakshiyat” was broadcast on Rajya Sabha TV.

She is associated to AIR and Doordarshan. Her interviews & performance have been telecast on Sahara Samay T.V. Channel. A number of ragas on Santoor have also been telecast on Doordarshan. She is lac member of air.

Dr. Varsha Agrawal is the first female Santoor Maestro of the country who travelled abroad for Santoor concerts by the ministry of external affairs, India.

She is the first female Santoor Maestro In the history of All India Radio & Doordarshan whose Classical Solo Santoor recital was broadcast on the National Programme of Music as a first lady of Santoor.

She has got top grade on the feature written by her for AIR.

She has been empanelled with indian council for cultural relations (ICCR) and ministry of culture as a Classical Solo Santoor player.

She has also done Sangeet Bhusan, Sangeet Prabhakar Vocal, Sangeet Alankar (Tabla), Master of Arts (Vocal) in First Division with merit.

She was awarded Ph.D. on the subject of ‘Hadoti Ki Lok Gathavo Ki Gayan Parampara’.

At present she is working as Professor in Music Department, Govt. Girls’ P. G. College of Excellence, Dashera Maidan, Ujjain. Affiliated to Vikram University, Ujjain. Ujjain is a holy city famous for lord Mahakaleshwar Temple. It is the Sikshasthali (seat of learning) of lord Krishna .

She has been recognized as a guide for Ph.D. research work in Music by Vikram University, Ujjain and many students are doing research under her guidance.

Many Bandishes, research Papers have been published by her in Sangeet Masik, Shodh-Samvet, research link etc. Dr. Varsha has published her eBook “Truely Your’s” which is available on Amazon.

Dr. Varsha Agarwal is currently accepting new students through The Raaga School of Music