Ram Narayan, Indian sarangi player (died 2024)

Ram Narayan, often referred to with the title Pandit, was an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player.

The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice through its ability to imitate vocal ornaments such as Gamaks or Gamakam (shakes) and meends. The Nepali sarangi is similar but is a folk instrument, unornate and four-stringed.