Chandra Nath Shastri

Pandit Chandra Nath Shastri (, , 23 December 1948), is a tabla (Indian hand percussion) musician from India, currently based in Kolkata. He belongs to the Benares gharana style of Hindustani classical music. He is a retired staff artist of All India Radio and performed regularly for public-television broadcaster Doordarshan. He is also an astrologer.

Early life and family

He was born in the Dhakuria area of Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, in a Bramhin family. Soon his parents and family relocated to Varanasi ( Banaras, Benares, Benaras), Uttar Pradesh (UP), where he undertook training in the Benares gharana style. He was influenced by poet and lyricist Rabindra Nath Tagore.

Academics

Shastri completed his intermediate schooling at C. M. Anglo Bengali Inter College, Varanasi, UP. He then graduated in science from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. and later from his son, Ramji Mishra. Shastri and his elder brother, Nath Shastri, would go to AnokhelalJi to learn tabla. Shastri became a fifth-generation tabla maestro of Benares gharana. As a young teenager he became close to Mahadev Prasad Mishra, Kishan Maharaj, Samta Prasad, Sarda Sahai, and Karamatullah Khan.

Shastri also studies spirituality. He is also an astrologer.