The art of Indian music, which in the days bygone, had enjoyed the privilege of honour and esteem in the royal court, was deprived of it in the mid-eighteenth century. With a single aim in mind to uplift music, Pt.Paluskar set out on a Bharat Yatra in the year 1896 with his two disciples.   He conducted music programmes in different states in India and received accolades and recognition.
                               No treatise of musicology in India will ever be complete without making a study of life of the great visionary late Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya established by him in 1901 at Lahore. Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidylalaya Mandal is a virtual continuation of this Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.                                                                                                                                          
  In 1908, Pt.Paluskar established a Vidyalay at Girgaon.  After this the scope of his activities widened and vidyalayas were established at Gokuldas market in 1911, Budhawar Peth, Pune in 1912 and at Nagpur in 1913.  In the year 1915, he inaugurated the new building of Gandharva Mahavidyalay in Bombay. Unfortunately, due to unavailability of adequate funds and resources, the building of Gandharva Mahavidyalay was  lost in 1924.

       After a distinguished and unparalled service to the cause of Indian Music, Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar laid down his life on 21st August, 1931. Click here for the Photo Gallery  

Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar  
            (1872 - 1931)  

After the sad demise of Pandit Paluskarji, the task of democratising music education was taken over by his disciples, who had, by then established in the field of music as teachers and artistes.  A meeting of all the disciples of Panditjee was convened in 1931, at Ahmedabad by Prof. Shankarrao Vyas & Shri. N.M.Khare.  A large number of their colleagues responded and it was decided in this meeting that a body named " Gandharva Mahavidyalay Mandal " be constituted and its executive council elected, which should direct all activities.  It was also decided that the general body should meet triennially and elect the executive council, inluding its President.  Thus the "Gandharva Mahavidyalay " Mandal was formed in 1931. 

            For the first few years, after the formation of the Mandal, the disciples of Panditji established their own vidyalayas in different parts of the country and affiliated these vidyalayas with the Gandharva Mahavidyalay Mandal.  The Mandal drafted a syllabus for the various courses to be followed in the affiliated in the affiliated institutions.  The first exams of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal were organised at the Anand Centre ( Gujarat ) as per the Mandals syllabus.

          After this the number of affiliated institutions kept on increasing and by the end of year 1950, the number of affiliated institutions had gone up to 50.  These institutions were situated all over India in various provinces such as Bombay, Gujarat, Sind, Karnataka, Punjab, Delhi , Rajasthan etc.  Examinations were conducted according to the Mandals syllabus at various centers and approximately 1000 students appeared per year in the various examinations.             

          The degrees and certificates of the Mandal were recognized by various public bodies e.g. Benares, Allahabad, Cownpore, Ajmer Boards, the Punjab University, Ahmedabad Municipal Schools – Committee. The " Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal " was Registered under the Societies Regn Act 1860 and Bombay Public Trust Act in the year 1946.  This government recognition led to an inrease of public confidence in the activities of the Mandal. 

Vishnu Digambar Smarak Yojana ( Gandharva Niketan, Vashi )

Though Pt. Vishnu Digambarji started his mission at Lahore, he spearheaded his movement from Bombay. Unfortunately, his base at Bombay was lost in early twenties.  The members of the Mandal had vowed to re-establish this base at Bombay. The Mandal acquired a piece of land on lease at Vashi, Navi Mumbai and started constructing this ‘Smarak’.  As on date the ‘Smarak’, complete in all respects, houses a Vidyalaya where nearly 1200 students take coaching in music  
                                                                                                 This Smarak has a total number of three floors.  The Ground floor consists of classrooms, a hall, Auditorium and Office of the Mandal.  The first floor consists of one hall, class rooms, one big meeting/conference hall, one guest room and 3 fully equipped classrooms for students along with a library. The second floor consists of residing rooms for the Acharya, Gurukul students, and the guests or members of the Mandal.  All the important meetings of the Mandal and various workshops and seminars and other important programmes are conducted in this building.   

Miraj Bhavan  ( Registrar Office )

 The Administrative Office of the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal is situated at Miraj, Dist – Sangli, Maharashtra.  The new building was inaugurated on 18^th August, 2003 ( Pt. Paluskar Jayanti ) by the Mandal’s Hon’ble Patron Pt.V.R.Athavaleji.  
                                                                                             The new building has a basement, the ground floor consists of two residential accomadations, the first floor consists the main Registrar Office, and the second floor consists of two guest rooms.   The Administrative Office  has  upgraded itself with the changing times and has adopted the new technologies and concept of computerization to suit the changing needs of the music field. The Mandal has taken concrete steps to computerize its operations as far as possible by installing new computers and printers along with laser printer &  scanner, installing the broadband connection, and undertaking the website development project.  The administrative building has an EPABX system and it has also installed a Franking Machine for the purpose of solving postage problems.  It is also proposed to design a new software to computerize the entire examination process (allotting roll numbers, hall-tickets, result-sheets, mark-sheets, etc ) in order to facilitate speed and accuracy.