Google pays tribute to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar

Google paid tribute to Pandit Ravi Shankar with an artistic doodle on his 96^th birthday. Born  Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on April 7, 1920 in Varanasi, he spent his youth touring India and Europe with his brother Uday Shankar’s dance troupe. He gave up dancing and started learning the sitar under guidance of court musician Allauddin Khan.

He became famous after composing the music for Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy. Pandit Shankar will always be remembered for spreading Indian music across the world and his friendship with The Beatles' George Harrison led to the birth of raga rock genre.

The doodle, designed by Kevin Laughlin, shows a sitar in the centre with tree branches which outline the word Google. He died on December 11, 2012, in San Diego, California, after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery.