Manilal Nag: key obituary facts
Is Manilal Nag dead? Yes. Manilal Nag died on November 9, 2026, at age 87.
Cause of death: Manilal Nag's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Manilal Nag known for?
He was an Indian sitar player.
More about Manilal Nag
Born: 16 August 1939.
Place of birth: Bankura.
Gender: male.
Occupation: sitarist.
Nationality: India, British Raj, Dominion of India.
Awards: Padma Shri in Art.
Manilal Nag, an Indian sitar player and exponent of Bengal’s Bishnupur gharana, died on November 9, 2026, aged 87.
Born in Bankura on August 16, 1939, he learned the sitar from his father, Gokul Nag, and made his first public appearance at the All India Music Conference in 1953, accompanied by tabla player Samta Prasad. The following year, All India Radio selected him as an “A Grade” artist.
From 1954 onward, he performed repeatedly in the broadcaster’s National Programme of Music and Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan. Nag received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2020. His concert invitations took him to the United States and Europe in 1973 through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. In 1979, the Indian government sent him to Australia as a delegate to the Indian Ocean Art Festival, held to mark the 150th anniversary of the Government of Australia. Between 2005 and 2011, he was attached to the Instrumental Music Division of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. His life and work connected the Bishnupur gharana’s regional tradition with audiences in India and abroad.