Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha, better known as Gundecha Brothers, were conferred Padmashri in 2012 by the Govt of India for their contribution in the field of Dhrupad and Indian Classical Music.

Born in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, the brothers were initiated into music by their parents and trained under renowned Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and also with Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (the distinguished performer of Rudra Veena) under guru shishya paramapara in Dhrupad Kendra Bhopal.

The Gundecha Brothers have sung great Hindi poetry by Tulsidas, Kabir, Padmakar, Nirala in Dhrupad style. They have recorded about 50 cassettes and CDs by HMV, Music Today, Rhythm House, Times Music, Sony, Senseworld Music, Sundaram Records, IPPNW Concerts Berlin, Navras and Audio Rec London.

They have also sung for many television channels in India and have been broadcasted on British, American, German and French, Japan and Australian Radio as well. As well as being an integral part of all of India’s prestigious music festivals, the brothers have also performed and conducted workshops at many important international music festivals and institutions in over 25 countries.

Among their many awards are the Madhya Pradesh Govt. Scholarship from 1981 to 1985, National Fellowship from 1987 to 89, Ustad Allauddin Khan Fellowship in 1993, Sanskriti Award in 1994 and Kumar Gandharva Award in 1998 by Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Dagar Gharana Award by Mewar Foundation in 2001 and Puttaraj Gawai Award  2010 from Puttaraj Gawai Pratishthan, Dharwad.