Blessings from Legends

My work on sitars are done by Ajay Rikhiram elder son of Pt Bishan Dass Rikhiram, a Wonderful Creative instrument maker. Ajay also has made the sitars Anouskha and I play now.

In the field of manufacturing Indian instruments specially the sitar, the name of Rikhiram is widely known, not only in India but also all over the world. Ajay Rikhiram is the grandson of Rikhiram & son of late Bishan Dass ji who was a great friend of mine. He has carried on the legacy of manufacturing instruments especially the sitar & every good musician of India would love to have his instrument. Ajay is a nice salesman & a good human being & has a great sense of humour. He plays sitar, so that he can cater to the demand of the listeners & artist & the demand of the audience. He is called Ajay Sharma, but I affectionately call him Ajay Sharma Rikhi ram & his shop at Connaught Place New Delhi is very famous, everyone knows it & his is a widely known business & has respectable admirers all over India & I am sure Ajay needs no further introduction.

Rikhi Ram Musical Instrument Mfg Co....is the foremost maker of musical instruments in our country. My association with Shri Bishan Das goes back to the time that I got my first Sitar. It was presented to me by Bishan Das ji, and since then I have only used Sitars made by them. Today my Sitars are made and looked after by his son Ajay Rikhi Ram. In my opinion he is the best maker of Instruments in our country today....And I am delighted that his son Akhil has also taken up this art form...and is doing wonderful work. Their integrity and dedication towards their work is exemplary....and feel happy and blessed to have them as part of my musical family.

It’s such a pleasure being here, we have been talking about this all afternoon. I have been talking with Ajay Bhai, my sitar & Vaneeta & Akhil who is doing the filming of this wonderful place. I always come here to Rikhiram’s, its my first stop when I am here in Delhi & he does a wonderful jawari for my sitar & I am sitting here today enjoying this. Those who are playing sitar and who are doing, they know this address, but they must come here & work with him, which is really fabulous. I am delighted to be here. More soon later.

Ajay Sharma and the team at Rikhi Ram make the very best Indian Instruments, they have a tremendous heritage behined there work and have maneged to pass this art and skill down with care and love. RR understands what musicians require in traditional instruments and yet understand the demands of the contemprary stage and recording work of a musician.

Namaskar, today I want to talk a little about Ajay Rikhiram. Our acquaintance with Rikhiram goes a long way back. My grandfather Ust Rahim khan sahib, my father Ust Sharif Khan sahib & myself are playing Rikhiram sons sitar. Rikhiramji, Bishan Dassji & Ajayji have all made beautiful sitars & especially I want to talk about Ajay Rikhiram who has beautifully taken forward the work of his father & grandfather. They have contributed a lot in the field of sitar making. All the famous maestros are playing sitars made by him. He has specially designed a sitar for me called Kohinoor sitar, which is not only beautiful to see but also has a beautiful tone. It’s my wish that Ajay Bhai carries forward the legacy of Rikhiram & I wish him all the best.

Hi, I am happy to provide my strong endorsement to Rikhi Ram, My good friend Ajay Sharma. I have been coming to the store since 1991 & all my concert sitars have been made by this enterprise & they are all excellent instruments that are incomparable rom any other maker.I''ll highly recommend The Rikhi Ram enterprise at 8, Marina Arcade.

I have been playing Indian Slide Guitar/Hawaiian Guitar for over 35 years and have probably played many guitars of different labels and company. I wanted to make a guitar with good and deeper tonal quality and in this context I met Pt.Bishan Das Sharma ji and discussed the matter with him. He understood immediately the nature and taste of sound quality I needed and got my first slide guitar made by him in 2001. It was named Shankar Guitar in the name of the deity of Varanasi Lord Shankar. The professionalism and the sound quality that was portrayed in making this instrument had impressed me immensely. The journey of making Shankar guitar is still continuing by his son Ajay Rikhi Ram and another piece of Shankar Guitar was made by him in 2005 which I am playing till present. In my opinion he is the best Instrument maker of the country today with thorogh knowledge of music, tonal quality and sound. I would like to extend my appreciation and good wishes to Ajay Rikhi Ram in contributing his efforts, devotion and dedication in the field of making musical instruments of such high level. With best wishes and regards, Dr.Kamala Shankar

Our nation is very famous for art & culture. All over the world our nation is famous for classical music lineage. Maximum number of musicians who have become famous through classical music, belong to India. The most important thing for musician is to have a proper instrument in their hand & there are very few people in India who can make a proper instrument for these musicians. I would like to name Ajay ji who is following the lineage in the name of Rikhiram & his father Bishan Dassji. They have a very long lineage of making good musical instruments & not only very good sitars. They polish & beautify the instruments & enhance its tonal quality. They have done complete research on how to enhance & increase the tonal quality of instruments. If we talk about sitar, its jawari & how to get maximum output from sympathetic strings Ajay ji know all about it. Normally manufacturers don’t understand music but Ajay understands the minute notes & because of that his tuning is perfect & as per the requirements of the artist.

Sat Sri Akal, I am Daler Mehendi, today I am sitting in connaught place at Rikhi Ram, at Ajay Rikhi Ram's place & I have been meeting him since 1994. The Rikhi Ram name is very famous in the music world, they are famous for making sitars, harmoniums & all type of instruments. They specialize in making all type of complicated instruments, but these instruments are always made by love & are in tune & as per the customers requirements. The famous Taj Mahal is a symbol of love in the same way for music people Rikhi Ram shop is a temple for them. Which ever artist visits this shop, his luck changes & he becomes lucky. Whenever you visit this shop, like in a temple you will see all type of beautiful instruments & photos of famous musicians. When ever you come to Delhi & visit monuments like Qutub Minar, in the same way you must visit Rikhi Ram shop also. Love you, Rab Rakha. Daler.

Ajay bhai as I know him, belongs to the lineage of Rikhiram & sons. It’s a wonderful shop in India in the outer circle of Connaught Place & he has been following this lineage of manufacturing beautiful Indian Classical instruments & also other types of instruments which are highly professional & sound so nice. Being a sitarist, I can say that more than 90% of sitarist playing in India are using the instruments made by Ajay Rikhiram & sons & Ajay bhai being a sitar player himself knows the intricacies of manufacturing this instrument. Being a wonderful person also himself & a great salesman, I wish him all the best to carry on this legacy & the wonderful job he is doing throughout his life.

Since 1978, when I first went to Rikhi Ram in Delhi, I’ve prompted perhaps thirty students to obtain Rikhi Ram sitars, and we have four of them at the college at which I teach. The sitar Ajay made for me is exquisite in tone, playability and appearance. Ajay’s shop, the Rikhi Ram Original Connaught Place Shop in Delhi, treats everyone with the same care and attention, whether you are a student or a rock star or a famous sitarist. Shipment and packing is handled with meticulous care. If you are lucky enough to go to the shop in Delhi, you may find yourself standing next to some of the finest musicians of India, who are there to have their instrument maintained by Ajay. And, if you have an instrument made by another maker, Ajay’s javaris and setup will make any instrument sound its best. I believe Ajay’s instruments will be regarded as the Stradivarius of sitars by coming generations. Ajay is a sitar making genius!