Pt. Pannalal Ghosh is the pioneer who gave the flute a prestigious status as one of the most important traditional solo instruments of Indian Music. During the formative phase of his musical career, he came under the influence of Gurudev Robindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. He received initial training from Shri Khushi Mohammed Khan and thereafter under Pt. Girija Shankar Chakraborty. But the strongest influence on the development of his music came from the systematic training under the legendary Ustad Allauddin Khan. The tiny folk flute was transformed by Pannababu into a novel Bamboo Flute. He innovated the 32 inches long flute with 7 holes for manipulation by fingers suitable for playing Indian Classical Music. He is also accredited with the creation of special bass flute and also introduced six stringed Tanpura, high pitched Tanpuri and Surpeti. As a composer and conductor of National Orchestra at All India Radio, he will be remembered forever for his significant contribution. Pannababu's music direction and flute playback in film music will go a long way and will be remembered by every music connoisseur forever. His innovation of self composed Ragas is a commendable work of creativity in Indian Classical Music. Today, flute has become an inseparable component of every form oflndian Music for which the credit goes to Pannababu only.
