Ashok Pathak was born in Bodhgaya [1949],a religious place in North-India.He comes from a family whose musical history goes back to the 12th century,to vina-player Gopal Nayak.The family-heritage[guru-sisya parampara]has produced a great number of maestros. The family-style or gharana as Ashok Pathak presents today is a witness of this agelong evolution.The Pathak-gharana is distinguished by the sound of the sitar/surbahar[bass-sitar],a soft and round sound