Jayant Narlikar: The Astrophysicist Who Received India's Third-Highest Civilian Award At 26

NDTV

20-05-2025

New Delhi:
Astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar died aged 87 in Pune on Tuesday. A pioneering figure in Indian science, Mr Narlikar was the founding director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and a passionate science communicator.
Mr Narlikar is survived by his three daughters - Geeta, Girija, and Leelavati, all of whom are involved in scientific research.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the death of Jayant Narlikar is a "monumental loss to the scientific community".
"He was a luminary, especially in the field of astrophysics. His pioneering works, especially key theoretical frameworks will be valued by generations of researchers," he posted on X.
"He made a mark as an institution builder, grooming centres of learning and innovation for young minds. His writings have also gone a long way in making science accessible to common citizens," PM Modi added.
Who Was Jayant Narlikar?
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born on July 19, 1938, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He spent his early years on the campus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where his father, Vishnu Vasudeva Narlikar, was Professor and Head of the Mathematics Department. His mother, Sumati Narlikar, was a scholar in Sanskrit. He earned his B.Sc degree from BHU in 1957.
He then moved to Cambridge University for higher education, where he became a Wrangler and won the Tyson Medal in the Mathematical Tripos. He earned multiple degrees from Cambridge: BA in 1960, PhD in 1963, MA in 1964, and ScD in 1976, specialising in astronomy and astrophysics. At Cambridge, he was awarded the Smith's Prize in 1962 and the Adams Prize in 1967. He remained at Cambridge until 1972 as a Fellow of King's College (1963-1972) and a founding staff member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (1966-1972).
In 1966, he married Mangala Rajwade, a mathematician with a PhD. They had three daughters.
Mr Narlikar returned to India in 1972 to join the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), where he led the Theoretical Astrophysics Group to international prominence. In 1988, he was invited by the University Grants Commission to set up the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. He served as its founding director until his retirement in 2003. After retiring, he continued as an emeritus professor.
Mr Narlikar was internationally renowned for his alternative cosmological theories that challenged the popular Big Bang model. He worked on gravity, Mach's Principle, quantum cosmology, and action-at-a-distance physics. He served as President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Union from 1994 to 1997.
From 1999 to 2003, he led a space research experiment to collect microorganisms from the upper atmosphere (up to 41 km). The discovery of live cells and bacteria suggested that Earth might be continuously bombarded by microorganisms, hinting at possible extraterrestrial origins of life.
Mr Narlikar was a beloved science communicator. He wrote books, articles, and created programmes for radio and TV in English, Marathi, and Hindi. In 1996, UNESCO honoured him with the Kalinga Award for science popularisation.
In 1965, at the age of 26, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour. Later, in 2004, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award.
He was a Fellow of all three national science academies of India, the Royal Astronomical Society of London, and the Third World Academy of Sciences.
At the age of 85, Mr Narlikar started a blog to share his stories about science and life. Today, it has over 3,000 subscribers.