Father of Indian Astrophysics dies at 86

Mumbai: Globally renowned scientist, Dr. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar – acknowledged as the Father of Indian Astrophysics – passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, officials and associates said.

He was 86 and breathed his last early today at his residence here. Dr. Narlikar is survived by three daughters and their families.

His wife Mangala - a Mathematician who served as a lecturer at TIFR and University of Mumbai besides Savitribai Phule Pune University - passed away in 2023.

Dr. Narlikar’s final rites will be performed tomorrow (May 21), said an official of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), of which he was the founder.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries mourned the passing of Dr. Narlikar by offering glowing tributes to his lifetime of scientific achievements and contributions.

Born on July 19, 1938, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Dr. Narlikar hailed from a family steeped in academia. His father, Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar, was a renowned mathematician, Professor and Head of Department at the Banaras Hindu University and his mother, Sumati Narlikar, was a Sanskrit language scholar.

The young Narlikar pursued his early education in Varanasi before moving to the University of Cambridge, where he completed his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Sir Fred Hoyle.

As he continued to blaze new trails in his chosen field, in 1972, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi invited Dr. Narlikar back to India to help boost the development of science in the 25-years young Republic.

Accordingly, he joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and served in several other prestigious assignments till a major turning point in his career.

In 1988, he founded the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, served as its first Director and shaped it into a premier institution for research and training in astronomy.

“His vision for the institute, dubbed the “Eightfold Way”, emphasized not only excellence in astronomy research but also outreach to University faculty, guidance to PhD students, access to latest observational facilities for Indian astronomers as well as science outreach and education for school children and the wider public,” said an IUCAA official.

Beyond his scientific endeavors, Dr. Narlikar was a prolific writer and communicator who penned numerous books and articles in English, Hindi, and Marathi, aiming to make science accessible to the general masses.

His works ranged from advanced scientific treatises to science fiction, reflecting his commitment to fostering scientific temper across society.

All through his illustrious scientific career, Dr. Narlikar was decorated with numerous national and international accolades, including the Padma Bhushan (1965) and the Padma Vibhushan (2004), India's third and second-highest civilian honors, respectively.

He was also honored with the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science in 1996 and the Prix Jules Janssen from the French Astronomical Society in 2004.

Dr. Narlikar’s legacy as a scientist, educator, and communicator will endure, continuing to inspire both the scientific community and the public for generations to come.

Visionary scientist extraordinaire

An internationally acclaimed Indian Astrophysicist, a visionary, passionate science writer and communicator, Dr. Narlikar’s passing marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in Indian science.

Over the course of a remarkable career spanning more than five decades, he made groundbreaking contributions to cosmology, challenged prevailing scientific orthodoxy, and dedicated himself to making science accessible to the broader public.

Dr. Narlikar is best known for co-developing the ‘Hoyle–Narlikar Theory of Gravity’ — an alternative to Albert Einstein’s General Relativity — and for championing the steady-state theory of the universe, a bold counterpoint to the widely accepted Big Bang model.