A Master of Gynaecological Surgery: The Story of Dr. Bhalchandra Nilkanth Purandare

On 27 October 1911, in Mumbai, a boy named Bhalchandra Nilkanth Purandare was born into one of the most distinguished medical families in India. His father, Dr. Nilkanth Anant Purandare, was widely regarded as the “Father of Indian Obstetrics and Gynaecology.” From an early age, young Bhalchandra absorbed the atmosphere of clinical excellence and service that surrounded his home and his father’s practice.

He graduated from G.S. Medical College in 1934 with several merit scholarships and earned his MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1937. Further training in Britain followed; he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and later an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Returning to Mumbai, he joined the staff of KEM Hospital and Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital. Over the decades he rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and later Director of the Dr. N.A. Purandare Medical Centre for Family Welfare and Research, named in honour of his father. He was renowned for his extraordinary surgical skill, especially in vaginal hysterectomy, vaginal sterilisation, Schauta’s operation and the abdominal cervicopexy procedure for prolapse that still bears his name. By the end of his career he had performed more than 25,000 vaginal hysterectomies and sterilisations—an almost unmatched record.

He served as President of the Mumbai Obstetric and Gynaecological Society (1966–68) and, at the international level, as President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) from 1973 to 1976—the first Indian to hold that high office. He was an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and advised the Government of India on family planning and maternal health, including membership of the Shantilal Shah Committee that paved the way for the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

In 1972 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to medicine. Colleagues remembered a master surgeon who also loved teaching, and students followed him eagerly on rounds.

Dr. Bhalchandra Nilkanth Purandare passed away on 10 November 1990 at the age of seventy-nine. The Purandare family tradition of excellence in obstetrics and gynaecology continues through later generations, but his own legacy remains unique: a surgeon of rare dexterity, an institution-builder, and a leader who carried Indian gynaecology onto the world stage with quiet authority and unmatched skill.