Professor Jayant Narlikar passed away in his sleep in the early hours of May 20, following a brief illness precipitated by a simple fall at home, the ensuing surgery and the effects of a heart condition. He had not been in the best of health for some time, and yet was able to carry out his routine in a highly productive way. Since January 2024, he was writing a blog, covering different stages of his life, which I am sure will be sorely missed by the tens of thousands of people who read it.
By any measure, for long Jayant has been the face of astronomy, and even wider science, in India. He rose to fame as a research student of the great Fred Hoyle at the University of Cambridge. He did an astonishing amount of work, got coveted awards including the Adams Prize, and held his own in fiery meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society. On a visit to India in the mid-sixties, he thoroughly impressed the scientific community, and captivated the public imagination through his ever smiling face, a gentle way of talking about the most profound matters, and a singular ability to convey to non-expert people his thoughts about the universe including his own researches. He continued to interact with the public in many ways right to the end. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan at the tender age of 26 years, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2004.
Jayant’s first work was on the distribution of cosmic radio sources as a function of their flux, the log N-Log S distribution. The shape of the distribution depends on the metric of the Universe, the distribution of the sources in space, and whether or not the source population evolves as a function of cosmic time. The radio data was from the Cambridge radio telescopes built by astronomers from Cavendish Laboratory led by Martin Ryle. Ryle favoured the Big Bang theory of the Universe in which the radio source population could be evolving, while Fred Hoyle, one of the creators of the steady state theory, believed that the distribution should be constant in time. The young Narlikar was sandwiched between these quite different points of view. A clear resolution of the problem would have then been impossible, because of the very limited data available and absence of measured redshift of the sources. Nevertheless, the debates had far reaching consequences, not only for cosmology, but also for the career paths of the protagonists. Martin Ryle and Anthony Hewish jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1974, being the first astronomers to be so honoured.
Along with the data analysis, Narlikar also worked on difficult theoretical problems, including Newtonian cosmological models with rotation and shear, to study the nature of the singularity present in them. Such models in general relativity had already been studied by A. K. Raychaudhuri, but models in the Newtonian framework could not be obtained as simple special cases of the Raychaudhuri equation, and needed a sophisticated approach. In the same years, Jayant worked with Hoyle on the age of galaxies and the avoidance of singularities in steady state cosmology, Mach’s Principle and the Creation of Matter, Time Symmetric Electrodynamics and the Arrow of Time in Cosmology. This output was remarkable by any standards; it had great variety, depth and novelty, and went against many cherished conventional ideas. In 1966, Hoyle and Narlikar published work on a new theory of gravitation, which is invariant under conformal transformations. The theory incorporated Mach’s Principle, action-at-a-distance concepts and so forth, and is sweeping in its scope. It reduces to Einstein’s theory in the weak field regime of the classical tests, but is different in its global implications. The attractive nature of the gravitational force arose as a consequence of the theory.
Jayant spent much effort, first with Fred Hoyle, and then with other distinguished astronomers including Geoffrey Burbidge, on the steady state theory, working out its astrophysical implications. The model lost much of its allure after the first discovery of the cosmic microwave background, but in the early years of the discovery attempts were made by Jayant, Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe to attribute the origin of the radiation to Galactic sources. Over the years accurate measurements of the Planckian form of the radiation, and its isotropy made an early hot phase of the Universe inescapable. That required a modification of the steady state model to a quasi-steady state theory in which hot phases would be possible with mini-bangs, but there would be no singularity, making the Universe eternal as in the pure steady state theory. A possibility here is that galaxies from an earlier phase of the Universe could survive to appear as seemingly prematurely evolved galaxies in early epochs of our phase. Jayant carried out observations with collaborators to find such galaxies, and it is intriguing that the JWST is finding just such objects in the very early epochs of the present Universe. With Burbidge and Halton Arp, Jayant also worked on possible anomalous redshift of quasars.
In later years, Jayant pursued the idea, originally due to Fred Hoyle, that microorganisms could have entered the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space. The idea seemed very fanciful when Hoyle first proposed it. He was denied publication of his theory in scientific journals, and he had to publish it as a science fiction novel. Jayant proposed balloon borne experiments which could be carried out to detect organisms in the upper atmosphere, which could not have got there from the surface of the Earth, and which could possibly have nature distinct from their terrestrial counterparts. While much planning was done in collaboration with people from various organisations and support from ISRO, and a balloon flight was carried out, another flight which could have been crucial never took place. That was possibly a great lost opportunity, especially given the growing realisation that living organisms could exist in several locations in the Solar system, and the ubiquity of habitable extrasolar planets in our Galaxy, even though those planets are too distant to contribute organisms to our atmosphere.
Jayant was at Cambridge until 1972, when he joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TFR), Mumbai in 1972. There Jayant continued his work on various fronts in gravitation and cosmology. He mainly worked with a number of talented graduate students, with some working on problems of his interest, while others devoted their effort to areas of their own choosing. He was very democratic in the matter, as he was in all his interactions at every level, and that attitude seems to have worked very well. Many of his students and other young researchers have done excellently in their professions, and others who have worked for him in various capacities have always contributed their best.
Jayant’s phase as an institution builder started when Professor Yash Pal, who was then the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, invited him in 1987 to set up a new institute, which would be unique in addressing the difficulties of the universities in carrying out research in astronomy and astrophysics. When Jayant moved to Pune for the purpose on June 1, 1989, the piece of land where IUCAA now stands was a verdant plot with tens of banyan trees, and where buffalos grazed peacefully on the abundant grass. Soon the buffalos moved on, the trees were relocated to other places on the plot where they have thrived, and in their place rose the unique buildings of IUCAA, designed by Charles Correa. But even before the facilities became available, scientific work and all related activities had started and soon IUCAA became known as a place where good astronomy was done.
The unique feature of IUCAA of course was the tens of visitors from the universities and colleges who came all the way, during the first years of institute, from distant parts of the country, even though there were hardly any facilities. They worked in collaboration with IUCAA faculty and with each other, and brought their students who were trained and soon there was a thriving astronomical community in the universities. Jayant helped by interacting personally with the visitors, who over the years increased greatly in number. He often visited departments all over the country, lecturing and introducing teachers and students to astronomy and to IUCAA, and providing basic email and other then emerging facilities at IUCAA’s cost. The development of the university community is Jayant’s greatest contribution to astronomy in India.
The process was far from simple. There was widespread scepticism in the existing astronomical community about Jayant’s setting up a new centre outside the traditional umbrellas, and that too with the help only of a small group of untested young persons. There was great support from the highest levels of the government, but there was the regulatory space to be traversed, which was made so much more difficult because of the uniqueness of the new venture. Jayant mostly got over the difficulties in his usual gently persuasive way, but on occasion he had to tell people at the highest level that either the project goes in his way, or he goes.
Jayant made public outreach an integral part of IUCAA. The activities began with hundreds of school children coming to the campus, still under construction for Saturday lectures. In many countries that would have been an insurance nightmare. But the children were not worried, and now in their middle age, still fondly recount the inspiration that they received from Jayant to do well, and better, in whatever they were doing. That was a simple message, but it has produced many stars in astronomy and other fields over the decades. Jayant took the message beyond students and teachers to the general public, who always came in great numbers whenever and wherever he lectured, and were mystified that the great person they had heard so much about was after all one of their own. Jayant’s books, articles and science fiction stories have been received very well. The public affection and adulation he got has been truly unique.
Jayant contributed much to the development of the Astronomical Society of India in its early years. He was its President during 1983-1985, and Chair of its Scientific Organising Committee during 1995-1997. In 2023 he became the first recipient of the Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement Award. Jayant was keen that the Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (JAA) and the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India be merged into a single impactful journal.
Jayant’s father was a general relativist, with his first student P. C. Vaidya being the discoverer of the famous Vaidya metric, and his mother was a Sanskrit pandit. Jayant lost his wife Mangala almost two years ago, just two days before his 85th birthday. She was a mathematician, teacher and author, but spent much of her time facilitating, and in later years enabling his many activities. She was a great strength and inspiration for him, and to countless others who met her. Jayant is survived by his three daughters Geeta, Girija and Leelavati, and their families. The three work at the top of their chosen professions in science and technology.
-Ajit Kembhavi
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Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (JVN as we fondly refer to) left us peacefully in his sleep at his residence in Pune on May 20, 2025. This marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in Indian science. During his long decorated career, he inspired an uncountable number of young minds to take up science, shaped the careers of a large number of young scientists who went on to become world leaders in various aspects of Astrophysics and Cosmology.
As a researcher, he made unique and groundbreaking contributions to cosmology, challenged prevailing scientific orthodoxy, and took it as a mission to spread science and scientific temper to the broader public. He is best known for co-developing the Hoyle–Narlikar theory of gravity and for championing the steady-state theory in the initial days and quasi-steady-state theory of the universe in the later years. These theories challenged the widely accepted Big Bang model. While being a strong proponent of alternative models, he did not impose his views on his students and colleagues. No surprise, best research articles providing support to the Big Bang model and those that improved the foundations of Big Bang model emerged from IUCAA when it was under his leadership. Allowing young researchers to grow in their own way is a rare but admirable trait among researchers - one well worth emulating from JVN.
JVN built IUCAA as a “role model” institute to promote the nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics at Indian universities. He embedded the best practices of the world's most successful institutions into the constitution of IUCAA. IUCAA is the first institute to have both Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Users’ Committee (UC) as statutory bodies in its Memorandum of Association (MOA). He firmly believed that a regular scientific scrutiny is essential for an institute to constantly grow without stagnation. He had unparalleled commitment to spreading A&A in Indian universities. All steps were taken at IUCAA to encourage and support high quality research among university teachers. The whole setup is such that any university visitor will feel IUCAA as his/her home. Personally, I benefited a lot from IUCAA while starting my career from Utkal university, Bhubaneswar.
While JVN is a celebrity to the outside world, he was an easily accessible person to IUCAA members. I am sure each one of us have our own personal moments with JVN. He recognised even the smallest of contributions made by the members while building and growing IUCAA. His commitment to IUCAA is reflected in the fact that till his last breath, he was always there in the “farewell functions” of different IUCAA employees. In his speeches he used to highlight contributions, various interactions and personal moments with the retiring individual. This used to be the life-time moment for the employees of IUCAA. While he was emotionally involved in IUCAA, he showed remarkable restraint and stayed away from involving directly or indirectly on the day-to-day activities of IUCAA. This again is a unique virtue of JVN. Needless to say, he was extremely forthcoming and supportive when we went to him for advice/suggestions on any issues.
A common line we often hear from the science administrators is, ‘I am busy and have no time to do science’. As we say in Cricket (a sport he loved a lot) JVN had a lot more time in his hand compared to the rest. I think he was born with a natural instinct of “time-management”. When he was the Director he was guiding students, writing papers and books, regularly teaching in IUCAA Graduate School, Pune University and giving enormous numbers of public talks etc. I was always amazed by this. When you fix a meeting with him it used to start exactly on time and end within the scheduled time. He never seemed hurried at any point during the meeting. Despite that, all the key points were discussed, and the meeting ended smoothly — unlike what we often experience these days: 'Sorry, we need to end this meeting, I have another one starting in a minute.' I only wish I had even 10–20% of his efficiency.
Dr. Narlikar authored numerous books and articles in English, Hindi, Marathi and occasionally in Sanskrit as well, making science accessible to the general public. He firmly believed in bringing science to the general public as one of the duties of any researcher. This is why he made science popularisation as part of core IUCAA activities from the very beginning. Various regular activities like ‘Second Saturday Public Lectures’ and ‘Summer Programme for school children’ were started by him in early 1990s. His interaction with the public through “Ask the scientist?” during National Science Day celebrations was the most popular event every year. He was always there for this event. This year, when it became apparent that interacting with the public was difficult, he held a 30-minute session titled 'Mathematics Without Number Crunching.' It was an outstanding event.
When we talk about JVN, we can go on and on… Surely, we will miss him. But the best tribute we can offer is to follow at least some of his finest principles.
-R. Srianand