He was known as the famous singer “Maharashtra kokil,” Pt. Shankarao Sarnaik, and they received their entire musical education under Abdul Karim Khan Saheb, the founder of Kirana Gharana.

His songs were a part of the ‘Gandharv’ tradition. He retired from their profession in 1934.

During the great era from 1919 to 1935, people referred to him as the great actor and singer in Sangeet Natak,  He spent almost 16 years of his life as an actor, earning the most respected designation of ‘Maharashtra Kokil’ in the sangeet industry. He was the owner of the ‘Yanshwant Sangit Mandali, a company sponsored by the Maharaja of Indore, Maharaja Holkar. 

After that, he left his acting profession and cut his long, black hair (which he had grown to perform female roles). He had a habit of immersing himself in spiritual hymns every Monday in Kolhapur. Even in his 70s, his voice retained the stable softness of a kokil bird. Shankar Rao Sarnaik died of a heart attack in the Miraj Mission Hospital at Miraj in 1971.