Legendary Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi dies in Mumbai
Annapurna Devi, born as Roshanara Khan, was an Indian surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani classical music.
Annapurna Devi, doyenne of classical Hindustani music, died at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai early morning on Saturday. She was 92.
She was suffering from age related issues for the past few years, a spokesperson of Annapurna Devi Foundation, Mumbai said. According to hospital officials, Annapurna was declared dead at 3 51 am.
Annapurna, who was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award, was popularly addressed as ‘Ma’. She was born in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar town to Ustad ‘Baba’ Allauddin Khan and Madina Begum and was the youngest of four children. World renowned maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, was her sibling.
Annapurna Devi was a disciple of her father whose contribution to Indian music resulted in the Senia-Maihar gharana. Her training started early when she was around five years old and she graduated from the sitar to her chosen instrument, the surbahar. She remained a recluse for most of her life. Much of her time was dedicated to teaching a small but select group of students.
She was married to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and had a son, Shubhendra ‘Shubho’ Shankar, who passed away in 1992. In 1982, she married Rooshikumar Pandya, a management consultant. Pandya passed away in 2013.
Her students include Aashish Khan (sarod), Amit Bhattacharya (sarod), Bahadur Khan (sarod), Basant Kabra (sarod), Hariprasad Chaurasia (bansuri), Jotin Bhattacharya (sarod), Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Nityanand Haldipur (bansuri), Peter Klatt (sitar), Pradeep Barot (sarod), Sandhya Phadke (sitar), Saswatti Saha (sitar), Sudhir Phadke (sitar), Suresh Vyas (sarod), the spokesperson said.