The man, the music and the essence...
An emotional tribute to Ustad Bismillah Khan from his hometown Benares .
USTAD BISMILLAH Khan was born on March 21, 1916 in a family of professional shehnai players of the princely State Dumraon in Bihar. He shifted to his maternal uncle Ustad Ali Bux’s house in Benares later.
Ustad Bismillah Khan gave credit to his maternal uncle for teaching him the intrinsic art of playing the shehnai. At the tender age of six, Khan saheb began his riyaz in solitude on the banks of Ganga and in the holy temples of Balaji, Jarau Mandir and Mangala Maiya.
Since his ancestors were all shehnai players, including his great great grand father late Ustad Salar Hussain Khan, great grand father late Ustad Hussain Bux Khan, grand father late Rasool Bux Khan, father late Paighamber Bux Khan — Ustad Bismillah Khan carried forward the legacy. Ustad Bismillah Khan’s performance, both in and outside India, was all about a universal spirit. It was due to his splendid performance that recognition and laurels started coming his way since 1956.
According to Ustad Bismillah Khan, he had observed many transcendental events during his practice in the temples. He was credited with having performed in late Vijay Bhatt and Shanker Bhatt’s film Goonj Uthi Shehnai and another film Sanadhi Apanna, a Vikram Srinivas movie. Even though the film fared well in the market, Ustad saheb could not adjust himself with the artificiality and glamour of the film world due to his God-fearing temperament. He gave his first public performance at the age of 14 in 1930 at the All-India Music Conference in Allahabad. For the Ustad, there was no looking back.
{{/usCountry}}According to Ustad Bismillah Khan, he had observed many transcendental events during his practice in the temples. He was credited with having performed in late Vijay Bhatt and Shanker Bhatt’s film Goonj Uthi Shehnai and another film Sanadhi Apanna, a Vikram Srinivas movie. Even though the film fared well in the market, Ustad saheb could not adjust himself with the artificiality and glamour of the film world due to his God-fearing temperament. He gave his first public performance at the age of 14 in 1930 at the All-India Music Conference in Allahabad. For the Ustad, there was no looking back.
{{/usCountry}}However, recognition came to him only after his performance at the All India Music Conference at Calcutta in 1937, where he won three gold medals. Ustad Bismillah Khan played for Independent India from the ramparts of the Red Fort on January 26, 1950.
Even various significant festivals and expositions in different parts of the globe were inaugurated by his divine music like World Exposition in Montreal (Canada) in 1967, French Art festival in Cannes in 1969 and the world exposition in Osaka (Japan) in 1970 etc. He also performed on the occasion of 50th year of India’s independence on August 15, 1997 at ‘Diwan-e-Aam’.
He was conferred the most prestigious award of India, ‘Bharat Ratna’ during the regime of NDA government at the Centre. He was also conferred the degrees of Ph.D (Honaris Causa) by 11 different universities of India.