(1927 – 13 October 2018) was an Indian

surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...

(bass

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

) player of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

. She was given the name 'Annapurna' by former Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the former Maihar Estate (M.P.), and it was by this name that she was popularly known. She was the daughter and disciple of Allauddin Khan, the founder of

Maihar gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princ ...

, and Madina Bibi and the first wife of the sitar player

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

. After her separation from Ravi Shankar, she moved to Bombay and never performed again in public. She remained a private person, yet continued to teach music for free. Her students include many notable disciples including

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the I ...

, Nityanand Haldipur and

Nikhil Banerjee Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He ...

Biography

Annapurna Devi, born Roshanara Khan, on 15 April 1927 [confirmed by Lajo ji] at Maihar, a small princely state of British India (now a part of Madhya Pradesh, India). Her father Alauddin Khan was a royal court musician at the court of Maharaja Brijnath Singh (Maihar State), who named the newborn girl 'Annapurna'. Her father and guru Alauddin Khan, founder of the "Senia

" or "Senia Maihar School" of Hindustani classical music, was a noted musician and guru of Indian classical music. Her uncles, Fakir Aftabuddin Khan and Ayet Ali Khan, were noted musicians at their native place Shibpur, in the present-day Bangladesh. Her brother Ali Akbar Khan was a legendary Sarod maestro and was considered a "national living treasure" in India and the USA. Annapurna was initially instructed by her father in the sitar and vocals. She then switched to the surbahar which she played in the traditional style of a rudra veena. One of her earliest concerts of note was with the surbahar when she played in honour of the Raja of Maihar. She was rewarded with a large tract of land for her performance. On 15 May 1941, Annapurna Devi converted to Hinduism and married renowned sitarist,

, in Almora. Between 1946 and 1955, Annapurna appeared on stage with Shankar in a handful of sitar-surbahar duets in Delhi and Bombay (now Mumbai). They had a son, Shubhendra Shankar (1942–1992), who was also a musician. The couple got divorced in 1982. Annapurna married Rooshikumar Pandya in Bombay on 9 December 1982. Rooshikumar Pandya, who was 42 years old at the time of their marriage, was a well known communication expert and a successful sitarist in the United States. Rooshikumar had been learning sitar from her since 1973 at the recommendation of her brother, Ali Akbar Khan, who was also his guru (as was Ravi Shankar). He died in 2013 suddenly of a cardiac arrest at the age of 73. Annapurna Devi died of age related issues on 13 October 2018 in Mumbai.

Career

Annapurna Devi became a very accomplished surbahar (bass sitar) player of the

(school) within a few years of starting to take music lessons from her father Alauddin Khan. She started guiding many of her father's disciples, including

and Bahadur Khan, in classical music as well as in the techniques and intricacies of instrumental performances. In 1941, age 14, she married one of her father's talented students, Ravi Shankar. She converted to Hinduism upon marriage."Unveiling the mystique of a reclusive artiste"
''The Hindu'' - 28 June 2005 In the 1950s, Ravi Shankar and Annapurna Devi performed duets in Delhi and Calcutta, principally at the college of her brother, Ali Akbar Khan. But later, Shankar she decided not to reduce and finally stop performing in public. Her student Vinay Ram says that she was uncomfortable accepting payment for concerts, as it was her belief that it was akin to selling Saraswati (the Goddess of learning). Devi and Shankar's son, Shubhendra Shankar, (or "Subho", as he was popularly known) received rigorous training in sitar under her tutelage, until his father chose to interrupt his musical talim or training and took him to the United States. Shubhendra died at an early age, after a marriage and the birth of three children. Shubhendra did not have a solo career in classical music, but did for a period accompany his illustrious father Ravi Shankar in concerts in the USA and abroad. As per one of her students Vinay Ram, a conflict regarding the upbringing and musical teaching of Subho was the main reason for Devi and Shankar's separation, though they continued to remain in touch on amicable terms till the end.

Teaching

Annapurna Devi was an acclaimed instructor and one of the first women gurus of note in modern times. Her pupils were not restricted solely to sitar or surbahar players and encompassed various fields in Hindustani classical music. They included the sitarists Debi Prasad Chatterji, Bahadur Khan (a cousin), Hiren Roy, Indranil Bhattacharya, Kartik Kumar, and Nikhil Banerjee, Nikhil Banerji, the sarodists, Dhyanesh Khan and Aashish Khan, Ashis Khan (sons of Ali Akbar), Basant Kabra, Pradeep Barot and Suresh Vyas, the bansuri players,

and Nityanand Haldipur, the dilruba artist Dakshina Mohan Tagore, and the violinist Satyadev Pawar. She was also the key figure of Acharya Alauddin Music Circle (an association in the memory of the late Alauddin Khan for promoting Indian classical music), in Mumbai.

Honours

* 1977, she received the Padma Bhushan (India's third highest civilian honour). * 1991, she received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (the highest Indian honour in performing arts). She is the only surbahar player to be so honoured. * 1999, the Desikottama, an honorary doctorate degree by Visva-Bharati University. * In 2004, she was made a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * *
Unveiling the Mystique of a Reclusive Artiste
', Jaya Ramanathan, The Hindu, 28 June 2005. * *

External links

*
Annapurna Devi's music, Source: The Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music

by Mohan Nadkarni * http://www.bigbridge.org/BB15/2011_BB_15_FEATURES/Annapurna_Devi/APD.pdf by Louise Landes Levi {{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Annapurna 1927 births 2018 deaths Bengali musicians Converts to Hinduism from Islam Hindustani instrumentalists Indian Hindus Maihar gharana Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Musicians from Madhya Pradesh Pupils of Allauddin Khan Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Indian music educators Women educators from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian educators Indian women classical musicians 20th-century Indian women musicians Women musicians from Madhya Pradesh Educators from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers Women music educators 20th-century women educators People from Satna district