Girija Devi (8 May 1929 – 24 October 2017) was an Indian classical singer of the
Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of
thumri. She was dubbed as the 'Queen of Thumri' for her contribution in the genre. She died on 24 October 2017.
Early life
Girija Devi was born in
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
, on 8 May 1929, to Ramdeo Rai, a zamindar.
Her father played the
harmonium and taught music, and had Girija Devi take lessons in singing ''
khyal'' and ''
tappa
Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly ...
'' from vocalist and
sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five.
She starred in the movie ''Yaad rahe'' aged nine and continued her studies under Chand Misra in a variety of styles.
Performing career

Girija Devi made her public debut in 1949 on
All India Radio
All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
Allahabad
Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
, after marrying a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother because it was traditionally believed that no upper-class woman should perform publicly.
Girija Devi agreed not to perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951. She studied with Sri Chand Misra until he died in the early 1960s, worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage. Girija Devi often toured and continued to perform in 2009.
Girija Devi sang in the Banaras gharana and performed the ''purabi ang'' '' thumri'' style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate. Her repertoire included the semi-classical genres '' kajri'', '' chaiti'', and ''holi
Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
'' and she sang '' khyal'', Indian folk music, and ''tappa
Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly ...
''.[ '']The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'' once stated that her semi-classical singing combined her classical training with the regional characteristics of the songs of Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
and eastern Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
.
She died on 24 October 2017 following a cardiac arrest at the BM Birla Heart Research Centre in Kolkata at the age of 88.
Awards
* Padma Shri (1972)
* Padma Bhushan (1989)
* Padma Vibhushan (2016)
* Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1977)
* Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2010)
* Maha Sangeet Samman Award (2012)
* Sangeet Samman Award ( Dover Lane Music Conference)
* GiMA Awards 2012 (Lifetime Achievement)
* TanaRiri Puraskar
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Girija
1929 births
2017 deaths
Hindustani singers
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Thumri
Musicians from Varanasi
Indian women classical singers
20th-century Indian singers
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
Women Hindustani musicians
Women musicians from Uttar Pradesh
21st-century Indian women singers
21st-century Indian singers
20th-century Indian women singers
Indian classical musicians of Bengal
Women musicians from West Bengal
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship