Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passed away late on Monday after a brief illness. She was 84. The end came at her home in central Mumbai, family sources said.
Born on April 10, 1932, Amonkar was recognised as one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur gharana.
Amonkar’s mother was the well-known vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar, who trained under Alladiya Khan Saheb, the doyen of the Jaipur gharana.
While learning the finer points and techniques of the Jaipur gharana from her mother, Amonkar also developed her own personal style, which reflects the influence of other gharanas and was generally regarded as an individual variant of the Jaipur tradition.
She cultivated a deep understanding of her art, largely through extensive study of the ancient texts on music. Amonkar was known primarily for her skillful singing of classical khayals set in the traditional ragas of Hindustani music, but also performed the lighter classical genres of thumri, bhajans and film music.
Regardless of musical genre, her performances were marked by vitality and grace. Throughout her career, however, Amonkar was both criticised and praised for her bending of the Jaipur tradition.
Amonkar was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1987) and Padma Vibhushan (2002). In 2010, she became a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Many took to Twitter to mourn the loss of the legendary singer.
PM Modi paid a tribute on the social media site.
Venkaiah Naidu also mourned her loss and said:
Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar posted his condolences on Twitter.
Chattisgarh Chief minister Raman Singh posted a heartfelt message on social media.
Rajasthan chief minsiter Vasundhara Raje posted a heartfelt message from her Twitter handle.
Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and historian Ramachandra Guha also paid a tribute to her.
This Rageshree by the late, great, Kishori Amonkar is supreme and sublime: https://t.co/1NAPzeddKu
Listen, and listen againvia @gopalears— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) April 4, 2017