Anjanibai Malpekar (22 April 1883 – 7 August 1974) was a noted

Indian classical Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were no ...

singer, belonging to the

Bhendibazaar gharana The Bhendibazaar gharana is one of the vocal gharanas of Indian classical music, which originated in Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai in 1890. History and features The Bhendibazaar gharana was founded around 1890 by brothers Chhajju Khan, Nazir Kh ...

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, sita ...

. In 1958, she became the first woman to be awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

, the highest honour conferred by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama. Acclaimed for her beauty in her youth, Malpekar was the muse of painters

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma ( ml, രാജാ രവിവർമ്മ; 29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His works are one of the best examples ...

and M. V. Dhurandhar.

Early life and background

Malpekar was born on 22 April 1883, in Malpe,

Pernem Pernem or Pedne (pronounced ) is a town and a municipal council in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is the capital of the Pernem Sub-District Geography Pernem is one of the twelve sub-districts of Goa. Pernem sub-district c ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, in music loving family that belonged to

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...

Kalavant community. Both her grandmother Gujabai and mother Nabubai were respected names in music circles. At young age of 8, she started her musical training under the tutelage of Ustad Nazeer Khan of

. The gharana had its origins in the much older Moradabad gharana, and was based in the

Bhendi Bazaar Bhendi Bazaar is a market (bazaar) in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Bhendi Bazaar occupies an area between Mohammed Ali Road and Khetwadi. The closest Central and Harbour lines station for the Mumbai Suburban Railway is Sandhurst Road, an ...

area of Mumbai.

Career

Malpekar gave her debut performance at a concert in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 1899, at the age of 16. In those days, women of "respectable families" never sang in public, while Malepakar went on to have a flourishing singing career, with both public and royal patronage. In time, she became the doyenne of the gharana. Besides her singing, she also got acclaim for her beauty. When painter M. V. Dhurandhar did an oil painting of her, another painter

was inspired, and went to do a series of paintings with her as muse, including "Lady in the Moonlight", "Lady Playing Swarbat", "Mohini" and "The Heartbroken", She modelled for him during his stay in Mumbai in 1901 and 1903. However this wasn't without its drawback, especially when singing in public concerts meant singing primarily to a male audience, this often led to harassment. Thus in 1904, she even developed fear of singing in public, and lost her voice, though she regained it after a year. Meanwhile, she married Seth Wasanji Ved. After a successful career as a singer, after the death of her Guru Ustad Nazeer Khan in 1920, she lost interest in concerts. Finally, after a last performance at Town Hall, Mumbai, she gave up her public singing career in 1923. Thus at age 40, she decided to devote the rest of her years, to teaching music. In the coming decades, she taught some notable names in Indian classical music, including

Kumar Gandharva Pandit Kumar Gandharva (pronunciation:, Kn: ಕುಮಾರ್ ಗಂಧರ್ವ; 8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992), originally known as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath was an Indian classical singer, well known for his unique vocal style ...

who was her first disciple,

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre '' ...

, Pandit T.D. Janorikar (1921–2006),

Begum Akhtar Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974), also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazals), she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thumr ...

and Naina Devi. By the 1960s, Bhendibazar gharana based in Mumbai, became famous all over India, with number of popular musicians, besides Aman Ali Khan, it had Jhande Khan, Mamman Khan, Shabbir and Amir Khan. In 1958, when for her contribution to music, she was awarded the

the highest honour conferred by

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, she became the first woman to receive the award. She died on 7 August 1974 in Bombay (now Mumbai), at the age of 91.

Gallery

File:Raja Ravi Varma, In Contemplation.jpg, ''The Heartbroken'' by Raja Ravi Varma File:Ravi Varma-Lady playing the swarbat.jpg, ''Lady Playing Swarbat'' by Raja Ravi Varma File:Ladies in the moonlight by RRV.jpg, ''Ladies in the Moon Light'' by Raja Ravi Varma

References

External links

Anjanibai Malpekar Biography and Audio
Vijaya Parrikar Library of Indian Classical Music {{DEFAULTSORT:Malpekar, Anjanibai 1883 births 1974 deaths Hindustani singers Indian women classical singers People from North Goa district Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Singers from Mumbai Indian music educators 20th-century Indian singers 19th-century Indian singers Women educators from Goa 20th-century Indian educators Singers from Goa Women Hindustani musicians 20th-century Indian women singers 19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian women singers Educators from Goa Women musicians from Goa Women music educators 19th-century women educators 20th-century women educators Singers from British India