Manik Varma (16 May 1926 – 10 November 1996) was an Indian classical singer from the Kirana and

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

gharanas (singing styles). She was honored with the Padma Shri Award in 1974 for her contribution to the field of music.

Career

Besides the pure classical

khyal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian language, Persian/Arabic language, Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with rom ...

, she also sang semi-classical and light music like thumri, Marathi Natya Sangeet, Bhavgeet and Bhakti geet (devotional music). She was a disciple of Hirabai Barodekar and Sureshbabu Mane, daughter and son of Abdul Karim Khan, the founder of the Kirana gharana.She also took her rigorous training in Thumri Gayaki from Pandit Bholanath Bhatt of ‘Bhatt Parampara’ in Prayag, Allahabad. She took further training from Azmat Hussain Khan "Dilrang" and Jagannathbua Purohit "Gunidas" of Agra gharana. In April 1955, her songs became part of the Geet Ramayan, a presentation of songs on the Hindu god Rama, a weekly year-long programme by

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 ...

(AIR),

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, along with artists like

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

, Yogini Joglekar, Usha Atre, Babanrao Navdikar, Lalitabai Phadke and Sudhir Phadke. She trained students including Asha Khadilkar and Shaila Datar.

Personal life

Her maiden name was Manik Dadarkar (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

: माणिक दादरकर). Her daughters include Rani Varma, also a singer, Aruna Jayprakash, Bharati Achrekar, an actor, and Vandana Gupte, a Marathi stage, film and television actor.

Awards

She received the prestigious

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

award from the

government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 1974, followed by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

given by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in 1986.

Legacy

In her memory ''Manik Varma Pratishthan'' was established in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, which also presents Manik Ratna Award and scholarships. It also organises function on the birth and death anniversary of Manik Verma. On her eighth death anniversary, on 12 November 2004, a musical programme ''Baharla Parijaat Daari'' was presented by ''Devgandharva Bakhlebua Trust'' at Tilak Smarak Mandir in

References

External links

*
List of Manik Varma songs
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmKyQzug2FE {{DEFAULTSORT:Varma, Manik Women Hindustani musicians 1926 births 1996 deaths Singers from Mumbai Marathi-language singers Indian women classical singers Marathi music Performers of Hindu music Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Thumri Kirana gharana 20th-century Indian singers Hindustani singers 20th-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Maharashtra 20th-century Khyal singers