Mitrasen Thapa Magar (29 December 1895 – 7 April 1946), popularly known as Master Mitrasen, was a

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

. He left

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in early age for the upliftment of Nepalese music and society. His contribution to different fields of Nepalese society is remarkable.

Early life

He was born in

Bhagsu Bhagsu/Bhaksu (also known as Bhagsunag or Bhagsunath) is a village near McLeod Ganj in Dharamshala, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The village is the site of Bhagsunag waterfall and the ancient Bhagsunag Temple. In early 18th c ...

Cantonment, India on 29 December 1895 to father Manbirsen Thapa Magar and mother Radha Thapa Magar. His grand father was Surendrasen Thapa. His ancestral home was in Rakhu Pula village in

Parbat District Parbat District ( ne, :ne:पर्वत जिल्ला, पर्वत जिल्ला , is a hilly area of Nepal. It is a part of Gandaki Province and one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Kusma, Nepal, Kusma a ...

of Nepal. He had a son named Digvijay Sen Thapa.

Education

Since there was no school around Bhagsu Cantonment, during his time, he started learning from his father initially. He joined his first grade at his 8 years of age at a primary school five miles away from his residence. He learned the Ramayana translated by Bhanubhakta from his father.

Military service

When he became 16 years old, he joined 1/1 Gorkha Rifles as a recruit. His forefathers had served in same unit before. He took part in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with his battalion in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1914. He left military service in 1920. His interest was to be social worker and devote his rest of life for betterment of Nepalese music and society. Mastermitrasen

Music contributions

He travelled different parts of India as well as

where

Nepalese people Nepalis (English: Nepalese ; ne, नेपाली) are the citizens of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law. The country is home to people of many different national origins who are the descendants of immigrants from India, K ...

lived with his harmonium. His folk songs became very popular among

. Some of these popular songs are: ', ', ' etc. He recorded 24 disk record or 97 songs in nepali music. He was not only singer, he equally contributed in the field of drama, story, novel, essay, poems etc. For his great contribution in Nepali society and music, India and Nepal governments have already published mailing tickets with his photographs.''Himal'' Khabarpatrika. Kathmandu, Nepal. 1–16 September 2010. p.62. There is also Mitrasen Academy to promote Nepali music and society to follow and remember his legacy. His contributions made him as a ''Master'' Mitrasen and remained immortal.

References

Cited sources

*Harsha Bahadur Budha Magar (1999) ''Master Mitrasen Thapa Magar''. Kathmandu: Pushpavati Budha Magar

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrasen, Master Magar Magar 1895 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Nepalese male singers People from Dharamshala Nepali-language singers from India