Yumlembam Gambhini Devi is an Indian singer of '' Nata Sankirtana'' and dancer of Manipuri Raas. She is a member of faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) and a recipient of the 1988

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), 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. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, in 2005, for her contributions to

Manipuri dance , image = , alt = , caption = An illustration of the ''Manipuri Raas Leela'' dance, being depicted in a stamp from Armenia; transliterations of "Jagoi Raas" and "Manipuri Raas Leela", the terms in Meitei language (offi ...

and music.

Biography

Gambhini Devi was born on the New Year day of 1945 at Yaiskul Hiruhanba Leikai in the Northeast Indian state of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

to Y. Gulap Singh, a Nata Sankirtana performer, as the fourth of his eight children. She started learning music and dance at the age of 5 and , later, joined the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) from where she secured a post graduate diploma in ''Raas''. At the Academy, she received training from such notable gurus such as Amudon Sharma, Maisnam Amubi Singh, Khaidem Lokeshor Singh, Kshetritombi Devi, Ngangom Jogendra Singh and Ibopishak Sharma, in

and from Nongmaithem Tomba Singh, Khanda Moina Dan, Ngangom Jogendra Singh and Thokchom Gopal Singh in music (Monoharsai Kirtan). Her debut performance was when she was 7 years old and has performed on various stages in India and abroad since then. Her teaching career started at her alma mater where she worked as a member of faculty till her superannuation in 2005. While continuing as a visiting Senior Guru (Guruhan) at the Academy, she worked for the

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

station of the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

as a Top Grade Artist, reportedly the first female artist from the state to get the top grade. She also founded a music training institute, ''YGR, Nat Sankirtana Sheidam Shang''. She is a former member of the selection committee of the

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. ...

and the Central Dance Audition Board of the

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

, the Indian national television network. Her songs have been compiled in two albums and she has published a book under the name, ''Basak'', on Basak songs.

Manipuri Sahitya Parishad , image = Numit Kappa.jpg , imagesize = , caption = The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) , alt ...

awarded Devi the ''Nritya Ratna Award'' in 1979 and she received the ''Nat Sangeet Award'' from the Manipur State Kala Akademi in 1980.

for Nata Sankirtan reached her in 1988, the same year as she was selected for the Senior Fellowship by the Department of Culture, under the

Ministry of Human Resource Development The Ministry of Education ( MoE; formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development from 1985 to 2020) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The Ministry is further di ...

. The Government of India honoured her with the civilian award of the

in 2005.

Biography

See also

References

External links

Further reading