Vasundhara Komkali (1931–2015), popularly known as Vasundhara Tai, was an Indian classical musician and one of the leading exponents of the Gwalior gharana, an old

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

tradition of

Hindustani 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 ...

. She was the wife of renowned musician,

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 ...

, and was a recipient of the 2009 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. 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 civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, in 2006, for her contributions to Indian classical music.

Biography

Vasundhara Komakali, née Vasundhara Shrikhande, was born on 23 May 1931 in a music loving family in Jamshedpur, the largest city in the Indian state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

. Her early years were in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

where she met

when she was 12 years old, at the All India Music Conference and informed him of her desire to learn classical music under the renowned musician. Gandharva asked her to come to Mumbai but the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

had already begun which prevented her from moving to Mumbai. Staying in Kolkata, she learnt music and started performing for the Kolkata 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 ...

. After the war, she moved to Mumbai in 1946 and started training under B. R. Deodhar, a prominent vocalist and musicologist, as Gandharva could not find time to teach her during that time. Later, she returned to Gandharva for training and married the musician in 1962. Vasundhara performed as a vocal accompanist to Kumar Gandharva for the next thirty years and took up solo performance only after the latter's death in 1992. Adhering to the

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

tradition of the Gwalior gharana of which her guru, Deodhar was known for, she performed in various stages in India. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani vocals in 1998. Six years later, the Government of India honoured her again with the civilian award of the

in 2006. Vasundhara Komkali died on 29 July 2015, at the age of 84, following a cardiac arrest, at her residence in

Dewas Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pua ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and her last rites were performed in Dewas. Her daughter, Kalapini Komkali, is a noted vocalist of Hindustani music.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Komkali, Vasundhara Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1931 births 2015 deaths People from Jamshedpur Singers from Jharkhand Indian women classical musicians Women Hindustani musicians 20th-century Indian singers Hindustani singers 20th-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Jharkhand 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Khyal singers

Biography

See also

References

External links