Women's Day 2023: Kishori Amonkar, The Celebrated Hindustani Vocalist Of Jaipur Gharana

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Kishori Amonkar, was a highly reputed classical Hindustani Vocalist of the Jaipur Gharana. Known for her admirable mastery over the Khyal style, she lent an innovative feel to the traditional music through her techniques and her sonorous and soulful voice. She had also dabbled in film music out of creative interest. Pranab Mukherjee Indias ex-president felt that her demise brought a distinct loss to the musical lineage and the Hindustani musical world which she was a part of.

She was a part of the gamut of experiences that life taught her, firstly as a fatherless child, left with only her mother to call her own, and then as a musician who had rigorous sadhana ahead of her, and the world that she had to face singlehandedly as a celebrity. She was all alone throughout this journey. She tasted hardship and ease of life in her considerably long lifespan. Here is a woman who proved her mettle despite disturbances in life.

Although she represented Jaipur Gharana, she absorbed the influences of other musical styles as well for which she received both bouquets and brickbats. She sang with an ease of a koel and expressed her melancholy and pain through her musical renditions. Kishori was born in Mumbai to Madhavdas Bhatia and Mogubai Kurdikar. Mogubai was a highly talented musician who was trained by Alladiya Khan, founder of the Jaipur gharana. She trained her daughter Kishori Amonkar and imparted the best lessons she had learnt from the maestro.

Here is a bird's eyeview of her life, enlisted in a couple of points.

1. Kishori Amonkar was a stellar Indian vocalist who belonged to the Jaipur Gharana, a group of musicians who shared a Jaipur style of music.

2. Kishori Amonkar was born in Bombay on 10 April 1932.

3. Kishori Amonkar mainly performed the classical genre of Khyal and the light classical thumri and bhajan.

4. According to Kishori Amonkar, her mother used to make her repeat the phrases that her mother sang and initially led her into the music in this manner.

5. Anwar Hussain Khan of Agra gharana, Sharadchandra Arolkar of Gwalior gharana, and Balkrishnabuwa Parwatkar were her illustrious Gurus.

6. It was Anjanibai who taught her the technique of Meend, or gliding between notes. She often drifted away from the Jaipur gharana's tradition to express emotional phrases.

7. Kishori Amonkar has stated that she took her inspiration from the Jaipur Gharanas techniques and developed several variations on it including alapchaari. She landed in controversies due to this.

8. Kishori Amonkar avoided repetitive techniques and improvised on her own techniques. This let her develop a style of her own.

9. Kishori Amonkar was also known for knowledgeable lectures on the rasa Shastra in music.

10. Kishori Amonkar showed inclination towards film music and sang for the movie Geet Gaya Patharon Ne and Drishti in 1964 but she rejected the idea of continuing with film music.

11. Kishori Amonkar lost her father when she was barely seven, and left Amonkar and her siblings to the mercies of this world, and Mogubai Kurdikar, her classical vocalist mother had to singlehandedly bring them up. She grew up in tough circumstances but ended up being a celebrity with admirable achievements,

12. Kishori Amonkar died peacefully in her sleep, a week before her birthday on 3 April 2017 at her Mumbai residence.

13. Kishori Amonkar was the recipient of several prestigious national awards and honours, including the Padma Bhushan, in 1987, and Padma Vibhushan in 2002, Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1985 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2009.

14. Kishori Amonkar also received the Dr T M A Pai Outstanding Konkani Award in 1991.

15. Kishori Amonkar was fortunate to be recognised for her merit by her contemporaries and fellow musicians.

16. Kishori Amonkar also was the subject of a documentary namely Bhinna Shadja, which was directed by Amol Palekar and Sandhya Gokhale.