- Kishan Maharaj
Infobox musical artist
Name = Kishan Maharaj
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Kishan
Born = September 3, 1923
Benares, United Provinces,British India
Died = Death date and age|2008|05|04|1923|09|03
Instrument =Tabla
Genre = Indian classical music
Occupation =Composer
Years_active = 1934 – 2008Kishan Maharaj (
3 September 1923 –4 May 2008 ) was an Indian musician who played thetabla , an Indian percussion instrument. He was an exponent of the Benaras Gharana form of Hindustani classical music.Early life
Kishan Maharaj was born in the year 1923 into a family of professional musicians. He was initially trained in classical music by his father Pandit Hari Maharaj. After his father's sudden death, his training was taken over by his uncle, Pt. Kanthe Maharaj, one of the great old masters and himself a disciple of Pt. Baldeo Sahai of the Benaras Gharana.
Musical career
By the time he was eleven, he began performing in concerts. Within a few years, Kishan Maharaj was sharing the stage with stalwarts like Ustad Faiyaz Khan,
Pandit Omkarnath Thakur , Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Bhimsen Joshi,Vasant Rai , Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and many others. Pandit Kishan Maharaj had the ability to play cross-rhythms and produce complex calculations, particularly intihai patterns.Known as an excellent accompanist, Pandit Kishan Maharaj was extremely versatile and capable of playing with any accompaniment, be it with the
Sitar ,Sarod ,Dhrupad ,Dhamar or even dance.Pandit Kishan gave a number of solo concerts during his career and also gave `Sangat` to some great dancers like Sri Shambhu Maharaj,
Sitara Devi , NatrajGopi Krishna and PanditBirju Maharaj .Among all his compositions, his `Tala Vadya Kacheri` with the Mridangam Vidwan, `Palghat Raghu` was incomparable. Pandit Kishan Ji extensively toured and participated in several prestigious events across the world, including the Edinburgh festival and the Commonwealth Arts festival in UK in 1965.
Death
He passed away on May 4, 2008 at Khajuri near Varanasi at the age of 84 [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3012126.cms "Tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj no more", "Times of India." (5 May 2008)] ] .
Legacy
Pandit Kishan Maharaj's disciples include some of very best contemporary tabla players. They include Pt. Kumar Bose, Pt. Balkrishna Iyer, Nandan Mehta, Pt. Sandeep Das, Sardar Sukhwinder Singh Namdhari and others.
Awards
*
Padmashree in 1973
* Kendriya Sangeet Natak Award in 1984
*Hafiz Ali Khan Award in 1986
*Padma Vibhushan award in 2002.
*Lata Mangeshkar Award in 2001.References
External links
* [http://www.indiatodaygroup.com/itoday/22061998/offtrack.html - S Kalidas, "Varanasi, Rhythms of Change (Kabir Chaura)", "India Today" Offtracks (June 22, 1998)]
* [http://www.tablaineurope.com/gurus.htm - Nihar Mehta, "My Gurus: Pandit Kishan Maharaj", a brief biography on "tablaineurope.com"]
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