Pandit Jasraj Passes Away At 90: Life Of The Music Maestro At A Glimpse

The Indian Classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj breathed his last on August 17, 2020, in New Jersey, America. Read on.

After suffering a cardiac arrest at the age of 90, Indian classical music maestro passed away on August 17 at his home in New Jersey. He was with his family in America for some time and breathed his last this morning at 5:15 am. During his lifetime, he was honoured with various awards including Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and more. Many of his classical and semi-classical vocals have become albums and soundtracks for movies. Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj taught music in India, Canada and the US. Let’s take a look at his life and achievements so far-

1. The classical music maestro as born on January 28, 1930 in Pili Mandori, a village in the Hisar district of Haryana. He was born to Pandit Motiram who was also a classical singer.
2. Pandit Jasraj spent his youth in Hyderabad and often travelled to Gujarat to educate himself with the music of the ‘Mewati Gharana’. He received training from Maharaj Jaywant Singh Waghela, the Thakur Sahib of Sanand, who was also deeply dedicated to classical music.
3. Pandit Jasraj belonged to the ‘Mewati Gharana’, a school of music known for traditional performances of ‘Khayals’. He moved to Calcutta in 1946 and began singing classical audio for radio. He worked as a performing artist on the radio for many years.
4. At the age of 22, the music maestro performed his first stage concert as a vocalist in the court of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal in Kathmandu.
5. Based on the ancient system of ‘Moorchhana’, Jasraj created a form of ‘Jugalbandi’ called ‘Jasrangi’. This ‘Jugalbandi’ is basically between a male and a female vocalist, where each sings different ragas at the same time. ‘Abiri Todi’ and ‘Patdeepaki’ are some of the rare Ragas being presented by the music genius.
6. Connecting and attaching elements of lighter style like ‘Thumri’, Pandit Jasraj has sung ‘Khayals’ with some flexibility.
7. He was honoured with several awards including ‘Padma Shri’ in 1975, ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1990, ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 2000, ‘Bharat Ratna Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Life Achievement Award’ in 2013 and the list goes on.
8. The Indian Classical music genius has also classical and semi-classical compositions for film soundtracks including ‘Vaada Tumse Hai Vaada’ for the 2008 movie ‘1920’ directed by Vikram Bhatt.
9. On January 28, 2017, Pandit Jasraj received a standing ovation at a classical music concert titled ‘My Journey, an Intimate Evening with Pandit Jasraj’ for his contribution in the field of Indian Classical Music for more than 80 years.
10. Pandit Jasraj got married to Madhura Shantaram, the daughter of V. Shantaram in 1962. The couple has a son Shaarang Dev Pandit, and a daughter, Durga Jasraj.

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