Kishan Maharaj

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Kishan Maharaj
Birth name Kishan
Born September 3, 1923
Benares, United Provinces, British India
Died May 4, 2008 (aged 84)
Genre(s) Indian classical music
Occupation(s) Composer
Instrument(s) Tabla
Years active 1934 – 2008

Kishan Maharaj (3 September 1923 – 4 May 2008) was an Indian musician who played the tabla, an Indian percussion instrument. He was an exponent of the Benaras Gharana form of Hindustani classical music.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 in tihai patterns.

Known as an excellent accompanist, Pandit Kishan Maharaj is 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, Natraj Gopi Krishna and Pandit Birju 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.

[edit] Death

He passed away on May 4, 2008 at Khajuri near Varanasi at the age of 84.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Awards

[edit] External links

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