Annapurna Devi, renowned Hindustani musician passes away

Annapurna Devi (91), the renowned Hindustani musician, passed away in Mumbai on October 13, 2018. Born in Maihar (Madhya Pradesh) in 1927, she was the daughter and disciple of Allauddin Khan (who was the founder of Maihar gharana). She was given the name ‘Annapurna’ by former Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the former Maihar Estate (M.P.), and it was by this name that she was popularly known. Annapurna was an Indian Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani classical music. She was married to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, but he divorced her and went to USA in 1962. After her divorce, she never performed again in public. She had had notable disciples viz.: Hariprasad Chaurasia, Nityanand Haldipur, Nikhil Banerjee, Amit Bhattacharya, Pradeep Barot, Sudhir Phadke, Sandhya Apte and Saswatti Saha.