Mirzapur (UP), Oct 4 (PTI) A prayer meeting was held at the Budenath temple in Mirzapur on Saturday in the memory of celebrated Hindustani classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, who passed away here at the age of 89 on Thursday.
A large number of people attended the prayer meeting, which commenced by observing a two-minute silence for the departed soul.
Speaking on the occasion, the mahant of the temple, Yoganand Giri, said that born to musician Pandit Badri Prasad Mishra, Chhannulal Mishra started learning music from his father at the age of three.
He moved to Varanasi at the age of nine, where he learnt the subtlety of music from Ustad Abdul Gani Khan of Kirana Gharana.
Padma Shri awardee veteran Kajari singer Urmila Srivastav said Chhannulal ji was a representative of Kirana and Banaras gharanas and for this, he made Varanasi his ‘karmabhoomi’, although he was born at Hariharpur village in Azamgarh.
The whole of Mirzapur is feeling sad today, she said.
Another Kajari singer, Usha Gupta, said Chhannulal ji was known for his Purvi thumri, which is called the Purvi Ang, dadra, chaity and kajri.
Chhannulal Mishra, one of the doyens of Hindustani classical music who melded folk and ragas, culture and devotion, and sang to us of the joy of Holi, the yearning for ‘sawan’ and timeless tales from the Ramayana, died in Mirzapur on Thursday (October 2). He was 89.
The Padma Vibhushan awardee, known for his rare gift of turning his performances into a conversation with the divine and his masterful command over various music styles, breathed his last around 4 am.
Mishra, who lost his wife Manorama and daughter Sangeeta during the Covid pandemic, had been living in Mirzapur with his youngest daughter’s family for some time.
He is survived by his son and tabla player Ramkumar Mishra, and three daughters.
Though trained in the Kirana gharana’s ‘khayal gayaki’, Mishra earned wider acclaim as a master of Thumri, while also making significant contributions to other forms such as dadra, chaiti, kajri and bhajan. PTI COR NAV ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.