Girija Devi facts for kids

Girija Devi
Quick facts for kids Girija Devi
	Devi performing in Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal (July 2015)
Background information
Born	8 May 1929; Varanasi, United Provinces, British India
Died	24 October 2017 (aged 88)
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Instruments	vocal
Years active	1949–2017

Girija Devi (8 May 1929 – 24 October 2017) was an Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of thumri.

Early career

Devi agreed to not perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951. She worked as a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata in the 1980s and of the Banaras Hindu University during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage. Devi often toured and continued to perform in 2009.

Musical career

Devi sang in the Banaras gharana and performed the purabi ang thumri style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate.

Death

Devi died on 24 October 2017 of cardiac arrest at the age of 88.

Awards

Padma Shri (1972)
Padma Bhushan (1989)
Padma Vibhushan (2016)
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1977)

Images for kids

Devi in 2006
Mohd. Hamid Ansari presenting the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship 2010 to Girija Devi, at the investiture ceremony of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2010