Reclusive Master Of A Rare Instrument

ANNAPURNA DEVI (1927–2018)

- Meena Banerjee

The world of Hindustani music venerated her as Maa Annapurna Devi. She was a sadhika who abhorred the arclights of the concert stage, shunned publicity and refused to face the public eye even when invited to accept prestigious awards. Ironically, her life had enough heartbreaks and controversies, as eager scholars of music followed her footprints and prestigious awards like the Padma Bhushan (1977), the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1991), Desikottama (1999) and SNA Ratna (2004) lay strewn on her path. On the fourth day of Navaratri—on 13 October 2018— Annapurna Devi left for her eternal abode at the age of 91, to be with her father-guru Baba Allauddin Khan and her eldest sibling Ali Akbar, both of whom left an indelible mark on her personality. Like her Baba, she was an inextinguishable flame that safeguarded the purity of raga music of the Maihar gharana; and like her brother—the sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan—she exemplified guru bhakti.