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Monday, June 6, 2011

Mangal Pandey




Life History:

Mangal Pandey, whose name is often preceded by Shaheed meaning a martyr in Hindi, was an Indian soldier during the pre-independence era. A member of the 34th Regiment of the Bengal native infantry of the East India Company, Mangal Pandey is counted among the most popular figures associated with India's freedom struggle in present times. He was born on 19 July 1827 in the Nagwa village in the Ballia district of the Uttar Pradesh state. There still exist families in this village who claim to the descendents of Mangal Pandey.

However, some disputes exist over the exact place where Mangal Pandey was born. So read on to know more about the biography of Mangal Pandey, who joined the sepoy force of the British East India Company in the year 1849 at the age of 22. His name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today called the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India's First War of Independence. Due to this, he was later captured and hung till death on 8 April in 1857.
 

Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar

Life History:

Lata was born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh as the daughter of Dinanath Mangeshkar, who was a classical singer as well as a theater artist. She was the first child of the Mangeshkar family. She was born in Indore, but brought up in Maharashtra. When she was five years old, she began working as a theater artist in sangeet nataks. She also started taking singing lessons from her father.
Lata Mangeshkar
is the pride of Indian music industry. Blessed with beautiful voice, she is the most well known Indian vocalist. Highly versatile, she has sung in more than 20 languages. To honor and give recognition to her works, Lata Mangeshkar is also known as the Nightingale of India. Well, in this article, we will present you with the biography of Lata Mangeshkar.

Career:


Awards Won:
Filmfare Awards (1958, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1993 and 1994)
National Awards (1972, 1975 and 1990)
Maharashtra State Award (1966 and 1967)

1969 - Padma Bhushan
1974 - Recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for having sung the maximum number of songs in the world
1989 - Dada Saheb Phalke Award
1993 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
1996 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
1997 - Rajiv Gandhi Award
1999 - NTR Award
1999 - Padma Vibhushan
1999 - Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement
2000 - Lifetime Achievement Award by IIFA in London
2001 - Best Playback Singer of the Millennium (female) by Hero Honda and magazine "Stardust"
2001 - Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award
2001 - Noorjehan Award
2001 - Maharashtra Ratna 

Alka Yagnik


ALKA YAGNIK

Life History:

Her voice has been mainly used for the young generation stars. She has done playback singing for many famous actresses like Rakhee, Hema Malini, Farida Jalal, Rekha, Kajol and Preity Zinta. Besides Hindi songs, she has also sung in other languages such as Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Punjabi

Alka has always been fond of singing. Since young age, music has been her first love. Initially, she thought it to be nothing more than a hobby, but later she realized that if pursued seriously, it can be taken as a profession. When she was six years old, she began singing Bhajans for the Calcutta Radio. From then onwards, she started singing at a professional level..

Alka Yagnik is one of the most talented singers of Bollywood. She was born to a Gujarati family on the 20th of March in Calcutta (now Kolkata). She comes from a music background. Both her parents were actively involved in classical music. Since the late 1980s, she has been one of the most leading playback singers of the Indian music industry. Well, in this article, we will present you with the biography of Alka Yagnik, so read on.
 
  
Awards Won:

Filmfare Awards (1988, 1993, 1997,1999,2000,2001 and 2004)
National Film Awards (1994 and 1999)
Zee Cine Awards (1999, 2001 and 2007)
Star Screen Awards (1995 and 2000)
International Indian Film Academy (2000 and 2001)
MC Music Awards
BBC: World Music 2003 Awards
MTV Asia Viewers Choice Award

Sardar Patel

 Sardar Patel


Life History:

Sardar Patel was popularly known as Iron Man of India. His full name was Vallabhbhai Patel. He played a leading role in the Indian freedom struggle and became the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India. He is credited with achieving political integration of India.

Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Nadiad, a small village in Gujarat. His father Jhaverbhai was a farmer and mother Laad Bai was a simple lady. Sardar Vallabhai's early education took place in Karamsad. Then he joined a school in Petlad. After two years he joined a high school in a town called Nadiad. He passed his high school examination in 1896. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a brilliant student throughout his schooling.

Bismillah Khan



 Life History:

Bismillah Khan was born on March 21, 1916 at Dumraon, Bihar. His ancestors were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar. Ustad Bismillah Khan was trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux `Vilayatu', a shehnai player attached to Varanasi's Vishwanath Temple.

Ustad Bismillah Khan brought Shehnai to the center stage of Indian classical music with his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Conference in 1937. He had the honor of performing at Delhi's Red Fort on the occasion of India's Independence on August 15, 1947. Bismillah Khan mesmerized everyone with his heart-touching rendering of Raga Kafi from the Red Fort on the eve of India's first Republic Day ceremony, on January 26, 1950.





Ustad Bismillah Khan was a recipient of many honors and awards. These include: Padma Vibhushan (1980), Padma Bhushan (1968), Padma Shri (1961), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1956), and Tansen Award by Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. In 2001, Ustad Bismillah Khan became the third classical musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

Ustad Bismillah Khan died on August 21, 2006 due to cardiac arrest.

Annapurna Devi



Life History:

Annapurna Devi, who was born as Roshanara Khan in 1926 at Maihar in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was a secluded maestro of Surbahar or the bass Sitar in the classical music genre. Her father Ustad Alauddin Khan, who also happened to be her guru, was the founder of the famous Senia Maihar Gharana or the Senia Maihar School and was regarded as a marvel in the 20th century Indian classical music.

Read on further about the life and family history of Annapurna Devi, whose uncles Fakir Aftabuddin Khan and Ustad Ayet Ali Khan also were considered eminent musicians in their homeland Bangladesh. The brother of Annapurna Devi, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is deemed as one of the best living Sarode players of India. Whereas her spouse, Sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar ranks among the most popular Indian classical musicians in the west.

Read on the biography of Annapurna Devi, whom the renowned Indian musician Ravi Shankar wedded when he was just of 21 years and Annapurna all of 14. And post marriage, Annapurna turned into a Hindu. Though a tumultuous one, the marriage lasted for some 20 years during which the couple gave birth to a son, Shubhendra Shankar. As a teacher, she has had many noteworthy students like Ustad Aashish Khan, renowned flautists Hariprasad Chaurasia and others. 

Thyagaraja

  Thyagaraja

Life History:
Thyagaraja is considered the most legendary Carnatic music composer of all time, who played a very significant role in the development of this music genre. He saw music as a means to experience the love of god and as such, his sole intention was purely devotional while performing.

A discussion on Carnatic music, perhaps, can never be complete without the mention of Tyagaraja, who along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri comprise the trinity of Carnatic music composers. He is regarded as the most legendary among the Carnatic music composers and is also said to have played a prominent role in the development of this musical genre. Tyagaraja created numerous devotional songs, most of which are devoted to the Hindu god Rama and are popular even today.