Annapurna Devi (1927–2018)
The unrevealed story of India’s famous surbahar player of classical hindustani music.
Annapurna Devi (born as Roshanara Khan) was an Indian surbahar player of Hindustani classical music. The surbahar was created as a replacement for the rudra veena or been. It is also commonly called the bass sitar that is commonly used in Hindustani classical music. She was the daughter and student apprentice to of the legendary multi-instrumentalist Allauddin Khan, who founded the Maihar Gharana.
She was also the first wife of Pandit Ravi Shankar, another notable student of Allauddin Khan. She is seen as the one true embodiment of classical Surbahar music, and is remembered as one of the most notable musicians of classical Hindustani music of the 20th century. Through her years she has been victim to numerous conjecture on the facts of her life such as her failed marriage to Shri Pandit Ravi Shankar, her decision to isolate herself from public performances in spite of the widespread acclaim she garnered through her musical career. She has chosen to remain silent and stayed away from the limelight. There are close to no sources that can confirm the way in which Annapurna Devi led her life. One thing is for certain that she consciously chose to stay away from the media and public at large and spent most of her time attending to her students through most of her later years in Mumbai.
She is remembered by her students as being a dedicated, ingenius and generous teacher who went on to produce world-renowned students of eastern classical music such as Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Nikhil Banerjee, Nityanand Haldipur to name a few. Her life inspires true music conneurisers that appreciate the depth, practice and intensive training that accompanies classical Hindustani music. Her legacy reminds listeners of the purity that prevailed in the courts that patronized India’s finest musicians. She has always remained out of the public eye for a large part of her life yet stories of her voracious appetite for perfectionism led her to be the memorialised in the minds of those that knew her. She has been remembered for her impeccable talent, her relentless training, and kind heart.
Early Life
Annapurna Devi was born at Maihar, a princely state of British India, now in Madhya Pradesh. Her father Ustad Alauddin Khan was a noted guru, royal court musician and founder of the Senia Maihar Gharana of classical hindustani music. She grew up with two sisters and her brother, Ali Akhbar Khan was known as a famous Sarod maestro and was considered a “national living treasure” in India and the USA. Growing up, Annapurna would have never thought that she would follow her father’s footsteps as his previous attempts at training his daughters proved to be extremely detrimental. Ustad Allauddin Khan had trained his oldest daughter hoping to pass on training and expertise to his daughters.
Upon her marriage, Annapurna’s older sister was met with conflict and disagreement with her mother-in-law due to the abiding orthodoxy that she required to follow upon marriage. Her tanpura was broken and Ustad Allauddin Khan resolved to never teach his daughters. This decision came from the opposition that his daughters experienced from their extended families. Ustad Allauddin Khan continued to train other students but refrained from passing on his musical talent within his family.
The foundation or beginning of Annapurna’s disciplined and successful training came not from being trained by her father but on correcting her talented brother, Ali Akbar. The story of her journey into music begins on a day when she meekly identified the mistakes made by her brother. On returning home her father found her pointing out her brothers mistakes while listening to him practicing.
Ustad Ali Khan was shocked at how naturally Annapurna had learnt to read music considering she was never formally taught by him. Recognising her natural talent for music, she was instructed by him to perform the sitar and the vocals. When her father realised that her musical aptitude was far greater than he had imagined, she was asked to learn the surbahar.
She recounts in an interview the gift of her father’s vidya or knowledge, explaining that he recognised the absence of greed in her training and devotion to music. He enumerated the depth of training she would receive, and warned her that not everyone would appreciate her talent. She remembers humbly accepting her father’s offer, and it was from here that her formal training began. Annapurna is known to have been one of India’s most renowned and talented surbahar musicians, although there are only a few recordings of her performances.
Her musical philosophy was influenced by her father’s teaching who professed musical performance as a medium to move closer and closer to the divine. Unlike her counterparts, she shied away from large concerts and chose instead to spend her years being a guru and teacher. She believed in the processes of devotion and determination of a shadhaka. This is a popular believe in many eastern philosophies that believes that the adherence to a particular practice or way of life to achieve life’s greatest goals. Sadhaka is the pursuit of spiritual attainment. Annapurna Devi believed every performance whether public or private was to bring the performer closer to spiritual rejuvenation. She would spend everyday in front of the photograph of her guru with folded hands and prayed that the day be in service to contemplate the path of purity of music.
Subrata Chowdhury)
Marriage and Controversy
Pandit Ravi Shankar is one of the world’s most well-known and acclaimed hindustani classical musician. He was a young student of her father, Ustad Allauddin Khan.
She was 15 when she married 21 year old Ravi Shankar. Their marriage was recognised as interfaith and Annapurna converted to Hinduism citing her father’s agreable secular nature. She traces the change in her name from “Roshanara” to “Annapurna”. Their marriage has been site of immense speculation and Ravi Shankar himself cited reasons for the failure of their marriage in his autobiography, Rag Mala. There have been numerous versions of their divorce spoken by both parties but outsiders have claimed that this grew from an inherent animosity that Pandit Ravi Shankar harboured due to her superior musical talent. Many musical critics believe that this may have posed a threat to Ravi Shankar who was threatened by her inborn musical talent.
Ustad Amir Khan pointed out that Annapurna Devi is 80% of Ustad Allauddin Khan while Ravi Shankar remains about 40%. Ali Akbar has often been quoted saying “Put Ravi Shankar, Pannalal (Ghosh) and me on one side and put Annapurna on the other and yet her side of the scale will be heavier.”
The praise that Annapurna Devi has received from her contemporaries has proved to silence those that have doubted the rumours sparked by Pandit Ravi Shankars’ disclosures.
In order to keep her marriage intact, she decided to stay away from public performances as she knew this was a point of contention in their marriage. Many believe that if she continued she would have surpassed her spouse and carved out a global name for herself. Inevitably, problems arose in their marriage. As Ravi Shankar had spent much of his time travelling around the world touring and playing music. He recalls their tensions differently citing his encouragement at her playing in public recitals. He complained that she did not want to perform alone, always wanting to perform close to him. Yet many go on to claiming that crowds would gather around her after performances leaving a disapproving Ravi Shankar largely upset.
On March 30th, 1942, the couple had their first child — Shudhendra Shankar. Eight weeks post his birth, he was diagnosed with a rare and painful condition due to an intestinal obstruction. This further led to continuous strains in the marriage. While Ravi Shankar continued to spend his time pursuing his music career, Annapurna spent the years taking care of her son. When lights of his extramarital affairs came to view, Annapurna left their home and continued her teaching. They divorced in 1962. She retreated to her Mumbai flat and remained consumed in her teachings. She remembers her father’s advice citing music as a means to earn a living and to remain financially independent.
She spent her years in continuous riyaz with her son. He soon developed a proficiency in playing long aaps with beautiful meends. He also mastered the sapta taan that has been characteristic of Annapurna’s music.
As Shubendra’s performances got better and more nuanced, Ravi Shankar invited him to tour along with him. Annapurna grew protective of her son as she hoped he would spend This led to an immense strain in the relationship he shared with his mother. While she proposed the idea to master his art and asking him to train with her for another year, he was enticed to travel the world with his father. Years after moving to the US to play alongside his father he died of an intestinal problems. While recounting the death of her son she contemplated the numerous ways his death could have been avoided had he stayed back and continued his training under her guidance. She shared a close familial relationship with Shubendra’s daughter, Kaveri Shankar, a Bharatnatyam dancer, who stayed with Annapurna Devi on her visits to India.
Her life continued to grow around her lessons and her students have praised her for her gentle and caring demeanour. They have often spoken about the wonderful home-cooked meals that she had prepared for them. And often spoke of her the warm relationships that she shared with her students.
In 1982, she married her student, Rooshi Kumar Pandya. Pandya was initially a student of her brother, Ali Akbar Khan. He was training under him in the school Akbar Ali Khan had founded in California. On being invited to India to teach management Pandya proposed that his training would have to stop as he would no longer be able to learn from Ali Akbar. It was then that Ali Akbar suggested that he learn from his sister in Mumbai. On arriving at her home Annapurna was questioning but when he told her that it was her brother that had sent him, they build their relationship on this trust. Their relationship began as that of a teacher and student but soon Annapurna grew to trust Pandya. Pandya was marvelled at how her solitude continued to nourish and strengthen her. He had spent years in Northern America as a psychological counsellor and told Annapurna Devi that her capability to identify and reflect on human psychology was incredible. He went on to her hand in marriage and they continued to share the relationship of guru and student as he had undying respect for her and her craft.
Legacy
Many journalists have requested to meet Annapurna Devi in person but she has been ardent in her requests to remain away from the public eye.
Her students remain her sole interactions and most of what is known of her today is through her students. Though Pandya had been the bridge that has kept the legacy of Annapurna Devi alive. She was known to be very involved with her students and their progress. While music had taken up much of her time she spent her hours doing puja, riyaz and household work that kept her occupied through her time. She was comfortable with the lifestyle choices she had made and has never cited any regrets.
The one thing that kept her unhappy was the declining standards of music today. She felt hurt when she saw musicians that were tempted by money and quick fame as she herself used music as both an offering and to feel closer to God.
She was also the key figure of Acharya Alauddin Music Circle (an association in the memory of the late Alauddin Khan for promoting Indian classical music), in Mumbai.
Annapurna Devi will always be remembered as the reclusive musical genius of Indian classical music. She is known as one of the first female gurus of modern time. She had been awarded the Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi award being the only surbahar player to be presented with the award. She had also received an honorary doctorate degree by Visva Bharati University and was made a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akadami. Her students include sitarists Debi Prasad Chatterji, Bahadur Khan , Hiren Roy, Indranil Bhattacharya, Kartik Kumar, and Nikhil Banerji, the sarodists, Dhyanesh Khan and Ashis Khan (sons of Ali Akbar), Basant Kabra, and Suresh Vyas, the bansuri players, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Nityanand Haldipur, the dilruba artist Dakshina Mohan Tagore, and the violinist Satyadev Pawar. Her legacy is carried forward by her students who renowned and famous in their own regard name her responsible for their fame and musical understanding.
Resources
2. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/notes-from-behind-a-locked-door/619877/
4.https://thewire.in/the-arts/annapurna-devi-the-timeless-legendary-guru
