Legendary classical singer Girija Devi died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday in Kolkata. Born in Varanasi in 1929, Girija Devi passed away at the age of 88 and it came as a shock to many. Although she was popular as a Benaras and Seniya Gharana singer, Girija Devi was known for not sticking to a particular style. She learnt singing from her father at a young age and later trained under Ustad Sarju Prasad Misra and Chand Mishra and the rest is history.
Girija Devi is known for bringing thumri and khayal from kothas to stage. She was awarded Padma Shri (1972), Padma Bhushan (1989) and Padma Vibhushan (2016).
Mourning the loss of such a legendary classical singing doyen, PM Modi, Lata Mangeshkar, Javed Akhtar and others took to Twitter to offer their deep condolences at such a huge loss and expressed grief.
Saddened by demise of Girija Devi ji. Indian classical music has lost one of its most melodious voices. My thoughts are with her admirers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 24, 2017
Deeply saddened by the passing away of the legendary Girija Devi. This truly marks the end of an era #RIPGirijaDevi pic.twitter.com/tdXGOumctt
— Amjad Ali Khan (@AAKSarod) October 24, 2017
Sad to hear of demise of classical singer and Queen of Thumri Girija Devi. Our cultural heritage has been left poorer #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) October 25, 2017
Girija Devi was not only a great classical singer but a national treasure too . We are poorer without her . Girija ji , AAP Ko mera salaam .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) October 24, 2017
Lyricist Javed Akhtar was trolled for a minor typo that occurred in his tweet –he misspelled singer as sinner– and was unfortunately, trolled for it. He later apologised and corrected his tweet.
My profuse apologies. While expressing my grief at the demise of the great Girija Devi autocorrect misspelled the word SINGER .Pls ignore it
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) October 24, 2017
An era has come to an end .. our dearest Girija devi ji has moved on to the next dimension … her voice will live on this planet forever ! pic.twitter.com/uaMLtRZaUa
— Shankar Mahadevan (@Shankar_Live) October 24, 2017
Mahan shastriya aur thumri gayika Girija Devi ji hamare bich nahi rahi ye sunke mujhe bahut dukh hua.Hamare unke bahut acche sambandh the. pic.twitter.com/QhrLH5mW2q
— Lata Mangeshkar (@mangeshkarlata) October 24, 2017
Colossal loss for Indian music. Girija Devi ji, Appaji to her family and followers, passes away. Irreparable loss. pic.twitter.com/YHLjA6kcRZ
— Shubha Mudgal (@smudgal) October 24, 2017
We deeply mourn the demise of Girija Devi ji. Her last public recital was at SKP’s Thumri Festival. May her legacy live through her music.
— Sahitya KalaParishad (@SahityaKala) October 24, 2017
I had the honor of playing tanpura for the grt Girija Appa, what a blessing pic.twitter.com/Xmd491uoac
— Zakir Hussain (@ZakirHtabla) October 25, 2017
Sarod player, Pandit Debajyoti Bose said “Seniormost artist of Benaras Gharanas Bidushi Girija Devi is no more. All the artists of Indian classical music will miss her,” as per the PTI report. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described Girija Devi’s death as “huge loss to the music world”. Ustad Rashid Khan, a renowned classical musician of the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana recalled, “I knew her since my childhood days and she was a mother figure to me,” according to the report.
