Bhimsen Joshi was arguably the finest classical singer of his generation in the Hindustani tradition, equally at ease with the high classicism of the khayal as with the devotional abhanga and bhajan.
He was born on February 4, 1922 in Karnataka’s Gadag district and died in Pune in 2011. He trained under the legendary Sawai Gandharva and began to make his mark in the 1940s.
In 2008, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, its fourth recipient in the field of classical music after M.S. Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar and Bismillah Khan.
As part of The Wire‘s tribute to Pt. Bhimsen Joshi in the centenary of his birth, we present 10 iconic recordings to remember him by.
1. Raga Miyan ki Malhar
2. Raghuvar tum ko meri laaj (Bhajan from Amol Palekar’s Ankahee)
3. Majhe Maher Pandhari (Abhanga)
4. Raga Jaijaiwanti
5. Raga Vrindavani Sarang
6. Raga Nayaki Kanada
7. Raga Bhairavi
8. Raga Durga
9. Raga Kaunsi Kanada
10. Mile sur mera tumhara
