Thiruvananthapuram, First Published Aug 17, 2022, 7:03 PM IST
The asteroid between Mars and Jupiter was named following the great singer by the International Astronomical Union. For the first time in its 200-year history, the University of Toronto has conferred a lifetime professorship as a distinguished guest. Both these are two examples of the international recognition of the blessed singer Pandit Jas Raj who brought the glory of Indian music to the world stage.
While singing at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, a deer ran towards the stage. In 1996, following singing Meghmalhar at a program in Gujarat, rain came as a relief in the parched region. Singing of Bhairavi raga brought back life to a young man suffering from cancer in Chennai.
This is three of the stories regarding Pandit Jas Raj, a blessed unique singer.
The asteroid between Mars and Jupiter was named following the great singer by the International Astronomical Union. For the first time in its 200-year history, the University of Toronto has conferred a lifetime professorship as a distinguished guest. Both these are two examples of the international recognition of the blessed singer Pandit Jas Raj who brought the glory of Indian music to the world stage.
It is difficult to mention the list of honors and recognitions given to Pandit Jas Raj by the country such as Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Swati Thirunal Award.
Pandit Jas Raj tops the list of India’s unique contributions to world music. Organized more than three hundred works. He introduced a unique method of Jugalbandi. Hundreds of venues in the country and abroad have been blessed with music. He imparted his musical purity to hundreds of disciples.
Pandit Jas Raj was a fourth generation member of the Mewati Gharana, which has centuries of tradition in Hindustani music. The one who dared to try thumri in the system of Khayals. Guru who studied the ups and downs of Haveli music. It is through dedication and hard work that the genius of Pandit Jas Raj has been able to infuse the music into the listener and entertain the listeners with the music.
Born on 28 January 1930 in Haryana. But childhood was not in his native land. His father, Pandit Mothiram, was the court singer of the Nizam of Hyderabad. So it was there that he learned music as a child from his father. Later, brothers Maniram and Pratap Narayanan became gurus. Kalasaparya started as a tabla player with Maniram. Later he turned his attention to lending. The reason is that the accompanying tabla and sarangi felt that the audience was ignoring them. Hard training started from the age of fourteen. Ghulam Qadir Khan and Swami Vallabhadas became Gurus.
In 1951, the world was exposed to that sound for the first time through Akashvani. First stage in front of King of Nepal Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah at age 22. Later, on many platforms, on air, on records, on cassettes, on CDs…. Bhakti and Sringaram rained down in Nada Jugalbandi’s precision and purity as Jas Raj music.
His contributions to Hindustani music are not limited to that. A special type of jugalbandi called Jas Rangi is an example. It is a method in which a singer and a singer sing two ragas at the same time. The works of Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekananda, Vallabhacharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were arranged in Hindustani. Rare ragas were also performed. He trained his disciples in the same way in his own residence called Trishul, judging that there is no better method of learning than the Gurukula Sampradaya to make the depth and breadth of musical learning clear. Besides, he also conducted several music schools in the country and abroad.
He was eager to pass on to his disciples the tunes he had learned, practiced and played. Pandit Jas Raj did not stop teaching at the age of ninety and despite the restrictions of confinement. He continued teaching via Skype.
Having followed the ups and downs of Hindustani music, he occasionally dabbled in film music. The singer, who held the hand of Madurai, daughter of famous director V. Shantaram, is no stranger to that world. He sang in the films Ladki Sahyadri Key (1966), Birbal My Brother (1973) and Life of Pi (2012). Bhimsen Joshi joined Saksal in Birbal My Brother. Shyam Prabhakar, the music director, had the good fortune to sing two legends together.
Madhura and her children Sarangadev (music director), Durga (TV star, musician), hundreds of disciples and lakhs of music lovers from all over the world always stand with folded hands in front of the eternal memory of that unique singer. It has been two years since Pandit Jas Raj, who made music his life and deed, dissolved into the silent melody of eternity.
Last Updated Aug 17, 2022, 7:03 PM IST
