New Delhi, (DMA Newsdesk): The last half century saw rise of M.S. Subhalakshmi in Indian Carnatic classical music.

But when we talk about Hindustani classical then there is only one name that dominates the scene. None other than melody queen Kishori Amonkar.

Her vibrant, rich and mellifluous voice; her larger-than-life stage presence and the powerful and emotional appeal of her music have kept her at the vanguard of Indian classical music for many years.

She has developed a unique style, sometimes perceived by the public as moving away from her Jaipur Gharana school. But as a mature artist her approach is regarded as individual, and an alternative and supplement to the model she belonged to in her early days.

There have been other female exponents of Hindustani classical, including Girija Devi, Shobha Gurtu and Siddheshwari Devi who operate more in light classical forms like thumris (songs of longing and desires). Gangubai Hangal and Hirabai Barodekar are mostly into bhajans (songs in praise of God). But what differentiates Amonkar from her peers is her staunch purist approach towards raga (scales), mostly an endowment from her teacher and mother Smt Mogubai Kurdikar, another classical great in her time.

Amonkar quickly imbibed the nuances of the difficult Jaipur-Atrauli gharana of music. She has developed her own style which emphasizes the emotional content of musical notes while maintaining the rigor of the Jaipur "gaayaki" (singing style).

Vamanrao Deshpande, a famous music critic, who was also her guru-bandhu, had hailed her as one of the greatest artists of 20th century. She has dabbled more in lighter forms of music than the earlier generations of Jaipur Gharana musicians.

She could not sing for almost 8 years during her career due to unknown health problems.

Amonkar was married to Ravi Amonkar, a school teacher. He died around 1992. She has two sons, neither of whom took to music.

She is an ardent devotee of Raghavendra Swami

She ventured into light-classical music as well, without making any compromises on the principles of her ‘Gharana’. She has sung for films too and composed music for the film ‘Drishti’. Among the numerous awards bestowed upon her are the Sangeet Natak Academy Award, the Padma Bhushan and the prestigious Sangeet Samradhini Award.

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