Mogubai Kurdikar

Mogubai Kurdikar (15 July 1904 – 10 February 2001) was an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. She was known for being a leading student of Alladiya Khan and the guru and mother of Kishori Amonkar, a popular Hindustani classical female vocalist from the 20th century.

Life and career Early life

Kurdikar was born in Kurdi village, Portuguese Goa to a Gomantak Maratha Samaj family. Little is known of her father; her mother, Jayashreebai, was from the Devadasi community and known locally as a talented singer.

In 1913, Kurdikar began learning music for a while from a holy man at the Shri Damodar Sansthaan in Zambaulim, Goa, arranged by her mother. Later, Kurdikar's mother took her to a traveling theater company, the Chandreshwar Bhootnath Sangeet Mandali, which accepted her as an actress.

Work in sangeet nataks While working for the Chandreshwar Bhootnath Mandali sangeet natak company, Kurdikar's mother died in 1914. Kurdikar's mother entrusted her to the care of Balkrishna Parvatkar who was also from Kurdi and worked for the theater company. One account suggests that Kurdikar's mother told her on her deathbed that her soul would not reincarnate until Kurdikar became a famous singer.

The theater company soon went bankrupt and the rival Satarkar Stree Sangeet Mandali hired Kurdikar. While there, she performed in roles like Kinkini from Punyaprabhav and Subhadra from Subhadra. At this theater company, she was given music lessons by Chintobuwa Gurav, a student of Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale. She also learned Kathak from Ramlal during this time. She was also trained in Ghazal by Dattaramji Nanodkar. Visiting Sangli reportedly proved transformative for Kurdikar. At Sangli, she began learning music from Inayat Khan R. Pathan, a local recording artist.

Shifting gurus Portrait of Vilayat Hussain Khan "Pran Piya," from whom Kurdikar learned. Advised by her peers, Kurdikar began learning from Bashir Hussain Khan in 1924, the older brother of Vilayat Hussain Khan and eldest son of Natthan Khan. He agreed to teach her if she became a formal disciple and performed the ganda bandhan ceremony of guru shishya parampara. This ceremony was held in 1926 at the Kalidas Building of Borabhat Lane. In 1926, she also started learning from Vilayat Hussain Khan. However, he left Bombay due to health problems after teaching Kurdikar for three months.

Return to Alladiya Khan Upon hearing of Kurdikar's struggles, Alladiya Khan urged her to learn instead from his younger brother, Haider Khan. She hesitated due to the political clout of the ustads of Agra Gharana, of which Bashir Khan and Vilayat Hussain Khan were the leaders. Reportedly, Kurdikar had much stress in her personal life at this time too. She solicited a promise from Alladiya Khan to teacher her in the future if Haider Khan ever failed to.

In 1926, Alladiya Khan summoned his brother from Kolhapur to commence his teaching with Kurdikar in the Jaipur-Atrauli gayaki. Khan's more wealth and powerful students were pressing him to end Kurdikar's teaching due to her rapid progress. Khan felt pressured to send Haider Khan to leave Bombay and end Kurdikar's tutelage after eight months. He was reportedly heartbroken about breaking his promise to her.

While Kurdikar could have supported herself as a performer during this time, her desire to be a leading exponent convinced her not to. Instead, she continued her riyaz and sādhanā with determination until Alladiya Khan eventually returned to teach her. Her training with Khan continued until his death in 1946.

Growing popularity From 1940 onwards, Kurdikar started touring across the British Indian provinces for performances. This included performances broadcast on All India Radio. Kurdikar avoided publicly performing thumri and natya sangeet to maintain her status as a purist.

Personal life Family Kurdikar married Madhavdas Bhatia in 1923. In 1939, Bhatia died, leaving Mogu with her three school-age children.

Legacy Compositions Kurdikar was known to have composed khayals that she and her disciples made popular. These include: Raga Gauri khayal in teentala, "Āo jī Nandalala." Raga Savani Kalyan khayal in teentala, "Jagata jananī mā ye." Raga Shuddha Nat khayal in ektala, "Aba kaise kara āun." Raga Shuddha Nat khayal in teentala, "Kaise kahun morī bāta." Raga Bhoop Nat khayal in teentala, "Sajanavā ā more ghara." Raga Savani Nat khayal in teentala, "Aba Shyāma nā āe." Rayasa Kanada khayal in teentala, "Yerī nīnda nā āe." Raga Sampurna Malkauns khayal in teentala, "Banavārī Shyāma more." Raga Malkauns khayal in teentala, "Balamā morā āo jī mahārāja." Raga Basant Bahar khayal in teentala, "Māna rī māna rī." Raga Basanti Kedar khayal in ektala, "Khelana āe rī navelī nāra" (contributed the antara to Haider Khan's asthai).

Students Kurdikar taught many disciples and was notable for commencing an extensive lineage of women musicians. Her prominent disciples include: Kishori Amonkar (daughter) Vamanrao Deshpande Sushila Rani Patel Kaushalya Manjeshwar Babanrao Haldankar Kamal Tambe Manik Bhide Suhasini Mulgaonkar Vijaya Joglekar Padma Talwalkar Arun Dravid Sulabha Pishvikar Meena Joshi Meera Panshikar Tejaswini Amonkar (great-grand daughter)

Discography 78 RPM Recordings Columbia GE 3997 (1947): Bihag Bahar, "Phir aain laut baharen" (lyric by Madhukar Rajasthani, music by Snehal Bhatkar); Khambavati, "Vande Mataram" (music by V. D. Ambhaikar). Columbia GE 8114 (1948): Jaijaiwanti, "Ali piya"; Nayaki Kanada, "Mero piya rasiya." Columbia GE 8115 (1948): Purvi, "Avana kahe"; Savani, "Deva deva santa sanga." Columbia GE 8207 (1948): Multani, "Hare mana ka"; Kedar, "Payo more rama nama dhana." Columbia GE 8427 (1948): Hindoli, "Chanak mund bhai"; Bilawal, "Kahe lajai re piya." Columbia GE 8473 (1950): Yaman, "Tarana"; Bageshri, "Tarana." Columbia GE 8566 (1950): Shukla Bilawal, "Awo aaj baje bajayen" (bandish attributed to Alladiya Khan); Suha, "Pana viri main kain."

Awards and honours Mogubai Kurdikar was honoured with several awards, prominent among which include: Awarded the title "Gaan Tapasvini (गान तपस्वीनी)," "The Singing Ascetic"

An annual festival in Margao, Goa, the "Gaan Tapasvini Mogubai Kurdikar Smruti Sangeet Sammelan," is hosted by the town's "Swarmanch" organization to commemorate Kurdikar's memory.