Teejan Bai

Teejan Bai (, 24 April 1956 – 5 July 2026) was an Indian singer and exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacted tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniment.

Bai was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, along with the 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Life and career

Early life Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, north of Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. She belonged to the Pardhi Scheduled Tribe of Chhattisgarh state. Within a short time, she became known in the neighbouring villages and invitations poured in to perform at special occasions and festivals.

Beginning in the 1980s, she travelled all over the world as a cultural ambassador, to countries as far as England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Mauritius. She performed sequences from the Mahabharata in Shyam Benegal's acclaimed Doordarshan TV series Bharat Ek Khoj based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book. She never went to her first husband's home and later divorced him. In the following years, she was married twice and later became a grandmother.

Bai died on 5 July 2026 in AIIMS Raipur, at the age of 69, after struggling with various health issues for several weeks and undergoing treatment since 27 May earlier that year.

Performance style Pandavani, literally means stories of Pandavas, the legendary brothers in Mahabharat, and involves enacting and singing with instrumental accompaniment an ektara or a tambura in one hand and sometimes a kartal in another. 2003: Hon. D.Litt., Bilaspur University 2003: Padma Bhushan 2019: Padma Vibhushan