View source for Girija Devi

{{short description|Indian classical singer}}
{{for|the Indian politician|Girija Devi (politician)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name = Girija Devi
| background = solo_singer
| image = Girija_Devi_at_Bhopal_(1).JPG
| image_size = 
| caption = Devi performing in [[Bharat Bhavan]], [[Bhopal]] (July 2015)
| birth_name = 
| alias = 
| birth_date = 8 May 1929
| birth_place = [[Benares]], [[Benares State]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = 24 October 2017<br>(aged 88)
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| genre = [[Hindustani classical music]]
| occupation = 
| instrument = vocal
| years_active = 1949–2017
| label = 
| associated_acts = 
| website = 
}}
'''Girija Devi''' (8 May 1929 – 24 October 2017) was an Indian classical singer of the [[Varanasi|Seniya and Banaras]] [[gharanas]]. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of [[thumri]]. She was dubbed as the 'Queen of Thumri' for her contribution in the genre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Quint |first=The |date=2017-10-25 |title=Remembering a Legend: Flashes of 'Thumri Queen' Girija Devi's Life |url=https://www.thequint.com/lifestyle/art-and-culture/remembering-girija-devi-snippets-of-her-life |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=TheQuint |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |others=PTI |date=2017-10-24 |title='Queen of Thumri' Girija Devi dead |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/queen-of-thumri-girija-devi-dead/article19914052.ece |access-date=2022-09-02 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She died on 24 October 2017.

==Early life==
Girija Devi was born in [[Varanasi]], on 8 May 1929, to Ramdeo Rai, a zamindar.<ref name=TH081111>{{cite news|last=Ramnarayan|first=Gowri|title=Queen of thumri|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=11 November 2008|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/11/stories/2008111150320600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406100917/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Queen-of-thumri/article15393227.ece |archive-date=6 April 2018| access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> Her father played the [[Pump organ|harmonium]] and taught music, and had Girija Devi take lessons in singing ''[[khyal]]'' and ''[[tappa]]'' from vocalist and [[sarangi]] player Sarju Prasad Misra starting at the age of five.<ref name="NewGrove">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dutta |first=Amelia |editor=Sadie, Stanley |encyclopedia=[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians]] |title=Devi, Girija |edition=2nd |year=2001 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |volume=7 |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-60800-5 |pages=265–266}}</ref> She starred in the movie ''Yaad rahe'' aged nine and continued her studies under Chand Misra in a variety of styles.<ref name="NewGrove" />

==Performing career==
[[File:Girija Devi.jpg|thumb|Devi in 2006]]
Girija Devi made her public debut in 1949 on [[All India Radio]] [[Allahabad]], after marrying a businessman circa 1946, but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother because it was traditionally believed that no upper-class woman should perform publicly.<ref name=TH081111/><ref name="NewGrove" /><ref name=TT040217>{{cite news|last=Tandon|first=Aditi|title=Future of folk music uncertain, warns Girija Devi|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|date=17 February 2004|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040218/punjab1.htm#28|access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> Girija Devi agreed not to perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951.<ref name="NewGrove" /> She studied with Sri Chand Misra until he died in the early 1960s, worked as a faculty member of the [[ITC Sangeet Research Academy]] in [[Kolkata]] in the 1980s and of the [[Banaras Hindu University]] during the early 1990s, and taught several students to preserve her musical heritage.<ref name="NewGrove" /> Girija Devi often toured and continued to perform in 2009.<ref name="NewGrove" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Trivedi|first=Sukumar|title=Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia works a charm with his magic flute|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=5 January 2009|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pandit-hariprasad-chaurasia-works-a-charm-with-his-magic-flute/406772/0|access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref>

Girija Devi sang in the Banaras gharana and performed the ''purabi ang'' ''[[thumri]]'' style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate.<ref name=TT040217/><ref name=Rough>{{cite book |title=World Music: The Rough Guide |last=Dorian |first=Frederick |author2=Broughton, Simon |author3=Ellingham, Mark |author4=McConnachie, James |author5=Trillo, Richard |author6= Duane, Orla  |year=2000 |publisher=[[Rough Guides]] |isbn=978-1-85828-636-5 |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzX8THIgRjUC&pg=PA91}}</ref> Her repertoire included the semi-classical genres ''[[kajri]]'', ''[[chaiti]]'', and ''[[holi]]'' and she sang ''[[khyal]]'', [[Indian folk music]], and ''[[tappa]]''.<ref name=TT040217/><ref>{{cite book|title=Essays on Indian music|last=Kumar|first=Raj|year=2003|publisher=Discovery Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7141-719-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwwX6DWfn3gC&pg=PA10}}</ref> ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' once stated that her semi-classical singing combined her classical training with the regional characteristics of the songs of [[Bihar]] and eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name="NewGrove" />

She died on 24 October 2017 following a cardiac arrest at the BM Birla Heart Research Centre in Kolkata at the age of 88.<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 October 2017|title=Girija Devi passes away at 88; condolences pour in for thumri queen on Twitter|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/girija-devi-passes-away-at-88-condolences-pour-in-for-the-thumri-queen-on-twitter-4905353/|access-date=1 February 2021|work=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

==Awards==
[[File:Mohd. Hamid Ansari presenting the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship-2010 to the eminent vocalist Girija Devi, at the investiture ceremony of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards-2010.jpg|thumb|Mohd. Hamid Ansari presenting the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship 2010 to Girija Devi, at the investiture ceremony of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2010]]
* [[Padma Shri]] (1972)
* [[Padma Bhushan]] (1989)
* [[Padma Vibhushan]] (2016)<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref> 
* [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1977)
* [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]] (2010)<ref>{{cite web|title=Padma Awards |publisher=[[Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India)|Ministry of Communications and Information Technology]] |url=http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=10&award_year=&state=&field=&p_name=Devi&award=All |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217100010/http://india.gov.in/myindia/advsearch_awards.php?start=10&award_year=&state=&field=&p_name=Devi&award=All |archive-date=17 February 2012 }}</ref>
* Maha Sangeet Samman Award (2012)<ref>{{cite web|title=Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards&nbsp;– Hindustani Music&nbsp;– Vocal |publisher=[[Sangeet Natak Akademi]] |url=http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist-music.htm |access-date=29 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201214800/http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist-music.htm |archive-date=1 February 2016 }}</ref> 
* Sangeet Samman Award ( Dover Lane Music Conference)
* GiMA Awards 2012 (Lifetime Achievement)
* TanaRiri Puraskar

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author-link=Yatindra Mishra|last=Mishra|first=Yatindra|title=Girija: A Journey Through Thumri|year=2006|publisher=Rupa|isbn=978-81-291-0857-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbPIAAAACAAJ}}

==External links==

*{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p70634|label=Girija Devi}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1980–89}}
{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Girija}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindustani singers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Thumri]]
[[Category:Musicians from Varanasi]]
[[Category:Indian women classical singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts]]
[[Category:Women Hindustani musicians]]
[[Category:Women musicians from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:Indian classical musicians of Bengal]]
[[Category:Women musicians from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]