Puri: The World renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has given his tribute to the legendary Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan on his birth anniversary. Ustad Khan was born on 21 March 1916, was named Qamaruddin Khan, credited with popularizing the musical instrument “Shehnai”.
While the Shehnai had long held importance as a folk instrument played primarily during traditional ceremonies, Ustad Bismillah Khan is credited with elevating its status and bringing it to the concert stage.
He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M.S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction.
Khan was one of the finest musicians in Indian classical music. He played the shehnai to audiences across the world. He was known to be so devoted to his art form that he referred to shehnai as his begum (wife) after his wife died. On his death, as an honour, his shehnai was buried with him. He was known for his vision of spreading peace and love through music.
Khan had the rare honour of performing at Delhi’s Red Fort on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947. He also performed raga Kafi from the Red Fort on the eve of India’s first Republic Day ceremony, on 26 January 1950.
Google also celebrated the 102nd birth anniversary of Ustad Bismillah Khan. To mark the occasion Google dedicated its fun doodle to him where Khan can be seen playing his shehnai while casually lounging in his trademark posture.
Tributes to the great soul Bharat Ratna Ustad #BismillahKhan ,on occasion of his birth anniversary. One of my SandArts. pic.twitter.com/lps5hrjQtX
— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) March 21, 2018
