<span style="color: #222222;">Today is the birth anniversary of Pandit Jasraj . He was a rare Indian classical vocalist who dominated the Indian music arena for several decade. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana – a school of thought in Hindustani classical music<br />”&nbsp;<br />”Pandit Jasraj spent his initial days in Hyderabad and travelled to Gujarat to study music with other musicians of Mewati Gharana. In the year 1946, he relocated to Calcutta (Kolkata) and began singing classical music for radio.<br />”<br />”Jasraj was taught vocal music by his father at a very early age and was later trained as a Tabla artist by his brother Pandit Pratap Narayan. Begum Akhtar inspired Jasraj to pursue Indian classical music as his career. At the age of 22, he gave a performance as a vocalist in the court of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal in Kathmandu. This was his first stage performance in the year 1952.<br />”<br />”In the 80 years of his musical career, he has been conferred with numerous awards. In 1975, he received Padma Shri, fourth highest civilian award of India, in 1987, he received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, in 1990, he received Padma Bhushan, in 2000, he was conferred Padma Vibhushan and in 2013, he was awarded Bharat Ratna Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Life Achievement Award.<br />”<br />”Pandit Jasraj was one of those rare classical musicians who loved to share his knowledge. It reflects in the vast corpus of his students, as varied as violinist Kala Ramnath and vocalist Sanjeev Abhyankar, who will carry his legacy forward. Pandit Jasraj remained in the US when the country entered its COVID-19 lockdown. He died at his home in New Jersey on 17 August 2020 .The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said that his death &quot;leaves a deep void in the Indian cultural sphere. Not only were his renditions outstanding, he also made a mark as an exceptional mentor to several other vocalists.</span><br />