Siddheswari Devi (1908 - 1977)

Siddheshwari Devi was one of the legendary singer of Hindustani Vocalist.  Whenever we talk about Thumri, it is imposible to not mention her name as she was known as the Queen of Thumri , the nightingale of Benaras Gharana. 

Siddheshwari Devi lost her parents in early age and she was raised by her aunt.  Born into a family of musicians and singers hereditarily following the tawaif traditions of Banaras, Siddheshwari Devi was groomed in the nuances of classical and bol banao thumri gayaki, initially under Siyaji Maharaj, and subsequently under Ustad Rajab Ali Khan, Ustad Inayat Khan and Bade Ramdas. She had a round shape robust voice and which was very expressive wheather in kheyal or thumri and dadra. She sang with much emotion and grandiose which created an everlasting impact on the audience. 

She sang khyal, thumri and short classical forms as dadra, chaiti, kajri etc. On several occasions she would perform through the night. There was a story of Siddheshwari Devi about her learning process was that Once, Kamleshwari was taking her singing lessons with Siyaji Maharaj at her house who repeatedly rebuked her for not singing the tappas correctly. Rajeshwari, her mother, who was overseeing the practice, lost her patience and started to beat her daughter. Hearing her cousin cry for help, Siddheshwari ran to save her and took all the beating on her own self but later told Kamleshwari that the tappas she was unable to deliver was in fact not very difficult and then sung it to perfection leaving everybody awestruck. Siyaji Maharaj was extremely impressed and offered to take Siddheshwari as his daughter and train her in music himself.For the initial few years of her career, Siddheshwari’s performances took place mostly at household functions, where she was instructed to sing by her aunt – where Gandharvas performed traditionally. In a time when the norm for most ‘respectable,’ women was to get married and move to their in-law’s house, she chose to become a professional artist and move away from her aunt’s house to live independently. People who knew her personally describe Siddheshwari as warm-hearted and simple with a blend of innocence, courage, humour, generosity, dignity and a youthful zest for life. Although from a family of known singers and artists, Siddheshwari recalls that they did not have a lavish childhood. She would go to her neighbour’s house to listen to the mellifluous singing of her favourite Gauhar Bai and Janaki Bai on the gramophone as they didn’t have one at their place. Once in a conference in Calcutta she sang bhairavi thumri composition - kaahe ko dari re gulal brij laal kanhai. Everybody became spellbound by her performance and after that the other artists were refuse to performed.  From royal durbars to stage performances, from national programmes to international concerts, from music conferences to radio programmes, Siddheshwari’s singing reached far and wide.

Because of her contribution in music she was awarded with Presidential Award in 1966, Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1966, and the Padma Shri in 1967.Like mother like daughter, her younger one, Savita Devi became a renowned sitarist and a popular vocalist in India.