Indian shehnai musician;
born March 21, 1916; died August 21, 2006.
INDIAN music legend Bismillah Khan, who enthralled generations with his shehnai, an Indian wind instrument, died on Monday of a heart attack. He was 90.
Khan, a recipient of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, or Jewel of India, had been ill for months and was taken to hospital last week in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.
Khan was given a state funeral on Monday, said Nitin Gokaran Ramesh, a spokesman for the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where Varanasi is located. All schools and colleges in the state were closed.
Khan played the shehnai at India's first Independence Day celebration on August 15, 1948. However, his wish to perform 59 years later at this year's celebration was unfulfilled because of his poor health.
The shehnai is similar to a clarinet. It has between six and nine holes and employs two sets of double reeds.
By controlling the breath, musicians are able to produce highly complex tunes and melodies. The high-pitched wailing sound is considered auspicious and the instrument is often played at Indian weddings and other celebrations.
Khan, a native of the eastern state of Bihar, moved to Varanasi in his teens to learn the instrument from his uncle, who played the shehnai at a Hindu temple.
Khan was a Muslim but played at countless Hindu ceremonies and was widely regarded as a symbol of India's secular traditions.
Khan enthralled audiences worldwide during a musical career that spanned more than seven decades. Despite his fame, Khan led a simple life, preferring to travel around Varanasi in a bicycle rickshaw.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article