On August18, 2006 only, he wished to perform at India Gate. Music was his religion. He used to play football and Zinadin Zidan was his icon. He was a deewana of Begam Akhtar and He found Lata Mangeshkar always surilee. He used to call his God Allaho Akbar in Rag Bhairavee.
Certain instruments become indelibly linked with particular performers. In the Hindustani realm, the santoor is closely associated with Shivkumar Sharma and the rudra vina with Zia Mohiuddin Khan, but historically, perhaps the closest and most intimate association has been with Bismillah Khan and the shehnai.
After the Bomb Blast in Banaras , everyone was afraid of reactions to follow. But BanarasBanaras as the Great ganges and Lord Vishwanath are. He never entertained the idea to shift elsewhere. He was the Ustad.
.
Born in 1916, he has raised the status of one of India's most distinctively voiced instruments unprecedentedly. In its folk form this double-reeded instrument is used on a variety of ritual occasions but is especially associated with weddings. Bismillah Khan has recorded extensively and like many Indian classical artists most of his early work was released by EMI India or its overseas partners. His historic jugalbandi with Vilayat Khan was chosen to inaugurate the Music of India series on EMI India's parent company in Britain. This series licensed the work of masters such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Nikhil Banerjee. The debut release in the Music of India series, however, featured in the terminology of the album duettos on "Chaiti-Dhun" and "Bhairavee Thumree." The third in the series was another shehnai jugalbandi, this time with violinist V.G. Jog.
It was a further indication of the esteem in which Bismillah Khan was held
in Varanasi. remained calm and composed. Peace was prevailed and communal harmony was sustained. It was the result of the initiative taken by a man who was the symbol of
The legendary shehani maestro, a man of tenderness, a man who believes in remaining private and who believes that musicians are supposed to be heard and not seen. The legend was born on 21 March 1916. His ancestors were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar and he was trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux `Vilayatu’, a shehnai player attached to Varanasi’s Vishwanath Temple. It was Khan Sahib who poured his heart out into Raga Kafi from Red Fort on the eve of India’s first Republic Day ceremony.
Where others see conflict and contradiction between his music and his religion, Bismillah Khan sees only a divine unity. Music, sur, namaaz is the same thing. His namaaz is the seven shuddh and five komal surs. Even as a devout Shia, Khan Sahib is also a staunch devotee of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of music.
His honorary doctorate from the Benares Hindu University and Shantiniketan bespeaks of his fame. He has been bequeathed with the Sangeet Natak Academi Award, the Tansen Award of the Madhya Pradesh government and also the prestigious Padma Vibhushan.
He has played in Afghanistan, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Canada, West Africa, USA, USSR, Japan, Hong Kong and almost every capital city across the world. His music is an ocean and he feels that he has barely reached the shore after 81 years of his life and his search is still incomplete.
Ustad Bismillah Khan was the third classical musician after Pt Ravi Shankar and M S Subbulakshmi to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in the country.
During his long and fruitful career as an artiste, Khan enthralled audiences at performances across the globe. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the Tansen award as well as the Padma Vibhushan.
Ustad Bismillah Khan was born in a small village in Bihar about 60 years ago. He spent his childhood in the holy city of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganga, where his uncle was the official shehnai player in the famous Visvanath temple.It was due to this that Bismillah became inclined for the Shehnai. At an early age, he familiarized himself with various forms of the music of UP, such as Thumri, Chaiti, Kajri, Sawani etc. Later he studied Khayal music and mastered a large number of ragas. Ever since Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar introduced Indian music to the West, a number of Indian musicians have been invited to perform abroad. It was therefore hardly surprising that a musician of Bismillah Khan's caliber should be one of them.
