Indian Classical Music And Sikh Kirtan by Gobind Singh Mansukhani (M.A., LL.B, Ph.D.) © 1982 Some Famous Ragis |
| Some Famous Ragis Some of the well known ragis who used to perform kirtan during the ninteenth century and some of the living Kirtaniyas are listed here during the nineteenth century and some of the living Kritaniyas are listed here. It may be noted that some of the former Sikh Maharajas and Chieftains used to supported ragis at their State-capitals. For example the rulers of the erstwhile Patials, Nabha and Kapurthala States encouraged and supported several musicians. The ragis who used to perform atthe court of the Maharaja of Patiala were Baba Pushkara Singh. Mahant Gajja Singh supplied the notation of all the ragas of Sri Guru Granth Sahab to a Macauliffe who go them rendered into Western notation by a German musician and subsequently published them in Volume V of his work entitled The Sikh Religion, Some well known ragis of this century were Sunder Singh of Amritsar, Hira Singh Bhag Singh, Almust, Ishar Singh Rarewala, Uttam Singh, Surjan Singh, Sujan Singh, Jwala Singh, Samud Singh, Sudh Singh, Pardhan Singh and Gopal Singh. Amongst the living ragis, Gurucharan Singh an Avtar Singh, Prof. Gurdayal Singh, Mohan Singh, Prof. Darshan Singh and Vikram Singh Khalsa (American Sikh) are rated high for their devotion and classical technique. Among the female Kirtaniyas, the name of Gurdeve Kaur Pujara of London is quite popular today. A list of long playing records of well known ragis is given in the Appendix. |