- published: 02 Nov 2015
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Pandit Jasraj (Hindi: पण्डित जसराज; born 28 January 1930) is an Indian classical vocalist. He belongs to the Mewati gharana of Hindustani classical music.
Jasraj was born in Hisar, Haryana in an orthodox Brahmin family to Motiram, a classical singer. His family performed the Mewati gharana style. Motiram died when Jasraj was four, on the day he was to be appointed as the state musician in the court of Osman Ali Khan.
Jasraj was initiated into vocal music by his father. He also received training from his elder brother, Maniram, and later from Maharaja Jaywant Singhji Waghela. In addition, he trained under Swami Vallabhdas of the Agra Gharana. In 1960, when Jasraj went to visit Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in hospital, Khan asked him to become his disciple, but Jasraj declined saying that he could not accept Khan's tutelage since he was already Maniram's disciple.
As a means of livelihood, Maniram took Jasraj as an accompanying tabla player. However, at the time, like sarangi players, tabla players were considered minor artists. At the age of 14, unhappy with his treatment as an accompanying artist, Jasraj left and vowed not to cut his hair until he learned to sing. He finally cut his hair after garnering his first AIR Radio performance, where he sang Raga Kaunsi Kanada (a combination of Malkauns and Darbari Kanada).[citation needed]
Durga Jasraj (born 1971) is an Indian television presenter and actress. She co-founded "Art and Artistes' Pvt. Ltd. ", an entertainment and event management company along with Vikram Shankar in 1999, which promotes classical music and subsequently co-founded Indian Music Academy (IMA) in 2006.
Durga Jasraj was born in Mumbai to classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and Madhura Pandit. She has an older brother, music director Saarang Dev. Her maternal grandfather was legendary Bollywood director V. Shantaram.
Durga started her career as a classical vocalist when she was only seven. After making her acting debut in Ketan Anand's Aaja Meri Jaan (1993), she acted in TV series like, Chandrakanta (1994). She performed as a Hindustani classical singer and along with her father for many years. She continues with music-related ventures.
She became popular on Zee TV's show, Antakshari as a co-host with Annu Kapoor during the 1990s.
She founded Art and Artistes', which promotes Indian classical music. She is involved in television production, events, and music albums. She co-founded Indian Music Academy (IMA) in 2006, with her father as a chief patron. The organization promotes various forms of Indian music. It was formally inaugurated on Feb 18, 2006, by then-President A P J Abdul Kalam at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.