teejan bai biography in english

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Meet Teejan Bai, the Chhattisgarhi folk artist, who grabbed the Fukuoka Prize

Teejan Bai, a folk artist from Chhattisgarh, recently made headlines when she received one of Japan’s greatest honours, the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize. Here’s a little bit about her story and her art.

For those who don’t know much about the Pandavani exponent, she was also bestowed the prestigious Padma Shri in 1987, and Padma Bhushan in 2003 by Government of India. In 1995, she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Teejan was the oldest of five children born to underprivileged parents, Chunuk Lal Pardhi and Sukhwati in the remote village of Ganiyari, 15 km from the city of Bhilai. Like other girls in the village, she was expected to stay home, take care of the household chores and babysit her siblings.

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But Teejan wanted to sing, so much so that she referred to her passion as ‘pagalpana’ or madness.

In an interview with 'The Hindu', the now 61-year-old folk artist recalls how her mother reacted each time she caught her singing. She shares, “I was locked up and not given any food. Sometimes she (mother) would put her hands around my throat to try and choke the music out of it. But I didn’t stop. What to do? I was meant to sing. I had no choice.”

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When asked about how her interest in Pandavani began, she recalls how she learned the art from her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pradhi even though the old man would get a lot of flak from the rest of the family for encouraging Teejan. He would recite the 'Mahabharata' written by Chhattisgarhi writer, Sabal Singh Chauhan to Teejan, who picked it up quickly. She moved on to being informally trained under Umed Singh Deshmukh.

She was married at the age of 12 but expelled from the community for singing Pandavani, being a woman. She built herself a small hut and started living on her own, borrowing utensils and food from neighbours, yet never stopped singing, which eventually paid off for her. She never returned to her first husband’s home either.

At 13, she gave her first public performance in the neighbouring village of Chandrakhuri for Rs 10. She sang Pandavani in the Kapalik shaili (the standing style), which was the first for a woman, as traditionally women artists sang it in Vedamati (the sitting style).

She also reveals how girls who performed on stage were ridiculed and abused. “I’ve faced enough of both for many lifetimes,” she tells the publication.

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And while the folk artists came alive on the stage as she transformed from Bhima to Krishna, her body would often give up towards the end of the performance. She would use a wheelchair offstage.

This is the first time, her art – Pandavani – has been given its due formally on the international front. Pandavani is a traditional performing art from Chhattisgarh, in which tales from the Mahabharata are enacted with musical accompaniments. A form of rustic entertainment, it is widely popular in the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

“Ever since I found out about this award, I’ve been so happy, I haven’t been able to sleep at night,” she told 'The Hindu'.

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In Japan, Teejan was always introduced with the title ‘Doctor’ as she had received honorary doctorates from a host of Indian universities. With no access to education, the only thing she ever learned to write was her name in the Devanagari script. She has it inked on her arm alongside other traditional godna tattoos (Godna is a typeface made from tribal tattoos.)

“I used this tattoo to copy my name on to the payment receipts every month,” she told the publication.

Her journey through Japan was packed with lectures and performances in Fukuoka. She was joined by a group of academics and experts. While someone spoke about the geography and history of Teejan’s Pardhi nomadic tribal group, another explained the intricacies of the 'Mahabharata'. With reservations to the show made a month in advance, the audience listened to her in rapt attention and jotted down notes.

She added how the Fukuoka Prize trumps every other award that she received in her long career.

Here’s congratulating her on the recognition!

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Category: Art

Teejan Bai Profile

April 24, 1956
Born / Home Town:
Profession / Known For:
Folk Singer

Padma Bhushan (2003)

Padma Shri (1988)

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1995)

Teejan Bai Biography

Teejan Bai is an exponent of traditional art form, Pandavani – a form of folk theatre quite popular in Chhattisgarh and in the neighbouring tribal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, which enacts the stories of Pandavas of epic Mahabharata, using traditional music instruments. Teejan Bai is most renowned singer to this style, followed by Ritu Verma. She chose Kapalik style of Pandavani, which was regarded as the monopoly of male performers and gained fame and popularity. She is a recipient of Padma Shri in 1988, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, and Padma Bhushan in 2003. Since early 1980s, she travelled all over the world as a cultural ambassador of India.

Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, Chhattisgarh in 1956. She has four younger siblings. She used to hear Mahabharata recitals by her maternal grandfather and got drawn towards it. Later she trained informally under Umed Singh Deshmukh and gave her first performance at the age of 13 in the neighbouring village. She used Kapalik style of Pandavani which was traditionally used by men. Traditional women sing Vedamati, the sitting style while she opted the other one. She had to face a lot of oppositions from her community - 'Pardhi' tribe for performing in Kapalik style and she was ostracised by the community despite being married. She had to face a lot of hardships in her life to reach a position where she is right now.

Very soon she became popular and got invitations from neighbouring villages too, to perform at festivals and special occasions. Knowing about her, the famous theatre personality Habib Tanvir invited her to perform for then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. This incident proved to be the real breakthrough of her career and later she travelled worldwide with her Pandavani. She is employed at the Bhilai Steel Plant and currently lives with her fourth husband.

Published: N/A

Updated: October 30, 2017

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Teejan Bai: The Moody Diva

The story of Pandavani exponent Teejan Bai is as captivating as her performance that brings the Mahabharata to life

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to find anyone who is fond of India and isn’t aware of the Mahabharata. No other story from India has been similarly eulogised, rewritten, interpreted, translated, sung, narrated, danced to, choreographed and philosophised over for centuries now. It continues to be India’s greatest war ever fought. But what is it about the rustic voice of a bashful balladeer woman that transforms these oft-repeated stories into an ethereal experience? Armed with a simple tambura , when Teejan Bai, 60, sings these songs in her Pandavani style, the epic becomes an unforgettable encounter.

Sukhwati and Chunuk Lal Pardhi belonged to the traditional community of bird-catchers. Abject poverty drove them to make mats and brooms in Ganiyari village, about 15 km away from Bhilai, in Chhattisgarh. Teejan was the eldest of five children. The family could barely manage a daily meal and a girl child was usually considered a burden. A simple roof over their head was luxury and they lived in a roadside shack where Teejan grew up. All that they had was her maternal grandfather who was a Pandavani artiste. He was the breadwinner of the family and became Teejan’s first source of inspiration. “I learnt the art from my Nanaji while he did his rehearsals. He never taught directly. Girls were never allowed to think about performing, let alone learn it. Even he did not come to know that I had become his silent disciple till he once caught me at his door,” she says.

As per village customs, Teejan was married off at age 12. Binding down the freethinking teenager proved impossible, and an abusive first marriage came to an abrupt end. Out of concern for the depressed teenager, her grandfather decided to keep her busy with his art, and Teejan’s interest in Pandavani increased, much against the wishes of her family. “I chose the Kapalik style of Pandavani, where the narrator depicts scenes from the epic and improvises. This gave me more freedom to think, to enact the dramatic elements, to be fearless and to make the story mine,” she says. Till then, women who performed had always preferred the Vedmati style, where the performer sits and narrates the story to a small gathering. Teejan, who started performing at the age of 13, had already stirred up a hornet’s nest. The highly conservative village community she belonged to ostracised her. Girls never performed, more over Teejan was stubborn about the way she did things. She was not liked by many. “I would be insulted every time I left my village with the tambura . I tried to convince them that I am going to sing the stories of Mahabharata. They would taunt me saying ‘ Yeh anpad gawaar ladki phir se kahaan jaa rahi hai, dekho! Isko kisne bulaaya kahani sunaane ? (Where is this illiterate girl heading again, look! Who has called her to narrate stories?)’.” But she refused to be deterred. Her persistence paid and she gave her first performance on a makeshift stage in a Chandrakhuri village in Durg district for a princely sum of Rs 10. This made news in her own village as no girl had ever achieved this sort of fame.

They began accepting her and her style of art, with much hesitation. She decided to take some informal training under Umed Singh Deshmukh. Invitations from surrounding villages started piling up. She had, by now, mastered the art of Pandavani and had created her own genre. Habib Tanvir, the famous theatre personality from Bhopal, noticed her in the 70s, and recommended her performances to several other festivals. Soon Teejan was performing for the Prime Minister and heads of state and was hailed as the world’s first female exponent of Pandavani.

Indian women have this amazing ability to tolerate things, keep the pain in their hearts and continue doing what they are supposed to do. I did exactly that

But hardships continued at home. “People in my village called me ‘characterless’ because I sang and danced in public. My second husband used to beat me and stopped me from performing. What could be more painful for an artiste than not being able to perform? I can never forget the difficult path that I have left behind,” she says. “Indian women have this amazing ability to tolerate things, keep the pain in their hearts and continue doing what they are supposed to do. I did exactly that,” she adds. Over the decades, she has re-married three times but has never stopped performing.

Over the centuries, various versions of the Mahabharata have evolved. Classical, folk and many other traditions have taken the same stories and presented them in various artistic ways. Several scholars have written their own interpretations. What are the roots of Pandavani? What version does Teejan follow? “I follow the version by Sabal Singh Chauhan ji . It is loosely based on and inspired by the Sanskrit version by Bhasa. But the stories all come to the same. Even other versions have the same Pandav and Draupadi. Everyone’s versions are fine. No writer is right or wrong,” she says. How long would it take her to render the entire story in her own charming style? “From the Adi Parva to the Swargaarohan Parva, it would take me a 120 full days and nights to complete the entire story of the Mahabharata. I have been fortunate to narrate the whole story several times. I am not a machine to go on and on for days and nights. But if you leave me to my good mood, I can even complete the whole story in two months,” she says, reaching out for her paan sandook .

I have come across several people who consider Teejan a bit of a diva. She has a reputation of being moody, often eccentric and is known to even throw tantrums. Having met her many times over the years, I am curious about her ticks. “Artistes are moody people. That is because art has its own moods and shades and they, as artistes, are nothing but instruments of their respective art forms. Do you know, it hasn’t been many days since my younger son died? Do you know what a mother feels when she sees her own son dying? I have emotions but can’t be loud about expressing them. I can’t keep sitting at home and crying either. I use my art as a medium to express my pain. When I deal with episodes like Kunti-Karna Samvaad or how Subhadra deals with the death of Abhimanyu in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, I remember my own son and can’t stop my tears. Only those who know what I’ve gone through will understand what I am putting into my art. Real art comes from one’s own life experiences. But God has meant me to do this work, so I have to. The show must go on,” she says, her eyes brimming with tears. We decide to take a break. I ask her if I should come another time. She says ‘no’, goes into the washroom and returns looking composed. I notice she has washed her face and applied make-up to cover her sorrow. She pulls out her bag, makes another paan and we order more chai . She receives a phone call and sounds slightly cheerful by the end of it. “ Koi Paris bulaa raha hai, programme karwana chaahte hain (Someone is calling me to Paris for a show).”

Only those who know what I’ve gone through will understand what I am putting into my art. Real art comes from one’s own life experiences

Teejan’s tambura —with its bright red base, and with a few peacock feathers attached to tall bamboo reed—is essential to her art. As she performs, she plucks the strings with the other hand to keep a constant rhythm. “The tambura has always been a part of my life. As a child I would see this in my dreams and I didn’t know or understand what that signified. A kind village elder told me that would be my destiny. I believe it is an avataar of three different gods I worship and always think of. Hanuman ji , Saraswati Maa and Krishna. I carry the blessings of these three with me where ever I go,” she says.

A deeply spiritual person, she is a great devotee of Saraswati and Krishna. Does her spirituality connect to her art? Would she have been less spiritual if she was to tell other folk stories and not the Mahabharata? How has kept her faith despite the many challenges? “I think my Pandavani is a blessing from Krishna. I feel I was born to tell these stories. I have no regrets or nothing against God. I pray every time there is a show, for every show is fresh and new to me. I feel some good energy within me when I pray. Without the blessings of God, I wouldn’t be able to even move,” she says.

Teejan Bai is able to inhabit every character with an ease, which even seasoned theatre actors would find near impossible to pull off. How does she do this, I ask her. “These are characters for you?” she asks me with a mocking grin, “I have lived with them all my life. They are all real and in me. What else do I have other than this one story to tell? I own them. They speak to me and I tell you all the stories. I feel I am possessed by them and they are asking me to tell you their stories so you don’t forget them too,” she adds with authority.

For the last 40 years, her orchestra has been more or less the same. A harmonium, a dholak , a banjo, a tabla , and the chorus hold the show together. Almost all the members of her troupe hail from her family. “We all live together. They all have internalised the story too. Our best practice is when we are on stage. From my lip movements and the quivering of my cheeks, they can make out what I am singing. Moreover, experience is the best tool for a performer. They know when to pause, when to comment, when to sing and when to respond,” she says.

Even the most passionate storyteller risks boredom after endless performances. One wonders how she keeps herself inspired, repeating the same story for decades. “Boredom? What is that? I have never known of it! Mahabharata has all the navarasas . In every Parva there are different shades. Tell me what human emotion you can’t find in the Mahabharata? Kshama, karuna, krodh ,sab kuchh hai . When you are so involved, where is the question of being bored?” she asks. Every time she performs, she becomes one with the art.

WHO DOES SHE identify most with in the Mahabharata? She promptly says, “Bhim, I love the character of Bhim. Few people understand his character. He goes through so much in the story but we know very little because he is not the central hero. Moreover, I have got a lot of appreciation for doing his role being a woman. Once in Paris, the audience kept asking me to do the same thing again and again and there was endless applause,” she recollects.

Currently living in Bhilai with her family and grandchildren, Teejan Bai is not tied down by habits, nor does she regret that her children have not taken to her art. “My students will carry forward this tradition. So what if I my children won’t? Today I have over 150 students who come from different parts of the world all the way to Bhilai and train with me. They work very hard because I keep a very strict routine. I got it from my masters, gurus and God’s blessings. It is not mine. I am just an instrument for it. After I die, this will continue. Just like the stories of the Mahabharata continue to live even today, long after the whole era ended,” she says.

In Teejan Bai’s voice you hear the lament of Gandhari, the curse of Kunti, the wisdom of Vidura, the blood-curdling laughter of Sisupala, the dilemmas of Arjuna, the lust of Keechaka, the undying bhakti of a cheated and humiliated and yet hopeful Draupadi, the scheming mind of Shakuni, the retribution of Bhima, the echo of the Panchajanya, the valour of Abhimanyu, the sublime philosophy of the Gita and the blessings of Krishna. Characters come alive, scenes and plots unfold, and courtrooms, inner chambers, battlefields, gardens, groves, birdsongs and emotions are born as Teejan takes you along her narrative journey. The tambura has a life of its own and transforms into everything—from palace pillars to doorways, war flags to emblems, Bheema’s mace, Arjuna’s bow to Krishna flute. Her narrations are laced with colloquial slang where she sings, dances, shouts and delivers dialogues through the performance and finally leaves her audience enthralled. With each performance, Teejan, the shy village girl fades out and you meet all the characters of the Mahabharata.

Many books, articles, research papers, scholarly commentaries have been written on the epic. But like the folklore scholar AK Ramanujan said, an epic gets a new life every time it is rendered, no other version of this comes out more alive in anyone else’s voice than Teejan Bai’s. For close to five decades, she has single-handedly spread the folk ballad form of Pandavani and saved it from fading out. For her contribution to Pandavani, she has received several prestigious awards, such as the Padma Shri in 1988 and the Padma Bhushan in 2003. She has travelled extensively and has performed at village fairs and at the most prestigious venues across the world. She has also become a symbol for women’s empowerment and has inspired scores of village girls to break the shackles of patriarchal systems and stand on their own feet.

Her performances are always extraordinary emotional experiences. At Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata, she did an excerpt from ‘Draupadi Cheerharan’. In Delhi, at the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Meghdoot theatre, she performed ‘Karna Arjuna Samvaad’. In Bengaluru she performed ‘Karna Kunti Samvaad’ to a packed Chowdiah Hall. By the end of her show, there wasn’t a single dry eye in the auditorium. For her, it was just another show as she packed her bags to head for the next. While getting selfies clicked and posing for photographs with her fans, Teejan returned to being the shy village girl. But she will always be remembered as a legendary woman who became the most enigmatic voice of the Mahabharata, like no one else in the modern cultural history of India.

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The courageous world of Teejan Bai

Lavanya Karthik, a pioneer in creating engaging books, has come up with Teejan Bai: The Girl Who Loved to Sing a biography of the world-renowned singer who is an exponent of Pandavani, a narrative singing of epic Mahabharata.

Karthik navigates through the performing artiste’s life who suffered from prejudices prevalent in Indian society both as a woman and for her tribal background of hailing from a Bhil subgroup. Yet, she never gave up pursuing her dreams.

Karthik wrote and illustrated the book in Bhil style. Previously the author has created books like Neel on Wheels, A Walk with Thambi and The Lion’s Feast and alongside the Ninja Nani series. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with The Morning Standard:

Could you elaborate on your engagement with Teejan Bai? I first encountered Teejan Bai on a grainy television set, back in the late ‘80s, when I was still in school. I remember being electrified by her performance, her powerful voice, her expressive face. She didn’t just sing or narrate a story, she became its characters Bheema one moment, Draupadi the next. Her life, when I read about her several years later, was even more remarkable a story of courage and perseverance against formidable odds. Her story stayed with me as I grew up and began writing, and when I pitched the idea for the series that was to become the Dreamers, I knew hers was the first story I wanted to tell.

What led you to pen a book on her? Hers is the story of a Dalit woman single-handedly building a life and name for herself, despite the odds of poverty, illiteracy, casteism, misogyny, stacked against her. She did it all alone, since age 13, when even her family and community turned against her. I believe we all have much to learn from Teejan’s story, her bravery and resilience, her passion and devotion to her craft. Even as an adult, she faced a fair amount of hardship to reach the position she is in today. This is a story demanding to be told, and I am fortunate to have found the opportunity to do so with this series.

Where do you seek the inspiration for writing children’s books? I find inspiration everywhere in people and places around me, stray bits of conversation, a look, a smile. Mostly, I try to hold on to how I felt as a child in different situations. In the case of this book, my inspiration was a fragment of a memory from several decades ago, of this vibrant woman with a tanpura in her hand bringing the Mahabharata to life with just her voice.

How has writing for children impacted your life? I think of writing for children as my calling. It gives me the greatest joy, but it is also exhausting as I battle knotted plotlines, chase elusive ideas, doggedly wade through quagmires of edits, as I craft a story. I am constantly writing, be it at my desk, or in notebooks by my bedside or in my head when I go for a run. You might say writing for children pretty much is my life.

What are you working on next? I am writing and illustrating for the next two books in the Dreamers series. I have forthcoming books with Eklavya, Pratham and Ektara. On the backburner are the next book in the Ninja Nani series and future books in the Dreamers series for which I am researching.

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Teejan bai: folk artist from chhattisgarh grows in stature, folk artist from chhattisgarh grows in stature..

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The daughter of a Pardhi tribal couple, Chunuklal Pardhi and Sukmati, in Atari, a small village on the outskirts of Bhilai, Teejan was the oldest of five children. The Pardhi tribespeople earn their keep by catching birds, gathering honey and weaving mats and brooms. Teejan, unlike her siblings, did not go to school. She sang while she helped her parents weave and toil in the field. And as was customary, she was married when she was 12. Her husband, however, already had two wives and then, got a fourth. Teejan walked out. Her second husband, Tukaram, she says, liked her singing and fell in love with her. It was then that Teejan hit the road to fame. Her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi, was a Pandvani singer. Teejan started learning from him.

Tukaram began beating her, and one night he assaulted her mid-song. Recalls Teejan: "I was so absorbed in the performance (she was acting as Bhim) that for a moment I thought that Bhim had come. But then I realised that it was my husband who was abusing me." The broad-shouldered, well-built woman swung her tamboura at her husband. That ended the fight - and the marriage. The couple separated, Teejan retaining the custody of her three sons.

There was no going back now. She met a fellow bard, Ummed Singh Deshmukh, and learnt the entire epic by heart from him to become a complete performer. A chain of performances followed, covering every village of Chhattisgarh district. And in 1973, Teejan was spotted by the organisers of the Chhattisgarh Lok Kala Mahotsava, the annual folk art carnival of the Bhilai Steel Plant.

--> Rooted reciter -->

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STORY TELLERS

Rooted reciter

By shalini singh | from issue dated december 25, 2016.

Teejan Bai’s best known scenes are the Draupadi cheerharan and the war between Bhishma and Arjun. Her team consists of long-standing faithfuls who have been performing with her for the last three decades.

Getting to meet the iconic Pandavani exponent, Teejan Bai, isn’t as easy as one might expect. “I will be performing in Patna on September 19,” is all she says in Chhattisgarhi Hindi, leaving you hanging with that sliver of information. The subsequent calls on her mobile are answered by a secretary who lets you know of the venue and hour, and no more. Landing in Patna on the scheduled day, we head straight to her modest hotel, having gotten that information from the organisers. A knock at the room is answered by her. “Return later. I am about to have lunch,” she says, and closes the door. The proverbial thrill of an unpredictable assignment: we park ourselves close by for the next two hours and gulp down some caffeine.

The next knock, and she wordlessly lets us in. A plastic dustbin, already half full, on one side of the bed, doubles as a spittoon for her paan while a television beams out the local news. Wearing glasses and no make-up, she prefers to recline comfortably on the bed. Her aura is one of the mysterious, moody artist who smiles when you least expect it. “I have been losing hearing for the last two years. So I have to wear aids. I am 70 now. I was 13 when I started doing Pandavani....” she says.

Teejan Bai made Pandavani, the traditional storytelling form of Chhattisgarh famous all over the world, and received the Padma Shri in 1988, Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1995 and the Padma Bhushan in 2003. This resident of Ganiyari village of Chhattisgarh broke the glass ceiling in her art more than half a century ago. Pandavani is a musical style narration of the tales from the Mahabharata, told from the perspective of the Pandava brothers. Generally, women performers sing in the sitting style known as vedamati, while the men enact it in the kapalik or standing pose. A teenaged Teejan Bai powerfully opted for the enacting and standing pose when she gave her first performance, breaking tradition. Has the form changed in any way over the decades? “I don’t do anything new in Pandavani. I like to keep it as it was. Naya kya aur kyun daloge, jab parampara leke chalna hain [Why will you change or put anything new when you must carry on a tradition]. I have taught more than 200 kids but they all need more lagan [dedication] to the form,” she says.

It is said that theatre actor Habib Tanvir gave Teejan Bai her big break when he invited her to perform for prime minister Indira Gandhi. “Habib Tanvir called me for a programme in Delhi. This was 30-40 years ago.... I am uneducated, can’t recall exactly when.... I spent 13 days there, we were put up at The Ashok hotel. I never met him after that. Later, Indira Gandhi invited me to Teen Murti Bhavan and honoured me. She teased me saying, ‘Aap toh Chhattisgarh mein Mahabharat karti hongi [You must be doing the Mahabharat in Chhattisgarh].’ And, I retorted, ‘Main sunaati hoon [I narrate it].’ She then turned to Habib sahib and said, ‘Who says Teejan Bai is uneducated!’” she says, laughing at the memory.

How does she decide which tale from the epic to perform for a show? “I don’t practise anymore; I perform straight on stage. The choice of tale depends on the audience. If it is older, I choose something quieter. If it is a younger mix of boys and girls, then I enact the action, war scenes.” Teejan Bai’s best known scenes are the Draupadi cheerharan and the war between Bhishma and Arjun. Her team consists of long-standing faithfuls who have been performing with her for the last three decades. “Our tuning with each other is perfect. I don’t need to tell them which tale or act to do,” she says, taking a break to change for the show that evening. Her costume is a tomato red sari, a mix of gold and silver jewellery sourced from Bilaspur, and some make-up. “I have never had a make-up person; I am a simple being. Unlike people from cities, village folk don’t require make-up.”

Over the years, as her popularity grew, Teejan Bai gave performances across the world, the first being in Paris in 1950. It also opened the doors for more women in this folk storytelling such as Ritu Verma. “It is great that more women are doing Pandavani,” she says, reaching out for her main instrument—a German-make wooden tanpura—that doubles as Bhima’s mace or Draupadi’s hair on stage. “I used to perform more earlier. Now with great-grandchildren, it has lessened. I want them to learn the form and take it forward,” she says, stocking up on paan. “Paan is my life! I have been eating it since childhood, making it myself. I like a saada Bangla paan, which has chuna, supari and laung,” she says with that disarming smile.

At Patna’s popular theatre hub, Kalidas Rangalaya, that evening, Teejan Bai was the chief guest at the annual festival. She was introduced as the first woman to perform Pandavani on stage from Chhattisgarh, and then a long list of awards and honours was read out. Teejan Bai sat unfazed through it all. When she finally took the stage, the atmosphere was electric. “Shall I take you all to the Kurukshetra maidan?” she thundered and the auditorium roared back. “Chalo fir [Let’s go],” Teejan Bai said, striding across the double microphones like a warrior.

We learnt later that she had to cut short her performance because of discomfort with the stage arrangements. But in the true-blue form of a powerful artist, Teejan Bai had signed off her hour-long show without missing a beat, exiting the stage amid a din of applause—and no one knew.

OF EPIC PROPORTIONS

More than 3,000 years old, Pandavani is folk storytelling in a musical tradition, based in rural Chhattisgarh. The name itself means telling stories of the five brothers from Mahabharata, but Bhima is the hero in most of them. While women performers like Teejan Bai and Ritu Verma are the notable ones today, among the men there is Punaram Nishad, who is based in Durg and teaches from his residence.

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Domain: Performing arts

State: Chhattisgarh

Description:

The video is a Pandavani performance by the folk artist Teejan Bai. Pandavani is a narrative art form of the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh and its neighbouring states. Pandavani is a popular form of entertainment and includes songs, improvisations and narration of stories from the Mahabharata. The performer enacts and sings with an ektara or tambura and sometimes a kartal. Teejan Bai (1956- ) was born in the remote village of Ganiyari in Chhatisgarh to the Pardhi tribe. She was trained in the art of Pandavani by her maternal grandfather. Her debut performance was at the neighbouring village of Chandrakhuri at the age of thirteen. She sang in the Kapalik style which was considered to be a male bastion. Her performance stood out as she performed standing up in her characteristic gravelly voice. Since her debut she has travelled widely and received many honours like the Padma Bhushan in 2003.

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The madness of Teejan Bai

‘the first sackful of rice i got for performing, i sold to build a roof for our hut’.

Updated - April 08, 2017 05:11 pm IST

Published - April 08, 2017 04:20 pm IST

‘I teach in my language; they sing in their tongues the stories of Draupadi and Arjun.’

Even with a nasty sore throat and fatigue brought on by travel and age, Teejan Bai remains a formidable figure on stage. She is 71 but when she appears on stage, her trademark red sari tucked purposefully high around the ankles, a belt cinched around her waist, and her hair plaited long, it is instant theatre.

Add to that her typical swagger as she strides across the stage and her festooned tanpura held aloft like a mace. Bhima, she says, is her favourite character and it is he who is at the heart of Pandavani, the art of Mahabharata storytelling that Teejan Bai revived in the ’70s. “He is a bigger hero than Arjun, isn’t he? He stood at all times like a rock with his mace, and unlike the others, he wasn’t yearning for kingdom or power. His might was for the poor and the righteous.”

In Delhi for a ‘Meet the Masters’ series hosted by Sangeet Natak Akademi, Teejan was clearly not in her element but that didn’t prevent fans from jamming the small hall where her work was being documented. “I am getting old, I have a problem with my hearing but I can’t put down my tanpura yet. As long as people turn up to hear me, I will continue to sing,” she says.

She now has 212 students scattered around Delhi, Kolkata, Bilaspur, Raipur and Bhilai. There are also five in Paris. “I teach them in my language; they sing in their tongues the stories of Draupadi and Arjun,” she jokes. The great raconteur that she is, when Teejan tells her life story, it sounds almost as dramatic as the epic she has been recounting forsix decades. As an undernourished infant, she was dragged out of her home by a stray dog and given up for dead for six days. If a passer-by hadn’t seen the infant’s feeble movements she wouldn’t have survived.

An electric shock

Teejan often uses the word pagalpana (madness) to describe her passion for Pandavani. She recalls the moment her life changed: as a scrawny but headstrong girl of 12, belonging to the marginalised Pardhi tribe in Atari village off Bhilai, she stood transfixed, listening to her grandfather sing Pandavani. She had been playing truant all morning, playing kabaddi instead of helping her mother mind her six siblings or crafting straw mats and brooms to sell.

The word Teejan uses to describe the sensation of the moment is jhunjhuni —“current jaise ”. For an entire week, she hid and listened to her grandfather recite stories. “My grandfather caught me listening one day and offered to teach. But I couldn’t tell my mother. So I would look after my brothers and sisters during the day and sneak out in the evenings. We didn’t have a door, just a straw mat across the entrance. I would move it aside quietly and sneak out.”

Teejan Bai has 212 students scattered around Delhi, Kolkata, Bilaspur, Raipur and Bhilai. There are also five in Paris.

“I couldn’t sit or sleep. I would go to the fields to gather straw and dung but return home empty-handed. I couldn’t think beyond Pandavani. I would even dream of ways to sing; it was pagalpana ,” she repeats. It wasn’t long before her mother found out. She was reciting Keechaka’s story to herself. “I was standing there with my tanpura raised when I felt my mother’s hand descend on my back with a jhaapad (slap). The next day, I ran away in a bullock cart to the next village, Chankhuri.”

Teejan was scraping a living out of weaving brooms when someone heard her sing. “They asked me to do katha in the village for 15 days. People would bring me food, I got ₹10,” she says.

High on drama

Soon, the story of the young girl and her musical storytelling spread fast around Bhilai. What Teejan practised was a rare form of Pandavani—‘kapalik’—requiring theatrics. Till she came on the scene, the popular version was ‘vedmati’, where the artiste sat on stage and sang and recited stories. Jhadu Ram Dewangan was the master of this art form.

Pandavani helped Teejan lift her family out of abject poverty. “The first sackful of rice I got as a gift for performing, I sold and used the money to build a roof for our hut. I even got a cow but we had no place to keep her,” she says. By 15, Teejan was travelling extensively. She had by then got some training in singing from a raagi , Umed Singh Deshmukh. The ‘gatha gayan’ (storytelling through music and dance) tradition is strong in the region, especially among marginalised communities like the Gonds.

“The reason why Teejan Bai made a big impact was because her storytelling connected Puranic heroes and heroines to the soil where she performed. They became local characters, people whose sorrows and dilemmas everyone could identify with. And what she did was powerful one-woman theatre,” says Anup Ranjan Pandey, Bastar-based scholar and music activist, who has studied the folkart traditions of the tribal belt.

Teejan has been across the globe with her tanpura, but isn’t too comfortable in the West. “I can’t stand the bland food. I hate bread and I can’t stand half-cooked eggs. But they respect you so much, so I have learnt to say ‘Bonjoo’ when they wish me in France. And all this hugging and hand-kissing by strange men… I used to find it atpata (strange) but now I am used to it,” she says.

The writer lives for music, dance, theatre, and literature.

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1956 - Today

Teejan Bai (born 8 August 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments. She has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1987, Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, besides 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama . Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Teejan Bai has received more than 386,258 page views. Her biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia . Teejan Bai is the 2,186th most popular musician , the 900th most popular biography from India and the 18th most popular Indian Musician .

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Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians , Teejan Bai ranks 2,186 out of 3,175 . Before her are Glen Benton , Charlie Barnet , Stuart Price , Harry Carney , Peter Fox , and Flemming Rasmussen . After her are Ian Mosley , Yuri Landman , Andrew Davis , Daniel Löble , Chuck Leavell , and Hildur Guðnadóttir .

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

Glen Benton

1967 - Present

Rank: 2,180

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1913 - 1991

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Stuart Price

1977 - Present

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Harry Carney

1910 - 1974

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1971 - Present

Rank: 2,184

Flemming Rasmussen

1958 - Present

Rank: 2,185

1956 - Present

Rank: 2,186

1953 - Present

Rank: 2,187

Yuri Landman

1973 - Present

Rank: 2,188

Andrew Davis

1944 - 2024

Rank: 2,189

Daniel Löble

Rank: 2,190

Chuck Leavell

1952 - Present

Rank: 2,191

Hildur Guðnadóttir

1982 - Present

Rank: 2,192

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1956 , Teejan Bai ranks 550 . Before her are Reinhold Ewald , Frank Andersson , Fiona Fullerton , Georgi Bliznashki , Ilan Gilon , and Lionello Manfredonia . After her are Chris Hedges , Daniel Veyt , Joaquín , Sofia Corban , Dag Otto Lauritzen , and Bruno Tshibala .

Others Born in 1956

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1956 - 2018

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Georgi Bliznashki

1956 - 2022

Lionello Manfredonia

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Among people born in India , Teejan Bai ranks 900 out of 1,861 . Before her are Parmanand Jha (1944) , Gulshan Kumar (1956) , Surekha Sikri (1945) , Ravi Zacharias (1946) , Narain Karthikeyan (1977) , and Tapan Sinha (1924) . After her are Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (1944) , Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II (1734) , Aasif Mandvi (1966) , Nabaneeta Dev Sen (1938) , Kaifi Azmi (1919) , and Sushmita Sen (1975) .

Others born in India

Parmanand Jha

1944 - Present

Gulshan Kumar

1956 - 1997

Surekha Sikri

1945 - 2021

Ravi Zacharias

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Narain Karthikeyan

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Tapan Sinha

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Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II

1734 - 1803

Aasif Mandvi

1966 - Present

Nabaneeta Dev Sen

1938 - 2019

1919 - 2002

Sushmita Sen

1975 - Present

Among MUSICIANS In India

Among musicians born in India , Teejan Bai ranks 18 . Before her are Trilok Gurtu (1951) , Mehdi Hassan (1927) , A. R. Rahman (1966) , M. Balamuralikrishna (1930) , Amjad Ali Khan (1945) , and Salil Chowdhury (1925) . After her are Naushad (1919) , Mohammed Zahur Khayyam (1927) , K. S. Chithra (1963) , Rajesh Roshan (1955) , M. M. Keeravani (1961) , and U. Srinivas (1969) .

Indian born Musicians

Trilok Gurtu

1951 - Present

Mehdi Hassan

1927 - 2012

A. R. Rahman

M. Balamuralikrishna

1930 - 2016

Amjad Ali Khan

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Salil Chowdhury

1925 - 1995

1919 - 2006

Mohammed Zahur Khayyam

1927 - 2019

K. S. Chithra

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Rajesh Roshan

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M. M. Keeravani

1961 - Present

U. Srinivas

1969 - 2014

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Dr Teejan Bai

Dr Teejan Bai is a renowned Indian folk singer and performer from the state of Chhattisgarh, known for her powerful and emotive renditions of Pandavani, a traditional narrative singing style that tells the stories of the Pandavas from the Indian epic Mahabharata. She is considered one of the greatest living exponents of the art form, and has performed on stages around the world, gaining international recognition for her unique style and powerful performances.

Teejan Bai was born into a family of traditional Pandavani singers, and began singing at a young age under the tutelage of her mother and father. She quickly developed a reputation as a gifted performer, and began performing professionally at the age of 14. Over the years, she has refined her craft and developed her own unique style, which is characterized by her powerful and emotive singing, her precise and intricate rhythms, and her deep understanding of the stories and characters of the Mahabharata.

In addition to her performances, Teejan Bai is also an advocate for the preservation and promotion of traditional Indian folk music and culture. She has been honored with numerous awards and accolades, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, three of India’s highest civilian awards.

Today, Teejan Bai continues to perform and inspire audiences around the world, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest living exponents of Pandavani.

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Age, Biography and Wiki

Teejan Bai is an Indian folk singer and performer of Pandavani, a traditional narrative singing style from the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. She was born on 24 April 1956 in Durg, Chhattisgarh. She is the first female singer to perform Pandavani. Teejan Bai has been performing Pandavani since the age of 12. She has performed in many prestigious venues, including the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the United Nations, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. She has also been awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2003. Teejan Bai is married to Pandit Ramdas Pai, a renowned Pandavani singer. Together, they have two sons, both of whom are also singers. Teejan Bai's net worth is estimated to be around $2 million. She has earned her wealth through her performances and recordings. She has also released several albums, including Teejan Bai: Pandavani, Teejan Bai: Pandavani Live, and Teejan Bai: Pandavani Live in Concert.

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Occupation	Pandavani Folk Singer
Age
Zodiac Sign	Taurus
Born	24 April,
Birthday	24 April
Birthplace	Ganiyari village, Durg, Chhattisgarh
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We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 24 April. She is a member of famous with the age 68 years old group.

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At 68 years old, Teejan Bai height not available right now. We will update Teejan Bai's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

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Her husband is Tukka Ram

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Teejan Bai Net Worth

Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is Teejan Bai worth at the age of 68 years old? Teejan Bai’s income source is mostly from being a successful . She is from . We have estimated Teejan Bai's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2023	$1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2023	Under Review
Net Worth in 2022	Pending
Salary in 2022	Under Review
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Her big-break came, when Habib Tanvir , a theatre personality from Madhya Pradesh, noticed her talent, and she was called to perform for then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. In time she received national and international recognition, a Padma Shri in 1988, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, and Padma Bhushan in 2003.

She has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1987, Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, besides 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Beginning in the 1980s, she travelled all over the world as a cultural ambassador, to countries as far as England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Mauritius. She performed sequences from the Mahabharata in Shyam Benegal's acclaimed Doordarshan TV series Bharat Ek Khoj based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book.

Teejan Bai (born 8 August 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments.

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Stories Which Matter

[voxspace life] teejan bai : the crown bearing diva of indian folk music.

The Ethereal Combination Of Age Old Mythologies And The Rustic Tones

A lady of 61, equipped with simply nothing but a tambura, Teejan Bai has placed the Pandavani folk art music on the global map through her ethereal performances. Pandavani or the Ballad of Pandavas is the folk music of Chhattisgarh that retells the stories of the Mahabharata in the form of a ballad song.

Teejan Bai, in her Pandavani style, combines these stories of the Indian epic and the rustic tones of her voice in so eloquent a manner, that her charismatic performance brings the age-old epic to life. Recently, Teejan Bai has been honoured with one of Japan’s most prestigious awards, the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize for the year of 2018.

Teejan Bai’s journey from Chhattisgarh to Japan though has brought her immense fame, yet in walking through the path of music towards glory, she has not lost an inch of her modesty or her simplicity. She remains grounded, flourishing with humility and incredible talent.

The Humble History Of A Country Girl’s Rise To Fame

Teejan Bai embodies the rustic charm of her sensuous performances in such simple manner as if it comes naturally to her. Her performances, perhaps what is the country’s most aesthetic form of folk art have not only been appreciated and rewarded within the nation but, have been lauded by the foreign crowds as well. Her captivating concerts have impressed huge hordes of people all over the world including the USSR, Britain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, and of course Japan.

However, her life has not just been a merry song. She has had to pay her dues sometimes even too heavily to get where she is today. Teejan was the eldest child in a family of seven including her parents, Sukhwati and Chunuk Lal Pardhi.

Living in a village named Ganiyari in Chattisgarh, poverty drove the family to a point where they could barely manage to have a day’s meal. In fact, a roof to save the head seemed like a luxury to them and hence, a roadside hovel became the place where Teejan grew up.

In such conditions where one can barely find any reason to live amidst all the suffering, Teejan Bai found her inspiration in her grandfather from her mother’s side, who happened to be a Pandavani artist and the family’s main source of income.

Remembering her grandfather, Teejan had once revealed, “I learnt the art from my Nanaji (grandfather) while he did his rehearsals. He never taught directly. Girls were never allowed to think about performing, let alone learn it. Even he did not come to know that I had become his silent disciple till he once caught me at his door.”

The Show Must Go On

Married off at 12 and after a first marriage that ended in abuse , Teejan Bai kept herself busy with the Pandavani folk art under the supervision of her grandfather, much against the family’s wishes.

Commenting on the free spirit of the Pandavani art, Teejan explains, “I chose the Kapalik style of Pandavani, where the narrator depicts scenes from the epic and improvises. This gave me more freedom to think, to enact the dramatic elements, to be fearless and to make the story mine.”

However, Teejan’s freedom of performance was not an easy gain. She was looked down upon by the village communities corresponding to her bold and stubborn choices of lifestyle.

Throwing light upon this difficult phase of her life, Teejan reminisces, “I would be insulted every time I left my village with the tambura. I tried to convince them that I am going to sing stories of Mahabharata. They would taunt me saying ‘Yeh anpad gawaar ladki phir se kahaan jaa rahi hain, dekho! Isko kisne bulaaya kahani sunaane? (Where is this illiterate girl heading again, look! Who has called her to narrate stories?)’.

But what is a little hurdle to the feisty spirit of Teejan! She never let her persistence waver and remained focused on her target. Soon enough, she performed her first show on a temporary stage in a village named Chandrakhuri of the Durg District. The news of her performance spread like wildfire and it was just a matter of time before Teejan began studying the art under Umed Singh Deshmukh.

By this time, Teejan had not only mastered the folk art of Pandavani but, had also created a genre of her own. Teejan’s performance struck a chord with Habib Tanvir , who was probably the biggest asset of Indian theatre at the time. Tanvir, impressed by Teejan’s rustic bold performances started to advocate her to various large-scale festivals and this came as the break that Teejan had always hoped.

Soon, Teejan Bai found herself putting up a show for the Indian Prime Minister and other eminent personalities and was crowned as the first female Pandavani proponent of the world.

The bold heart of Teejan Bai speaks out undefeated when she says, “I could never forget the difficult path that I have left behind. Indian women have this amazing ability to tolerate things, keep the pain in their hearts and continue doing what they are supposed to do. I did exactly that.”

The Spiritual Conscience Of Teejan Bai’s Art

Teejan Bai’s versatile art cannot be separated from her spiritual self. As she takes her tambura in her hand and plucks on its strings to mesmerize and enchant the audience before her, she connects her art with her spiritual self. While some would agree that it is inherently in keeping with the subject matter of her music, Teejan Bai believes it as the power of destiny.

Evidently, her spiritual conscience is visible not just in her art but in her talks as well –“The tambura has always been a part of my life. As a child, I would see this in my dreams and I didn’t know or understand what that signified. A kind village elder told me that would be my destiny. I believe it is an avatar of three different gods I worship and always think of.”

Teejan Bai’s art brings every character to life with such ease, that even the greatest of professional theatre artists would find it difficult to embody that natural charisma in their performances. Teejan Bai not only narrates the stories and the characters of her performances, but she also lives them.

She makes this very apparent when she says, “I have lived with them (characters) all my life. They are all real and in me. What else do I have other than this one story to tell? I own them. They speak to me and I tell you all the stories. I feel I am possessed by them and they are asking me to tell you their stories so you don’t forget them too.”

An Embodiment Of The Art Itself

As is true of her art, it is not just her music that remains entangled with Teejan’s every breath that she takes.

For Teejan, her orchestra is a part of her very being. Her troupe is her family –“We all live together. They all have internalized the story too. Our best practice is when we are on stage. From my lip movements and the quivering of my cheeks, they can make out what I am singing. Moreover, the experience is the best tool for a performer. They know when to pause when to comment, when to sing and when to respond.” When asked in an interview, which of the characters of the Mahabharata does she identify herself the most with, Teejan Bai replied, “Bhim, I love the character of Bhim. Few people understand his character. He goes through so much in the story but we know very little because he is not the central hero. Moreover, I have got a lot of appreciation for doing his role being a woman. Once in Paris, the audience kept asking me to do the same thing again and again there was endless applause.”

We may not pay much attention to Bhim, but it needless to say that Teejan Bai has not only attracted our attention but has won our hearts with the immense dedication that she exemplifies towards her musical art. In fact, it is amazing how a woman has been capable of single-handedly spreading the Pandavani folk culture not just within the nation but around the world.

A contribution of such a stature not only crowned her victorious at various international awards shows but won her the most prestigious award an Indian can receive. Teejan Bai was awarded the Padmashree in the year 1988 and in 2003, she received the Padma Bhushan.

Teejan Bai has given a voice not only to the epic characters of the Mahabharata but also to all those girls tied down by the shackles of the patriarchy, who are too afraid to chase their dreams.

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DOB : 08-08-1956
Star Sign : Leo
Gender : Female

Teejan Bai was born on August 8, 1956, is an expert in Pandavani, a traditional art from Chhattisgarh, She was born in Ganiyari village, north of Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. The eldest of five siblings, she got her talent from her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi. Brijlal Pardhi is famous for reciting Mahabharata, written by Sabal Singh Chauhan, in the Chhattisgarhi language. She was trained under Umed Singh Deshmukh. She performed her first song at the age of 13 in a neighboring village, Chandrakhuri (Durg), for Rs 10, singing VEDMATI SHAILI (style) of Pandavani. Usually, women sing the sitting style, Vedamati. Contrary to tradition, Teejan Bai sang standing with her usual guttural voice. She became well-known in the neighborhood and got invitations to sing for special events and celebrations in a short time.

She was honored with Padma Vibhushan in 2019. As she sang Pandavani, her community people expelled her. She made a hut for herself and lived her life. She divorced her husband, whom she married when she was 12. Later, she got remarried. She had performed in Draupadi Cheerharan, Dushasana Vadh, and Mahabharat Yudh, between Bhishma and Arjun.

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Born	(1956-08-08) 8 August 1956 (age 67) ,
Occupation	Folk Singer
Spouse	Tukka Ram
Awards	2019 2003 1988 1995 2018

Teejan Bai (born 8 August 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani , a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh , in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata , with musical accompaniments.

Personal life

Performance style, external links.

She has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1987 [3] [4] , Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, besides 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi , India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Bhilai , to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. [5] She belongs to the Pardhi Scheduled Tribe of Chhattisgarh state.

The eldest among her five siblings, she heard her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi, recite the Mahabharata written by Chhattisgarhi writer, Sabal Singh Chauhan in Chhattisgarhi Hindi and instantly took a liking to it. She soon memorised much of it, and later trained informally under Umed Singh Deshmukh.

At age 13, she gave her first public performance in a neighbouring village, Chandrakhuri (Durg) for Rs 10., singing in the VEDMATI SHAILI (style) of 'Pandavani', a first time for a woman, as traditionally women used to sing in the Vedamati , the sitting style. Contrary to the tradition, Teejan Bai performed standing singing out loud in her typical guttural voice and unmistakable verve, entering what was till then, a male bastion. [6]

Within a short time, she became known in neighbouring villages and invitations poured to perform at special occasions and festivals.

Her big-break came, when Habib Tanvir , a theatre personality from Madhya Pradesh, noticed her talent, and she was called to perform for then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. In time she received national and international recognition, a Padma Shri in 1988, [7] Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, and Padma Bhushan in 2003.

Beginning in the 1980s, she travelled all over the world as a cultural ambassador, to countries as far as England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Mauritius. [8] She performed sequences from the Mahabharata in Shyam Benegal 's acclaimed Doordarshan TV series Bharat Ek Khoj based on Jawaharlal Nehru 's book. [9]

Today she continues to enthrall audiences, the world over with her unique folk singing and her powerful voice; and pass on her singing to the younger generation. She has recently received highest honour of Padma Vibhushan in 2019.

Though she was married at 12, she was expelled by the community, the 'Pardhi' tribe, for singing Pandavani, being a woman. She built herself a small hut and started living on her own, borrowing utensils and food from neighbours, yet never left her singing, which eventually paid off for her. [10] She never went to her first husband's home and later split (divorce). In the following years, she was married twice and later became a grandmother.

Pandavani , literally means stories of Pandavas , the legendary brothers in Mahabharat , and involves enacting and singing with instrumental accompaniment an ektara or a tambura in one hand and sometimes a kartal in another. As the performance progresses, the tambura becomes her only prop, sometimes to personify a gada , mace of Bhima , or Arjuna 's bow or chariot, while at other times it becomes the hair of queen Draupadi, allowing her to play various character with effective ease and candour. [11] Her acclaimed performances are of, Draupadi cheerharan, Dushasana Vadh and Mahabharat Yudh, between Bhishma and Arjun.

1988 Padma Shri
1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award [12]
2003 Hon. D.Litt., Bilaspur University [13]
2003 Padma Bhushan [14]
2016 M S Subbalaxmi centenary award
2018 Fukuoka prize [15]
2019 Padma Vibhushan [16]
Music of Chhattisgarh

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Teejan Bai is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments.

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arzwiki تيجان باى
aswiki তীজান বাঈ
awawiki तीजनबाई
bnwiki তীজন বাঈ
enwiki Teejan Bai
eswiki Teejan Bai
hifwiki Teejan Bai
hiwiki तीजनबाई
knwiki ಟೀಜನ್ ಬಾಯಿ
kswiki تیجن بائی
mlwiki ടീജൻ ഭായ്
mrwiki तीजन बाई
orwiki ତୀଜନ ବାଇ
pawiki ਤੀਜਨ ਬਾਈ
pnbwiki تیجن بائی
satwiki ᱛᱤᱡᱚᱱ ᱵᱟᱭᱤ
sdwiki تيجن ٻائي
tawiki தீஜான் பாய்
tewiki తీజన్ బాయి
urwiki تیجن بائی

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Indian president biography// draupadi murmu #shorts #viral
Teejan Baiपड़वानी छत्तीसगढ़ #cginfo
Teejan bai (Chhattisgarhi folk singer) #folk #pandwani #chhattisgarh #shorts
durga sahu pandwani !! जय दुर्गा पंडवानी !! CG pandwani !! part 2
Rani Lakshmi Bai biography #history #maharanapratap #amazingfacts #bollywood #shubgyan
झाशीच्या राणींचे कोकणातील मूळ गाव आणि घर

COMMENTS

Teejan Bai
Teejan Bai (born 8 August 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments.. She has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1987, Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, besides 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi ...
Meet Teejan Bai, the Chhattisgarhi folk artist, who grabbed the Fukuoka
Teejan Bai, a folk artist from Chhattisgarh, recently made headlines when she received one of Japan's greatest honours, the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize. ... Teejan was the oldest of five children born to underprivileged parents, Chunuk Lal Pardhi and Sukhwati in the remote village of Ganiyari, 15 km from the city of Bhilai. ...
Meet Teejan Bai, the folk artist from Chhattisgarh, who was feted in
The 61-year-old folk artist from Chhattisgarh was in Japan to receive one of the country's greatest honours, the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize. It was the first time she had been formally ...
Teejan Bai
Pandavani Performer. Born August 8, 1956 (aged 61) Dr. Teejan Bai is a leading performing artist and a contemporary exponent of Pandavani, a narrative singing of the Mahabharata, the ancient Indian epic. Although she suffered doubly in Indian society from prejudice both as a woman, and for her tribal background, with her rare artistic gift and ...
Teejan Bai
Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, Chhattisgarh in 1956. She has four younger siblings. She used to hear Mahabharata recitals by her maternal grandfather and got drawn towards it. Later she trained informally under Umed Singh Deshmukh and gave her first performance at the age of 13 in the neighbouring village.
Teejan Bai: The Moody Diva
Teejan was the eldest of five children. The family could barely manage a daily meal and a girl child was usually considered a burden. A simple roof over their head was luxury and they lived in a roadside shack where Teejan grew up. All that they had was her maternal grandfather who was a Pandavani artiste.
The courageous world of Teejan Bai
10 Jul 2021, 7:51 am. 3 min read. Lavanya Karthik, a pioneer in creating engaging books, has come up with Teejan Bai: The Girl Who Loved to Sing a biography of the world-renowned singer who is an ...
Teejan Bai: The hard road to fame
The daughter of a Pardhi tribal couple, Chunuklal Pardhi and Sukmati, in Atari, a small village on the outskirts of Bhilai, Teejan was the oldest of five children. The Pardhi tribespeople earn their keep by catching birds, gathering honey and weaving mats and brooms. Teejan, unlike her siblings, did not go to school.
Rooted reciter
Teejan Bai made Pandavani, the traditional storytelling form of Chhattisgarh famous all over the world, and received the Padma Shri in 1988, Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1995 and the Padma Bhushan in 2003. This resident of Ganiyari village of Chhattisgarh broke the glass ceiling in her art more than half a century ago. Pandavani is a musical ...
Teejan Bai
The performer enacts and sings with an ektara or tambura and sometimes a kartal. Teejan Bai (1956- ) was born in the remote village of Ganiyari in Chhatisgarh to the Pardhi tribe. She was trained in the art of Pandavani by her maternal grandfather. Her debut performance was at the neighbouring village of Chandrakhuri at the age of thirteen.
Three strings and some verve
Cut to 2011, when the little girl has transformed into Dr. Teejan Bai, a singer celebrated as much for her incredible talent and inimitable style as she is for breaking the norms. So, you are a ...
The madness of Teejan Bai
Teejan often uses the word (madness) to describe her passion for Pandavani. She recalls the moment her life changed: as a scrawny but headstrong girl of 12, belonging to the marginalised Pardhi ...
Teejan Bai Biography
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Teejan Bai has received more than 384,009 page views. Her biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia. Teejan Bai is the 2,186th most popular musician, the 900th most popular biography from India and the 18th most popular Indian Musician. Memorability Metrics.
Dr Teejan Bai
Dr Teejan Bai is a renowned Indian folk singer and performer from the state of Chhattisgarh, known for her powerful and emotive renditions of Pandavani, a traditional narrative singing style that tells the stories of the Pandavas from the Indian epic Mahabharata. She is considered one of the greatest living exponents of the art form, and has ...
Teejan Bai Biography, Age, Height, Husband, Net Worth, Family
Age, Biography and Wiki. Teejan Bai is an Indian folk singer and performer of Pandavani, a traditional narrative singing style from the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. She was born on 24 April 1956 in Durg, Chhattisgarh. She is the first female singer to perform Pandavani. Teejan Bai has been performing Pandavani since the age of 12.
[VoxSpace Life] Teejan Bai : The Crown Bearing Diva Of Indian Folk Music
Teejan Bai, in her Pandavani style, combines these stories of the Indian epic and the rustic tones of her voice in so eloquent a manner, that her charismatic performance brings the age-old epic to life. Recently, Teejan Bai has been honoured with one of Japan's most prestigious awards, the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize for the year of 2018.
Bollywood Singer Teejan Bai Biography, News, Photos, Videos
Teejan Bai was born on August 8, 1956, is an expert in Pandavani, a traditional art from Chhattisgarh, She was born in Ganiyari village, north of Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. The eldest of five siblings, she got her talent from her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi.
Teejan Bai (born April 24, 1956), Indian singer
Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, 14 kilometres (87 mi) north of Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. Career She belongs to the Pardhi Scheduled Tribe of Chhattisgarh state She soon memorized much of it, and later trained informally under Umed Singh Deshmukh. At age 13, she gave her first public performance in a ...
Teejan Bai
Biography Early life. Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. [5] She belongs to the Pardhi Scheduled Tribe of Chhattisgarh state.. The eldest among her five siblings, she heard her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi, recite the Mahabharata written by Chhattisgarhi writer, Sabal Singh Chauhan in ...
Biography of Teejan Bai
Teejan Bai is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments. We need you! Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web! Add a New Bio. Born Apr 24, 1956 Chhattisgarh Spouses. Tukka Ram; Lived in. Chhattisgarh;
Famous Pandwani Singer Dr. Teejan bai Performing in Bilaspur ...
Teejan Bai (born 24 April 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabha...
Teejan Bai
Teejan Bai. Teejan Bai (born 8 August 1956) is an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form, from Chhattisgarh, in which she enacts tales from the Mahabharata, with musical accompaniments. She has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1987, Padma Bhushan in 2003, and Padma Vibhushan in 2019 by Government of India, besides 1995 Sangeet ...
Teejan Bai
Teejan Bai - Wikidata ... Indian singer

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