Classical Gems By Purshottam Das Jalota

SHRI PURSHOTTAMDAS JALOTA was born on 9thSeptember 1925 at Phagwara,Punjab. He learnt Hindustani Classical Music from Master Ratan of Sh,am ChaurasiGharana for twelve years.At the age of twenty four he shifted to Lucknow and started his professional career. Heachieved high acclaim as well as great popularity as a Classical Singer.Being deeply interested in philosophical and spiritual literature he gradually shifted tosinging Bhajans and set to tune hundreds of Bhajans of the Saint Poets of India, based onRaagdari Sangeet. He believed that this would serve the dual purpose of propagating ourrich cultural heritage as well as popularising classical music among the masses.He has sung in all the major music conferences and has toured extensively in India andabroad giving thousands of Bhajan concerts. He has recorded a number of Bhajan Album& CD's.List of Awards & Titles :"Acharya" and "Sangeet Shiromani" by Kanpur Lalit Kala Vidyapeeth."Sur Puraskar" by Surdas Academy, Agra."Raseshwar" by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai."Bhajan Samrat" by All India Hindu Mahasabha."Rashtra Bhushan" by Vishwa Jagriti Sanstha,New Delhi.He was honoured by being presented the key of the city of Chicago, U.S.A. by the Mayorof Chicago.He was made an honorary citizen of Baltimore, U.S.A. by the Mayor of Baltimore.In the earlier days Bhajan singing was restricted to temples, religious ceremonies andgroups of old people. To him goes the credit for establishing Bhajan singing as a form ofmusical performance on the concert platform.Over the years he has trained hundreds of students in Bhajan singing, the most wellknown of them being his son Anup Jalota, who is carrying on and furthering hispioneering work.It is his great contribution that to the common man he offers the treasures of devotionalliterature with the message of love, devotion, faith, tolerance and peace through thedevine medium of music.Government of India honored him with PADMASHRI AWARD in the year 2004handed over to him by our hon'ble Rashtrapati Shri. APJ ABDUL KALAM.