UP: Renowned classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra passes away at the age of 91

Varanasi. Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, a renowned Indian classical singer, passed away at 4:15 a.m. on Thursday in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, at the age of 91. He had been ill for some time. He was undergoing treatment at the Institute of Medical Sciences at Banaras Hindu University. His daughter later took him to her home in Mirzapur, where he was under the supervision of doctors. He breathed his last in Mirzapur early in the morning.

Channulal Mishra’s death has plunged the music world into mourning. His funeral will be held today at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. Pandit Chhannulal Mishra had taken the Khayal and Eastern Thumri styles of classical singing to new heights.

Pandit Chhannulal Mishra was born on August 3, 1936, in Hariharpur, Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. He received his early musical training from his father, Badri Prasad Mishra. Later, he received intensive training in Indian classical music from Ustad Abdul Ghani Khan of the Kirana Gharana. He was also the son-in-law of Pandit Anokhlal Mishra, a renowned tabla player. Rooted in the soil of Kashi, Pandit Chhannulal immortalized the ‘Thumri’ and ‘Purab Ang’ styles of singing with his deep, soulful, and unique voice.

He sang two songs in the film ‘Reservation’.
He has achieved many milestones in his musical career. Pandit Chhannulal Mishra was honored with the Padma Bhushan in 2010 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2020. He won the ‘Shiromani Award’ of the Sur Singar Sansad, Bombay, and was honored with honors such as the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Bihar Sangeet Shiromani Award, and the Naushad Award. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship by the Government of India. Pandit Chhannulal Mishra sang songs like “Saans Albeli” and “Kaun Si Dor” in Prakash Jha’s 2011 film “Reservation.”

His recordings of Tulsidas’s Ramcharit Manas, Kabir’s bhajans, and ragas like Chaiti, Kajri, and Thumri still captivate listeners. Pandit Chhannulal suffered personal tragedy during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, his wife Manik Rani Mishra and daughter Sangeeta Mishra passed away from COVID-19. Despite battling health problems in recent years, he remained engrossed in his musical pursuits. The Mirzapur administration deployed a team of doctors to care for him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him as his proposer in Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections