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Santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori passes away in Gurugram hospital
After Sidhu Moose Wala and KK, we lost another gem from the music industry.
It seems to be a difficult year for the Indian music industry. After the unfortunate demise of Lata Mangeshkar and Bappi Lahiri early this year, Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala and KK’s recent demise has left millions of fans heartbroken. And just when we were coming to terms with the loss, another legendary artist passed away today. We are talking about Santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori. According to media reports, Pandit Bhajan Sopori passed away while undergoing cancer treatment in Fortis Hospital in Gurugram.
Talking about Pandit Bhajan Sopori's demise, his son Abhay told PTI, "He was diagnosed with colon cancer last year in June. We admitted him to Fortis, Gurugram, three weeks back for immunotherapy treatment. It didn't work for him and his health deteriorated". According to media reports, his last rites will be held at the Lodhi Road crematorium in Delhi on Friday. For the uninitiated, Pandit Bhajan Sopori was born in 1948 and hailed from Kashmir’s Sopore valley. He belonged to the Sufiana Gharana and gave his first performance in 1953 at the age of 5. The santoor legend had learned Hindustani classical music from his grandfather and father SC Sopori and Shambhoo Nath respectively. Pandit Bhajan Sopori went to Western University to learn western classical music. In fact, he even taught music at the same university later. In his impressive career so far, Pandit Bhajan Sopori went on to perform in the United States, England, Egypt, and Germany.
To note, Pandit Bhajan Sopori was honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Padma Shri in 2004 for his stupendous contribution to Indian music. His demise came as a massive shock to his fans across the world. Earlier, legendary santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma had also passed away due to cardiac arrest. It was reported that the renowned santoor player was also suffering from kidney ailments for the last six months and was even undergoing dialysis.
