Sharan Rani passes away:  (1929 - 2008)

Sarod virtuoso Sharan Rani passed away at her residence in New Delhi at around 8 am on Tuesday morning 8th April 2008, a day before her 80th birthday. She had been combating cancer for some time.

Born in 1929 in Delhi, Sharan Rani was the first woman to take up the Sarod. A disciple of great music maestros Ustad Allaudin Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, she belonged to the Maihar Senia gharana. She had been performing on the concert stage from an early age and had toured countries like the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

Sharan Rani has authored the book The Divine Sarod: its Origin, Antiquity and Development in India since BC 2nd century. She was an avid collector of rare musical instruments and set up the Sharan Rani Backliwal Gallery in the National Museum in Delhi, displaying nearly 450 classical instruments. A set of four postage stamps, featuring four instruments from her gallery, was also released in 1998.

For her achievement in music, Sharan Rani was awarded the Padma Shri in 1968 and the Padma Bhushan some years later, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Award in Delhi in 1974, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani Instrumental Music in 1986 and the Rajiv Gandhi National Excellence award among others.

She is survived by her businessman-husband Sultan Singh Backliwal and daughter Radhika.