Padma Shri Gurmat Sangeet legend Prof Kartar Singh dies at 93

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 3

Padma Shri awardee Gurmat Sangeet legend Prof Kartar Singh breathed his last here on Sunday. He was 93.

He was awarded Padma Shri for his immense contribution to the field of art last year but since he could not attend the awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan due to his ill health, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma went to the DMCH here on December 20 to present him the award.

Among the five recipients of the fourth highest civilian award from Punjab and second from the maximum city of Punjab on the occasion of Republic Day last year, this nonagenarian Ludhiana native had been awarded several prestigious honours for his contribution to Gurbani, which he had been practicing since the age of 13 and had specialised in the popular classical music form for the Sikhs, in the past.

He was cremated in the presence of a large gathering here. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh and the SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami have sent condolence messages to the bereaved family and wreaths were placed on the body on their behalf. He is survived by two sons and two daughters.

Prof Kartar Singh was one of the Gurmat Sangeet legends, who perused his career in teaching music and retired as Head of Department of Music (vocal and instruments) from Guru Nanak Girls College in Ludhiana. In the last, he was working as Director of Gurmat Sangeet Academy in Anandpur Sahib, run by the the SGPC.

On being awarded the Padma Shri, the Pakistan-born classical singing legend had in January last told The Tribune that he still feels himself as a student, who is eager to learn. “Music is meditation and one has to meditate rigorously besides doing hard work to learn and practice it,” the Gurbani singer had said.

The Union Government had awarded him the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Tagore Ratna Award for Music. He was also the recipient of the Punjab Government’s Shiromani Ragi Award and Punjabi University’s Gurmat Sangeet Senior fellowship.

He was also conferred the Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award in London (UK) on October 9, 2011, and was nominated to the Top 100 Global Sikhs by the Sikh Directory in the UK.

One of the two legends from Punjab who performed during the Common Wealth Games held in New Delhi in 2010, Prof Kartar Singh’s contribution to Gurmat Sangeet had also been recognised by the SGPC, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Jammu and Kashmir and Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar.

Prof Kartar Singh also had five books, with a total of over 40,000 copies, on Gurmat Sangeet published by the SGPC, to his credit, while his two other books are under publication.

Born at Ghummanke village in Lahore (Pakistan) on April 3, 1928, Prof Kartar Singh had done graduation and post-graduation in music (vocal and instrumental) from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

After beginning his career as a music lecturer (vocal and instrumental) at the Malwa Central College of Education in Ludhiana from 1968 to 1971, he served as Head of the Department of Music from 1971 to 1988. Later, he worked as a music lecturer, bursar and registrar at Guru Nanak Girls College here till 1997.

He had also served as an examiner (up to PG classes) for Panjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjabi University, PSEB, Mohali, and Pracheen Kala Kendra in Chandigarh.

He was assigned to restart Gurbani kirtan in prescribed ragas with traditional musical instruments in the Golden Temple, Amritsar, on March 6, 2006.

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