A commemorative postage stamp on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, recipient of Bharat Ratna in 2009 [a part of the series ‘Indian Musicians‘] :

Issued by India

Issued on Sep 3, 2014

Issued for : There have been many maestros who have nurtured Indian classical music and have made its presence felt in the national and international arena. India Post is paying a tribute to such legendary maestros of Indian Classical Music by releasing a set of eight stamps on Indian Musicians.

Credits :
Stamp/Miniature Sheet/Sheetlets/First Day Cover : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Nenu Gupta

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 2500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.8 Million

Miniature Sheet : 0.4 Million

Sheetlets : 0.1 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi

Born on Feb 4, 1922 at Ron Taluka, Gadag district, Bombay Presidency, British India [now in Karnataka]

Died on Jan 24, 2011 at Pune, Maharashtra, India

About : 

• Music has always been an important aspect of Indian life. Classical Music, which is based on ragas, has been the mainstay of the life of the people in the country. Its various forms have been used in movies, music albums, folk songs, etc.
  
• Indian Classical Music is of two types – Hindustani and Carnatic music. Hindustani music is mainly found in North India. Khayal and Dhrupad are its two main forms. There is a significant amount of Persian influence in Hindustani music in terms of the instruments, style of presentation and ragas. There is also a rich tradition of Gharanas in classical Hindustani Music. Carnatic music, found mainly in South India, tends to be rhythmically intensive and structured when compared with Hindustani Music.
  
• Bhimsen Joshi, a renowned vocalist of Hindustani music, was born on 4^th February, 1922 in Gadag, Karnataka. Right from his childhood he was drawn towards music. Starting with his first live performance at the young age of 19 in 1941, Bhimsen Joshi went on to be acclaimed for khayal form of singing and devotional music. He sang for several films and received the National Film Award for Best Playback Singer. A classicist by training and temperament, Bhimsen Joshi was renowned for having evolved an approach that sought to achieve a balance between what may be termed as “traditional values and mass-culture tastes”, and, as such, he went on to have what is perhaps the largest commercially recorded repertoire in Hindustani vocal music. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1998 and the Bharat Ratna in 2008. He died on 24^th January, 2011.
  
• Text : Based on the material provided by Sangeet Natak Akademi and Internet.

Related posts:

Ravi Shankar Mallikarjun Mansur D.K. Pattammal Gangubai Hangal Kumar Gandharva 2014 Vilayat Khan