Kamla Devi Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kamla Devi

• Kamla learnt vocals at the age of seven when she used to accompany her father who was a traditional bard who used to travel from village to village singing laurels of the old medieval period love story of Rajula Malushahi, Chapeli, Jagar, Neyoli, Hurkiya Boul (sung during sowing), Maangal (during weddings), and Dhora Chachari during festivities.

• In 2005 she took part in the Nainital Autumn Festival and ever since that time, Kamla Devi has been doing live concerts at various Fests held in Nainital, Banbassa, and Dehradun.

• Kamla Devi used to perform at concerts and shows often without compensation which made her only rely on her husband’s daily wage labour.

• Kamla Devi’s singing of Rajula Malushahi which is a 3-4 hours long love story has gotten her the limelight and she got to learn that from her father.

• Kamla Devi also learnt to play the traditional musical instrument of Uttarakhand Hurka along with the song when she was just seven years old.

• None of her children took an interest in carrying forward this oral tradition; however, Kamla has kept the guru-shishya tradition alive by passing on her passion for Kumaoni folk art to her granddaughter along with five other children living in her community.

• Before coming into the limelight, Kamla Devi had opened a dhaba in Bhowali, Nainital and one day Uttrakhand’s famous regional singer Shiromani Pant paid a visit to the Dhaba. Kamla Devi was casually humming a song and that’s how Shiromani Pant got to know that she sings.

• Shiromani Pant gave her singing chances at concerts and Kamla Devi gives all the credit for her career to Shiromani Pant.

• In 2024, Kamla Devi was chosen and invited to sing Uttrakhand’s Kumaoni folk song titled ‘Sonchadi’ in season 2 of the Coke Studio Bharat and the song went viral all over the world and holds more than 10 million videos on YouTube.
  

  Kamla Devi in a still from the folk song titled ‘Sonchadi’ from season 2 of Coke Studio Bharat (2024)

• The song ‘Sonchadi’ from season 2 of Coke Studio Bharat features other singers like Neha Kakkar and Digvijay Singh Pariyar.

• Kamla Devi considers her husband her biggest support and he never stopped Kamla from pursuing her dreams. He also used to accompany Kamla Devi to her concerts.