Pandit Birju Maharaj Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Birth Name	Dukh Haran
Full Name	Pandit Brijmohan Nath Mishra
Nickname	Birju
Pen Name	Brij Shyam
Profession(s)	Kathak Dancer, Music Composer, Singer, Poet
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 5" (165 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper (Semi Bald)
Career
Awards & Honours	• 1964: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award • 1986: Padma Vibhushan • 1986: Nritya Choodamani Award by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha • 1987: Kalidas Samman • 2002: Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar • 2012: Bharat Muni Sammaan • 2012: National Film Award for Best Choreography for Unnai Kaanaathu (Vishwaroopam) • 2015: Wajid Ali Shah Award (by Lucknow Literary Festival) for his contribution to keeping the art alive • 2016: Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for Mohe Rang Do Laal (Bajirao Mastani) • 2017: Newsmakers Achievers Award • 2018: Banga Bibhushan Award for his contribution to the field of Indian classical dance • Honorary doctorate from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya • Honorary doctorate from Banaras Hindu University • Sangam Kala Award • Andhra Ratna • Nritya Vilas Award • Adharshila Shikhar Samman • Soviet Land Nehru Award • National Nritya Shiromani Award • Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award Note: He has many more accolades to his name.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	4 February 1938 (Friday)
Birthplace	Handia, district Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh
Date of Death	17 January 2022
Place of Death	Delhi, India
Age (at the time of death)	83 Years
Death Cause	Heart Attack
Zodiac sign	Aquarius
Autograph
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Delhi, India
College/University	• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi • Khairagarh University, Khairagarh • The University of Central Lancashire, England
Educational Qualification	• Graduation at University of Central Lancashire, England • Doctorate Degrees in Classical Dancing & Singing
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Brahmin
Food Habit	Vegetarian
Controversy	Allegations of Sexual Harassment In 2022, after his demise, his various disciples shared their experiences in the #MeToo movement. His disciples said that Maharaj used to harass them sexually. [1]Indie Journal
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Widower
Marriage Date	Year, 1956
Family
Wife/Spouse	Annapurna Devi (died on 29 January 2008)
Children	Son(s)- 2 • Jai Kishan Maharaj (Kathak dancer) • Deepak Maharaj (Kathak dancer) Daughter(s)- 3 • Kavita Maharaj (Kathak dancer) • Anita Maharaj (Kathak dancer, painter) • Mamta Maharaj (Kathak dancer)
Parents	Father- Jagannath Maharaj aka Pandit Acchan Maharaj (Kathak exponent, court dancer of the royal family of Raigarh) Mother- Mahadai aka Amma Ji Maharaj (deceased)
Siblings	Sister(s)- Vidyavati, Saraswati, and Chandravati
Other Relative(s)	• Paternal Grandfather- Pandit Birju Maharaj (Kathak maestro, court dancer of Mirza Wajid Ali Shah, the last King of Awadh) • Grandfather’s Brother- Bindadin Maharaj (founder of Lucknow Gharana of Kathak dance) • Uncle(s)- Pandit Bajinath Prasad aka Pandit Lachhu Maharaj, and Pandit Shambhu Maharaj (Kathak dancers) • Cousin(s)- Rammohan Maharaj (son of Shambhu Maharaj, Kathak dancer)
Family Tree
Favourites
Actor(s)	Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone
Actress	Madhuri Dixit
Snack(s)	Kachori, Chaat, Golgappe
Food	Biryani

 Some Lesser Known Facts About Pandit Birju Maharaj

• Pandit Birju Maharaj started his training in Kathak when he was four years old, he started his training under his uncles Pandit Bajinath Prasad (also known as Pandit Lachhu Maharaj) and Pandit Shambhu Maharaj.

• When he was seven years old, he started performing in shows along with his father.

• The first big event in which he performed live was at the celebrations of the Bengali biographer Manmath Nath Ghosh.

• He went on to perform in many events and theatre plays. He performed at the Art Theatre of Rashtrapati Bhavan for global dignitaries multiple times.

• He was associated with the Lucknow “Kalka-Bindadin” Gharana of Kathak dance in India.

• Apart from India, he performed in various other countries like Europe, Russia, Japan, UAE, France, Germany, Italy, Burma, and the United States of America.

• After the demise of his father, he shifted to Delhi along with his uncles.

• In Delhi, he started teaching Kathak at Sangeet Bharti, Delhi. At that time, he was 13 years old. He used to get Rs 150 as salary there.

• While he was in Delhi, he used to practice Kathak in morning and then he used to visit a Coffee House in Connaught Place, and in the evening, he used to visit Sangeet Bharti in Delhi on his bicycle.

• He then worked at Bharatiya Kala Kendra (later Kathak Kendra) in New Delhi under his uncle Pandit Shambhu Maharaj. After his uncle, he became the head of the academy and retired from there in 1988.
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj in his younger days

• In the same year, he started a Kathak school named Kalashram Kathak School in New Delhi. Later, its branch was started in the US. At the school, apart from Kathak, training in various musical instruments, yoga, painting, Sanskrit, dramatics, and stagecraft is provided.

• Some of the famous disciples of Maharaj are Mohan Mishra, Uma Sharma, Munna Shukla, Pratap Priya Pawar, Saswati Sen, Durga Arya, and Madhuri Dixit.

• He loved to perform kathak on the narrations of Krishna-Radha and Shiva-Parvati.

• His ginti ki tihais (a percussive phrase where the syllables of dance are replaced by counts) became very popular.

• Some of his popular Kathak songs are Makhan Chori, Phaag Bahar, Krishnayan, Roopmati Baajbahadur, Darbar-e-Salaami, Shaahi Mehfil, and Anamya.
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj perfroming at an event

• He also penned down the song ‘Bhari Bhari,’ which was sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Rajeev Mahavir.

• Once two Chinese women visited Maharaj to learn Kathak. However, due to the language barrier, he could not explain to them the syllables of Kathak. He then used words such as ‘pum-pum or ‘chin-chin’ while showing his hand and foot and taught them the dance form.

• He used to practice dance in a dark room with minimum light which in which he could see his shadow. He used to consider it the best place to practice as it created a good sound and he could focus on his dance without distractions.

• In 2014, he was invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

• He choreographed many Indian actors for various films’ songs. Some of such actors are Madhuri Dixit in Devdas (2002), Kamal Haasan in Vishwaroopam (2012), Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani (2015), and Alia Bhatt in Kalank (2019).
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj with Madhuri Dixit on the sets of Devdas

• Apart from dancing, he was also a renowned singer. He lent his voice to many Bollywood songs like ‘Kanha Main Tose Haari’ from Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), ‘Kahe Chhed Mohe’ from Devdas (2002), ‘Jagaave Saari Raina’ from Dedh Ishqiya (2014), and ‘Mohe Rang Do Laal’ from Bajirao Mastani (2015).

• He used to sing Thumris which became very popular. He used to perform thumris in various events like Saptak Annual Festival (2019), and Anubhav Festival at Vrindaban Gurukul.

• He once shared that he had a dream of singing for All India Radio. In 1967, he got an offer to live his dream and he sang thumris on the radio channel.

• He was an expert in playing various musical instruments like tabla, flute, and dholak. He was well-versed in playing string musical instruments like Sitar, Sarod, Violin, and Sarangi.

• He performed along with various other musicians like Zakir Hussain, Yogesh Samsi, Anindo Chatterjee, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, and Ajoy Chakrabarty at various events.
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj with Zakir Hussain

• He was a renowned poet. He used to write poetries under the pen name Brij Shyam. His poetry titled ‘Anubhuti’ was released in 2013 by PM Narendra Modi.

• In 2020, his poetries book ‘Brij Shyam Kahe’ was published.
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj’s poetry

• In an interview, he said that had he not become a Kathak dancer, he would be a mechanic.

• On 16 January 2022, while Pandit Birju Maharaj was playing antakshari with his family and disciples, he started having breathing issues. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

• In 2022, in the memory of Maharaj a stamp titled ‘India 2022 Kathak Dancer Maestro Pt. Birju Maharaj Music Special Cover’ was issued.
  

  Pandit Birju Maharaj’s exclusive stamp released in 2022