Santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori passes away

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Noted santoor player Padmashree Pandit Bhajan Sopori passed away on June 2 at a hospital in Gurugram. He was 74 years old and had been ill for some time.

• He was undergoing treatment for stage IV of colon cancer.

• The disease had spread to the liver and bones.

• He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (fMRI), Gurugram from February 2022. 

• About Pandit Bhajan Sopori 

• He was born in the year 1948 in Srinagar.

• He was given the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 for his contribution to classical music.

• He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 2004.

• Bhajan Sopori had inherited the education of playing the santoor. His grandfather SC Sopori and father Pandit SN Sopori were also santoor players.

• He was also proficient in singing with santoor.

• He did his post graduation in English literature with music. After this he also studied Western Classical Music from the University of Washington.

• He composed three ragas. These include Raga Laleshwari, Raga Patwanti and Raga Nirmal Ranjani.

• He belongs to the Sufiana Gharana.

• He made an album Nat Yoga on Santoor. He is also the founder of the Sopori Academy for Music and Performing Arts.

• He is the only classical musician in India who has composed music for more than four thousand songs in almost every language of the country including Sanskrit, Arabic.