Sitar maestro Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri passed away on Saturday due to Covid-19 related complications. The Padma Bhushan awardee was 85. One of the leading proponents of the Senia Gharana, Chaudhuri was considered a leading name among sitar players.
Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri’s son Prateek Chaudhuri took to Facebook to share the news of his father’s demise. He wrote, “My Father, The Legend of Sitar, Pandit Debu Chaudhuri… is no more. He was admitted with Covid along with dementia complications and was put in ICU on ventilator around midnight today (1st May 2021)..after which he suffered a heart attack and could not be revived…..In spite of all efforts and prayers he could not be saved. A to the World of Sitar and Indian Music. Great loss. In grief..Prateek Chaudhuri (myself) Runa Chaudhuri (my wife), Rayana Chaudhuri (my daughter) and Adhiraj Chaudhuri (my son).”
Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri was admitted to New Delhi’s Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital earlier this week after he tested positive for Covid-19 and his oxygen saturation level dropped sharply. On Friday evening, the sitarist’s condition worsened, and he was put on a non-invasive ventilator support. He breathed his last in the early hours of Saturday.
Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri performed across the world for over six decades, winning several honours, including the Padmabhushan, the Padmashree and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution in the field of music. Besides being an ace sitarist, he was also an educationist and author. He is the writer of six books, composer of eight new ragas and numerous musical compositions.
Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri was born in 1935 in Mymensingh (now in Bangladesh), and as a child prodigy, he started playing the sitar from four years of age. His first broadcast was at the age of eighteen at the All India Radio in 1953. He also served as dean and head, Faculty of Music, University of Delhi.
