New Delhi: Pandit Birju Maharaj, the doyen of the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak, died at his home in Delhi in the early hours of Monday, his granddaughter said. Fondly known as Panditji or Maharajji by his disciples, legendary Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj breathed his last late Sunday night after suffering a heart attack.
Loved and respected by his legions of followers, the 83-year-old Kathak legend was one of India’s most well-known artists to date.
According to the information, They were playing ‘antakshari’ after dinner when he suddenly took ill, Ragini Maharaj told a news agency.
A recipient of the country’s second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, he was born Brij Mohan Nath Mishra on February 4, 1937, in a well-known Kathak dancing family. The news comes just days after his nephew and disciple Pt Munna Shukla passed away following a brief illness at 78.
(_Vinayak)
