Who was Lachhu Maharaj? Two legends with same name; one tabla maestro, another kathak dancer
Today's Google doodle is celebrating the 74th birthday of Lachhu Maharaj, a famous tabla player of India. There has been another famous artist with the same name who brought kathak dance to Bollywood and gave a wider audience base to this dance form.
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- India
Today's Google doodle is celebrating the 74th birthday of Lachhu Maharaj, a famous tabla player of India who carried forward the tradition of playing tabla in the whole of Banaras. There has been another famous artist with the same name who brought kathak dance to Bollywood and gave a wider audience base to this dance form.
Lachhu Maharaj – The Table Maestro
Lachhu Maharaj was born in the famous city of Uttar Pradesh, Banaras, on October 16, 1944, and grew up there. His father's name was Vasudev Maharaj. He was fourth among twelve siblings.
He gained fame through his acute practice in both the independent tabla player and the accompaniment. In 1972, Lacchu Maharaj visited 27 countries on behalf of the Government of India. In 1972, the Central Government proposed to honor him with 'Padma Shri', but he refused to take the award. He used to say, "...winning the heart of listeners and their applause is artist's biggest award..."
He died on July 27, 2016. His funeral was done on Manikarnika Ghat of Banaras.
Lachhu Maharaj - Indian classical dancer
Pandit Lachhu Maharaj, an Indian classical dancer cum choreographer of Kathak, was born in 1907 in a family of illustrious Kathak exponents in Lucknow.
In his earlier career, he was trained by Pandit Bindadin Maharaj, his uncle and the court dancer of the Nawab of Awadh. Subsequently, he moved to Mumbai and brought kathak to the film industry and thus to a wider audience. He choreographed the dance sequences in movies like Mahal, Mughal-e-Azam, Chhoti Chhoti Baten and Pakeezah.
He was also the founder Director of the Kathak Kendra started by the Uttar Pradesh Government in Lucknow. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1957.
He died in 1978.
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