Another Santoor maestro, Pandit Bhajan Sopori passes away

June 2: After Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, who died in May 2022, another Santoor maestro, Pandit Bhajan Sopori breathed his last on Tuesday. He was suffering from colon cancer. He was 73, and would have celebrated his 74th birthday on June 22.

A Kashmiri Pandit, Bhajan Sopori was a performer, composer, musicologist, teacher, writer and poet. Regarded as the cultural bridge of Jammu & Kashmir with the rest of the country, Pandit Bhajan Sopori is hailed as the “Saint of the Santoor” and the “King of Strings”. The santoor wizard was born in 1948 and came from Kashmir’s Sopore Valley. He belonged to the Sufiana gharana of Indian classical music.

Sopori had grounding in both Western classical music from Washington University and Hindustani from his grandfather, SC Sopori, and father, Shambhoo Nath. He also used to teach music at Washington University. He could play both sitar and santoor with equal felicity. Besides learning music, he also had a masters degree in English Literature.

For his contribution to Indian music and culture, he has been honoured with several prestigious awards such as Padmashri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, J&K Government Lifetime Achievement Award, J&K Government Civilian Award, Doctorate of Literature by Utkal University (Odisha), National Flag Honour of the Arab Republic of Egypt, etc.