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Annapoorna Devi: The Silent Stalwart of the Surbahar 

Many may not recognize the name Annapoorna Devi, yet she was a musical stalwart who lived among us until quite recently. To provide context, one must mention Pandit Ravi Shankar. While many today recognize the names of Ravi Shankar or his daughter, Anoushka, few realize that Annapoorna Devi was Ravi Shankar’s first wife and, by his own accounts, an incredibly accomplished musician.

Early Life and Musical Lineage 

Born as Roshanara Khan in Maihar (present-day Madhya Pradesh), she was the daughter of the legendary musician Ustad Allauddin Khan and Madanmanjari Devi. Her father served as a courtier under Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the Maihar estate. Since her father was away at the time of her birth, it was Maharaja Brijnath Singh who named her Annapoorna Devi. Though raised in a Muslim household, she was known by this name to her near and dear ones.

Ustad Allauddin Khan was a multi-instrumentalist who taught many greats, including his own son, Ali Akbar Khan,daughter Annapoorna Devi and his future son-in-law, Ravi Shankar. He discovered Annapoorna's talent early on, initially training her in Hindustani Vocal music. However, after a minor surgery made it difficult for her to sing, she transitioned her training to the Sitar.

Eventually, she transitioned from the Sitar to the Surbahar (bass sitar). This shift occurred because her father wanted to pass on the specialized Beenkari style—a sacred system he had learned from his guru, Wazir Khan. He decided to impart this "secret" style to her specifically because she was not interested in public performances or commercial fame; she was keen only on the pure pursuit of learning and preserving the music.

A Duet of Discord 

In 1941, at the age of 15, Annapoorna was married to the 21-year-old Ravi Shankar in a match orchestrated by Ravi's brother, Uday Shankar. By 1942, they welcomed their only child, Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar. However, the domestic peace was short-lived; Ravi Shankar revealed in his autobiography that by 1944, "Annapoorna found out about my past relationships and was very deeply hurt... she left me and went away with Shubho for many months." Despite this early fracture, the couple reconciled and performed historic duets together for over a decade, from 1946 to 1957. 

The eventual breakdown of their marriage remains a conflict of two narratives. Ravi Shankar famously wrote in Raga Mala that she was "not only very talented but also extremely strong-willed and possessed of a very bad, almost violent, temper." He claimed that her withdrawal from the stage was due to her being "very shy and didn't like to face the audience." Annapoorna, however, offered a starkly different account in her rare interview with Man's World (2000). Addressing his claims of her "shyness," she stated, "Ravi was jealous of the response I was getting from the audience. He was a commercial artist, and he couldn't stand the fact that the public appreciated my music more." She revealed the heartbreaking weight of her choice, stating: "I was at a crossroads. I had to choose between being a successful musician and being a wife. I chose the latter, thinking it would bring peace to our home." Despite her sacrifice, the final fracture came in the late 1950s following Ravi’s affair with Kamala Chakravarty. They separated permanently in the late 1950s, though the marriage was only legally dissolved in 1982.

The Vow and the Recluse 

Following her separation from Ravi Shankar, Annapoorna Devi took a solemn vow never to perform in public again. She believed that music was a form of worship, not a commodity. In her eyes, "selling" her art for money or fame was akin to selling Goddess Saraswati. Consequently, she was never a commercial artist; yet, music remained her everything. Even within the walls of her apartment at Akashganga in Mumbai, she continued to breathe life into the Maihar Gharana, creating a legendary legacy through her teaching.

It is a profound tragedy for the world of Indian Classical music that, due to her strict refusal to be recorded, only a few low-quality, bootlegged recordings of her playing survive today. These grainy tapes are all that remain of a genius that many contemporaries claimed surpassed even the most famous maestros of her time. By withdrawing, the public suffered a major loss—the silencing of one of the most profound instruments of the century.

The George Harrison Performance

Her resolve to remain private was so strong that it took the intervention of the highest office in the country to break it—just once. When George Harrison of The Beatles visited India, he expressed a deep desire to hear the legendary Annapoorna Devi. She initially refused, but after being personally coaxed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she relented. She performed a private session for Harrison, a rare moment where her music reached ears outside her inner circle of students.

Shubho Shankar’s Journey 

Her son, Shubho, was an accomplished sitarist who received rigorous training directly from his mother. Despite a historic debut at Carnegie Hall in 1971 alongside his father, his musical career was ultimately cut short. Struggling with the psychological pressure of his father's global fame and the trauma of his parents' split, he moved to the United States. He married Linda Passee and had two children, Somnath and Kaveri. In the US, he distanced himself from music for many years, working as an illustrator to support his family. Though he briefly returned to touring with Ravi Shankar in the late 80s, the weight of public expectation remained heavy. He passed away in 1992 following a bout of pneumonia, having lived a life largely estranged from his mother for nearly two decades.

Final Years and Legacy 

After her father's death in 1972, Annapoorna dedicated herself entirely to her students. She first taught at the Ali Akbar College of Music in Kolkata, founded by her brother, and later at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai, which moved her to the city permanently.

Despite her seclusion, the magnitude of her genius was recognized by the highest institutions in the country. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1977 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1991. In 1999, she was conferred with the Deshikottam, an honorary doctorate by Visva-Bharati University. Furthermore, in 2004, she was made a Ratna Sadasya (Fellow) of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the highest honor conferred by the academy for lifetime achievement

The praises she received from her peers were unparalleled. The legendary sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan famously said of her: "Annapoorna Devi is the only one who can truly be called a Surbahar player." Her student, the flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, often referred to her as a "goddess" and stated, "I have never seen anyone as dedicated to music as her." Even the renowned Ustad Amir Khan was known to have said that she was "80 percent of her father, Allauddin Khan," a staggering compliment considering the Ustad's stature.

Annapoorna Devi passed away in 2018 at the age of 91. She remains special not because of her marriage, but because she chose the sanctity of music over the lure of fame. She remained a "musician’s musician," shining brightly even from the shadows of her voluntary enclosure.