PTI

Varanasi, May 5: Well-known tabla player Kishan Maharaj died in Varanasi after a brief illness. He was 84.

He died at a private hospital at Khajuri at 11.45 pm on Sunday night, family sources said.

The tabla maestro was admitted to the hospital after he suffered a paralytic attack on April 29.

Maharaj suffered the attack while eminent sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his family were visiting him. The sarod exponent was here with his sons, Aman and Ayaan, to attend a music function.

Maharaj, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2002, was one of the finest tabla players of the country and had a career which spanned over half a century. He began playing tabla at a tender age of 11 years.

He learned the art under the watchful eyes of his father Pandit Hari Maharaj. After the untimely death of his father, Maharaj's training was taken over by his uncle, Pt Kanthe Maharaj, one of the great old masters and himself a disciple of Pt Baldeo Sahai. Pt Baldeo Sahai was the grandson of Pt Ram Sahai, founder of the Banaras gharana.

Maharajs ability to play cross rhythms and produce complex calculations, particularly in tihai patterns has made him one of the most respected and popular tabla players of his time. He had immense versatility with regard to playing any kind of accompaniment, be it with the sitar, sarod, dhrupad, dhamar or dance.