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● Artist Reference · Desk-Verified Dossier

Teejan Bai (b. 1956)

Ganiyari-born Chhattisgarhi Mahabharata vocalist who broke gender barriers as the first woman exponent of standing Kapalik-style Pandavani.

Teejan Bai performing standing Kapalik-style Pandavani at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

Suyash Dwivedi · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Teejan Bai performing standing Kapalik-style Pandavani at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
Classification
Artist
Scope / Placement
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Connected Records
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Bibliography
1 Source

Listening outside her grandfather's porch in Ganiyari village near Bhilai to Sabal Singh Chauhan's Chhattisgarhi Mahabharata verses, Teejan Bai defied social custom by adopting the standing, improvisational Kapalik style—wielding a single peacock-feathered tambura as Bhima's club, Arjuna's chariot whip, and Draupadi's sari. 1

Her commanding gravelly timbre and solo dramatic timing earned the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1995), Fukuoka Prize (2018), and Padma Vibhushan (2019). 1

Practises

1
Pandavani Oral Mahabharata Epic Storytelling
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Practised in

1
India
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Sources

1

What’s on this page is sourced from the citation below.

SourcePublisherLicence
Pandavani and the Oral Mahabharata of ChhattisgarhIndira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), 2019—
"Teejan Bai (b. 1956)." Folkroom Archive (Artists), https://folkroom.org/artists/teejan-bai · CC BY-SA 4.0.