Background
She was born in Bandla village of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh in 1922.
She was born in Bandla village of Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh in 1922.
She was awarded the Tagore Akademi Award (Tagore Akademi Puruskar) by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in 2011, given to 100 artists from across India to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, for her contribution in the field of performing arts She died on January 8, 2013 at the age of 91. She started performing at the age of 8.
She was totally devoted to singing and dancing instead of strong opposition from her family as well society at large.
She was widely criticized by the society and become the source of jeers and taunts of the society. Sarcastic society forced her to leave her village for so long but this could not stop her from showcasing her artistic faculties.
She was equipped with golden voice and her dancing steps fascinated the public to such an extent that slowly they forgot her social stigma and started inviting her to perform on various occasions. Slowly, she became so popular that no function could complete without her performance.
Such was the impact of the lady that she was started considering as idol of romance.
People started gathering from far away places for her performances and the same locality considered marriage ceremonies unceremonious without her performance and attendance. She was considered a matinee idol of her time. She was accompanied by a drummer and a wrestler (Pistu urf Basanta Pehlwaan) who also become a legend along with Devi.
Unlike the western countries where you don"t have to have a certificate of marriage to show to your society to live together, this couple has a lot to suffer to come out of the clutches of this society.
They could enjoy her performances but could not accept her liberal behaviour. Devi later sacrificed her love and on request of Devi herself, Basanta Pehlwaan later married to another woman.
She continued performing till her later ages. She was not feeling well though and she discontinued performing because of her health issues in last few months of her life.
She was determined to create new vistas of folk art thus married life could not bound her for so log and she broke all shackles to prove her worth.
