Career
Despite living in a musical household, Siddheswari came to music by accident. Once, while the noted sarangi player Siyaji Mishra was teaching Kamleshwari, she was unable to repeat the tappa that she was being taught. Rajeshwari ran out of patience, and started to cane Kamleshwari, who cried out for help.
The next day, Siyaji Maharaj came to Rajeshwari, and asked to adopt Siddheswari into his own family (they were childless).
Subsequently she also trained under Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas and Inayat Khan of Lahore, but considered her guru mainly Bade Ramdas. She sang khyal, thumri (her forte) and short classical forms as dadra, chaiti, kajri et cetera
On several occasions she would sing perform through the night, for example on the overnight boating expeditions of Maharaja of Darbhanga. In 1989, noted director Mani Kaul has made an award winning documentary, Siddheshwari, on her life
Padma Shri by the Government of India (1966)
Honorary Doctorate.Lit. degree by the Ravindra Bharati Vishwavidyalaya in Kolkata (1973)
Deshikottam degree by the Vishwa Bharati Vishwavidyalaya.
She died in 1976. Her daughter Savita Devi is also a musician and lives in Delhi.