Sumitra Guha Biography 
Sumitra Guha is an Indian classical vocalist, who performs both Carnatic and Hindustani music. In Hindustani music, she is associated with Kirana Gharana, and is the first Andhra woman to sing Hindustani music. She has travelled widely giving performances and holding workshops in the USA, Canada, Mauritius, Europe, UK, Italy, France etc. For her contributions towards sports, especially cricket, Government of India honoured him with the fourth highest civilian honour - Padma Shri in 2010. For her religious concerts, she has received gold medals and honours from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam at Tirupati and from the All India Vaggeykar Utsavams at Bhadrachalam during the early phase of her career.
Sumitra Guha was born as Sumitra Raju in Andhra Pradesh. Her mother Rajyalakshmi Raju was a singer, who initiated her to the world of music. Her father R. G. Narayana Raju is a retired Deputy Collector of Chitoor district. Noted Carnatic vocalist and devotional singer Shobha Raju is her sibling. Well-known Bengali writer Sreyash Sarkar is her grand-nephew. After receiving initial music lessons from her mother, Sumitra started formal training in Carnatic music at the age of eleven from S. R. Janakiraman. She started learning Hindustani music in 1964, and she learnt from renowned gurus - Pandit A. Kanan and Vidushi Malabika Kanan of Kirana Gharana, followed by Sushil Kumar Bose, a renowned exponent of music.
She got married into a Bengali family at the age of 19, and she continued learning music. She became a B-grade artist of the All India Radio in 1972. She made her debut as a solo performer at Thirumala temple in Tirupati the same year, and later conducted musical concerts there frequently. She also got opportunity to sing for different radio stations. Recognized as the first Andhra woman to sing Hindustani music, she followed Kirana Gharana of music. Ek Mulakat (1995) – a documentary was made by Doordarshan based on her life. She is founder of Sumadhur School of Performing Arts, where she teaches students in Gurukula system.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
