Trained in music under leading maestros of the art, Sikhs as well
as Muslims, was born on 3 March 1901, at the village of Mulla Hamza,
in Montgomery district, now in Pakistan. He started his training so
young that for many years after he had started giving public performance,
he was known as Kaka (child) Samund Singh. His father, Bhai Hazur
Singh, was a riigi (musician) of repute and for accompaniment played
on a string instrument called t56s, so named because of its peacock
shape. For five generations, his ancestors had been performing kirtan
at Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru
Nanak. Among them Bhai Gurdit Singh had won renown as a deft tabla-player.
Samund Singh's first major performance came at the age of nine
when he staged kirtan before a large gathering at a session of the
Sikh Educational Conference. Soon he became the rage for Sikh divans
throughout the Punjab. His training continued under his father and
under other masters. He was quick at memorizing the holy word of
the Gurus. Thus his range and repertoire from Gurbani were very
wide. He learnt to play on string instruments such as the tans,
dilrub5 and t5npura besides the harmonium and tabla. He acquired
mastery of most of the thirty-one ragas in which Gurbani is composed.
He excelled in Khayal, Thumarl Afng, Multani Ang, Dhrupad and Dhumar.
He began to live and enjoy the Word he sang with exceptional ease
and effect. His presence inspired veneration and his performance
helped to create a devotional atmosphers.
Samund Singh was given employment at Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana
Sahib where he performed kirtan with his two companions, Teja Singh
and Harnam Singh. He resigned from the position of head ragi after
a few years, but continued to live in the holy city of Nankana.
He travelled to the remotest corners of the country on invitations
from Sikh societies and institutions to perform kirtan. He introduced
Gurbani kirtan to Hindu and Muslim lovers of music and great artists,
including Bare Ghulam 'Ali Khan. He was among the first Sikh musicians
to broadcast kirtan from the Lahore station of All India Radio.
After the partition of 1947, he migrated to Amritsar and performed
kirtan at the Golden Temple, later shifting to Ludhiana. He continued
to command respect as the most accomplished Sikh musician. In 1970,
he was given the Bhai Mardana Music Award by the Punjab Government
at a state ceremony at Chandigarh. He gave on the occasion what
turned out to be his last major performance. Samund Singh died at
Ludhiana on 5 January 1972.
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