Allah Jilai Bai
A commemorative postage stamp on Allah Jilai Bai, a folk singer from Rajasthan [a part of the series ‘Personality Series : Folk Music‘] :
Issued by India
Issued on Dec 29, 2003
Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to bring out a set of two commemorative postage stamps in recognition of the invaluable contribution of these two doyens of Indian folk music.
Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Sankha Samanta (Stamp on Lalan Fakir is inspired by a line sketch of Lalan Fakir by Nandlal Bose).
Cancellation : Alka Sharma
Type : Stamps, Mint Condition
Colour : Four
Denomination : 500 Paise
Overall size : 2.80 x 3.30 Cms.
Printing size : 2.80 x 3.30 Cms.
Perforation : 13.5 x 13.5
Paper : Matt Chromo
Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million
Number per issue sheetlet : 50
Printing Process : Photo Offset
Printer : Calcutta Security Printers Ltd.
Name : Hajjan Allah Jilai Bai
Born on Feb 1, 1902 at Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
Died on Nov 3, 1992
About :
- Another trail-blazer of folk music was Hajjan Allah Jilai Bai from the erstwhile Bikaner state of Rajasthan. She was born on 1 February, 1902 in a traditional family of musicians. It is said that when she was born, someone gave her poison. He mother besought the Almighty and by virtue of his prayers, the young child was saved. That is why she was named Allah Jilai Bai. Jilai Bai’s mother sang in the court of Maharaja Ganga Singh who was a great patron of the arts. Young Jilai Bai used to accompany her mother to the court when she used to sing at Holi, Diwali, Teej and Gangaur. At times, she used to sing with her mother. Her melodious voice was found to be so captivating that she was placed under the tutelage of Ustad Hussain Bakhsh in the Court School of Maharaja Ganga Singh known as “Guni Jankana” when she was merely eight years old. It was here that she imbibed the Dadra, Thumri and traditional Rajasthani music from Ustad Bakhsh. She learnt dance as well but soon gave it up for she believed it would adversely affect her singing.
- Allah Jilai Bai’s forte was Maand and Lok Sangeet. Her rendition of ‘Mharo rangeelo Rajasthan’ and ‘Kesariya baalam, aao ni padharo mharey des’ is unrivalled. Besides the ‘Dadra’ and ‘Thumri’, she also rendered Meera’s bhajans and Ghalib’s ghazals and the ‘Hori’ and ‘Kajri’ with versatility. Her melodious yet powerful singing received recognition from the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi which awarded her a “Manpatra” in 1975 and also conferred on her the title of “Swar Sadhika”. She also received a Sammanpatra from the Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur in 1978 and the Rajasthan State Award in 1980. On 26 January, 1982, the Govt. of India honoured her with the “Padmashri”. Allah Jilai Bai passed away on 3 November, 1992 at the age of 90.
- Text : Based on material received from the proponents and other published sources.
Very good presentation.