Kartar Singh

Kartar Singh was a teacher, composer and author who worked to restore the traditional raga-based form of Gurmat Sangeet, the devotional music of the Sikh faith. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Punjab ^[1].

From Lahore district

Kartar Singh was born on 3 April 1928 in Ghummanke village in Lahore district ^[2]. He began learning kirtan at 13 under Giani Gurcharan Singh and other teachers, and sharpened his skill accompanying the rababi Bhai Karma ^[2]. At 18 he sang his first kirtan at gurdwaras in Renala Khurd and Gujranwala ^[2]. At Partition in 1947 he moved to India, where he studied the finer points of singing styles with Pandit Balwant Rai Jaiswal and others ^[2].

Teacher

In 30 years of college teaching his students won hundreds of prizes in shabad singing at youth festivals ^[2]. His students now sing raga-based Gurbani around the world, and many perform with stringed instruments as ragi jathas at Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar and other gurdwaras ^[2].

He directed Sangeet Bharati in Ludhiana, founded in 1960, a Gurmat Sangeet academy at Anandpur Sahib and a school in Phagwara named after him ^[2]. From 2000 he sat on the committee that selects ragi jathas for the Golden Temple ^[2].

Composer and author

Over 40 years he wrote more than 1,400 new compositions in ragas and mixed ragas ^[2]. His eight books, among them Gurbani Sangeet Darpan and Guru Tegh Bahadur Sangeet Darpan, were published by the SGPC in about 50,000 copies, and he took no royalty so they could be sold cheaply ^[2].

Kartar Singh died in Ludhiana in January 2022 ^[3].