UP: Music academy, award in Khan’s name

He added that winner of the annual music award would be awarded Rs 5 lakh.

Calling it the end of an era, the chief minister said the Ustad was a strong symbol of communal harmony and bestowed a new dimension to the art of shehnai. He retained his “rustic charm” even while introducing shehnai to the international audience, Yadav said.

Trained under Ali Baksh Vilayat, who used to play shehnai at Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Ustad Bismillah Khan received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar, Tansen Puraskar, Yash Bharati and Bharat Ratna, Yadav said, before leaving for Varanasi.

Governor T V Rajeswar, who rushed to Varanasi on Monday morning, also expressed his grief, and laid a floral wreath. “Khan-sahab’s death is an irreparable loss to the music world and is a personal loss of our country and the state. He was a rare personality,” Rajeswar said.