‘We have the precious legacy of his music forever’: Sonia Gandhi writes to Pandit Jasraj’s wife

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday wrote a condolence letter to Madhura Pandit Jasraj, wife of Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, who died on Monday following a cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey at the age of 90.

“With the passing away of Pandit Jasraj, a voice of sublime beauty and spirituality has been stilled, leaving a silence that has left millions of music lovers, including myself, bereft,” she wrote.

“Pandit Jasraj brought harmony, peace, melody and solace into our lives as we listened engrossed and enchanted to his renditions of khayals, thumris and bhajans, each of them endowed with his unique musical genius and his ability to communicate to his audiences his own understanding of the divine and eternal truths. His warm rapport with his audiences, his warm and large heart, gave that added dimension to his music, that drew us all to want to listen to him again and again,” she added.

“We must give thanks that Pandit Jasraj blessed our country and our culture so generously throughout his long and rich life; and that we have the precious legacy of his music forever – a legacy that your children and all his disciples he inspired will take forward with devotion,” the letter said.

“May you and your family find the strength to bear your loss. The whole nation mourns with you at this time of grief,” it added.

One of India's greatest music legends, Pandit Jasraj leaves behind a storied legacy spanning almost eight decades.

Jasraj, who belonged to the Mewati Gharana, was in the US when the coronavirus-led lockdown happened and decided to stay back in that country.