LAHORE: The 20th death anniversary of renowned Pakistani singer Malika Pukhraj observed on Sunday.
She was born in 1910 at Hamirpur Sidhar near Akhnoor Jammu as Hamida. Her family migrated to Pakistan after the partition in 1947.
The renowned singer had complete mastery over classical raags. Malika Pukhraj also had great interest in Urdu and Persian poetry.
She got her traditional musical training from Ustad Ali Baksh Kasuri, the father of famous singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
She sang Hafeez Jalandhri’s famous song ‘Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon’ in a unique way that became her identity.
Her husband Syed Shabir Hussain Shah was a highly educated government official who also authored of the famous Urdu novel ‘Jhok Sial’.
Pakistan’s famous singer Tahira Syed is Malika Pukhraj’s daughter.
She was awarded with the Presidential pride of performance award by the Government of Pakistan in recognition to her services to the music industry.
She authored her biography as ‘Song Sung True’ which was translated from Urdu to English by Salim Qadwai.
She died on 4th February 2004 and buried in Shah Jamal graveyard in Lahore.
