PANDIT BIRJU MAHARAJ

About:

• Pandit Birju Maharaj (1937 – 2022), better known simply as Birju Maharaj, was an Indian dancer, composer, singer and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India.
  
  
• He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj.
  
  
• He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist.
  
  
• After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, till his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi.