India: Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori dies at age 74

Santoor maestro and Sufi exponent Bhajan Sopori died in Gurugram on Thursday. He was 74.

Family sources told reporters that the musician passed away at the Fortis Hospital in Gurugram.

“His cremation will take place tomorrow [Friday] afternoon,” a family source said.

Born in Srinagar in 1948, he had a double masters degree in Indian classical music specialising both in the traditional Indian instruments sitar and santoor.

Known as ‘Saint of the Santoor’, he was awarded Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Indian music.