Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori passes away

Highlights:

Santoor maestro and Padma Shri awardee, Bhajan Sopori has passed away at the age of 73.
The santoor player was born in Sopore in Kashmir Valley in 1948 and belonged to the Sufiana Gharana of Indian classical music.
He was the great-grandson of Pandit Shankar Pandit, who had developed the style popularly known as the �Sufi Baaj� (style), based on Sufiana Qalam and Hindustani Classical music.
Hailed as �Saint of the Santoor� and the �King of Strings�, Sopori won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Padma Shri in 2004.
In 2009 he was honoured with the Baba Allaudin Khan Award and M N Mathur award in 2011 for his contribution to Indian classical music.