TARA DEVI

Birthday : January 15, 1945
Birth Place : Kathmandu, Nepal
Birth Sign : Capricorn
Died : January 23, 2006 (Kathmandu, Nepal)
Popular Songs : Ukali Orali Haru Ma, Subhakamana Bhari, Kali Pari

About

Tara Devi was a Nepali singer who is acknowledged as Swor Kinnari because of her melodious and sweet voice. Her father used to play tabala and her aunt used to sing in the bhajan mandali. Tara Devi used to lose herself in her aunt's sweet voice.

Early Years

Tara Devi was born on January 15, 1945 in Indra Chowk, Kathmandu to Krishna Bahadur and Radha Devi. She passed her SLC exams from Biswa Niketan School. She took classical music classes from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Ilahabad. She married the love of her life Shiva Bahadur Shrestha who was a pilot by profession. Her husband died much later in a plane crash and her eldest son died of blood cancer. Those tragic events left her broken and hurt her deeply.

Musical Career

Tara Devi was inspired by her father and her aunt to enter into the field of music. Her father took her to Ustad Bhairab Bahadur Thapa to give her proper guidance in music. She went to Radio Nepal with her teacher at the young age of 6 where she sang many children song. She recorded her first song a duet with Bhairab Bahadur Thapa. She was appointed as a singer in Radio Nepal. She had lend her voice in some of the popular musical dramas like Muna Madan, Malati Mangale, Sakuntala etc and movies like Aama, Hijo Aja Bholi, Manko Bandh, Kumari, Sindoor, Jiwan Rekha etc. The song Jane Ta Gaigo, her own composition, got the first position in Modern Songs Conference conducted by Radio Nepal. She suffered from Parkinson disease for about ten years before she passed away in 2006.

People used to say that Tara Devi's singing was a form of meditation and she was honored by dozens of national awards. The Nepali government has also issued a postal stamp in her honor.