Shiva Shankar

He was born to mother Ram Maya and father Man Bahadur on 22 February 1932 in a Manandhar household of the Newar community, in Pako, Newroad of Kathmandu, Nepal. Man Bahadur Manandhar was a volunteer music teacher in the local community and taught classical Newari songs to the youngsters. Shiva Shankar's musical aspirations were probably inspired by his father's community activity. Unfortunately, his father died at a very early age. Shankar completed his secondary school education, but did not pursue any formal musical education before becoming established as a singer and music composer. In 1974, he pursued a graduate course in Indian classical music at Kalanidhi Sangeet College in Kathmandu. ==Career==

He took a job at Radio Nepal in May 1951 (2007 BS) and served there for the next 42 years. This was the period of his active creative life. For forty years, he composed and sang hit songs. From 1987 to 1991 (2043-2047 BS), he was the executive director of the Ratna Recording Corporation. He retired from Radio Nepal in 1996 (2051 BS). His post-retirement period coincided with the onset of commercialization in Nepalese music. He could not adapt to the glamour of commercialization and eschewed making commercial music. As with his contemporary colleagues in music, he remained virtually silent after retirement. In 2004, he fell gravely ill with terminal stage liver cancer. He died on November 14, 2004. ==Personal life==

He was married to Badri Kumari Manandhar at the age of 24 and had three sons: Gaurishankar, Rabi Shankar and Shashi Shankar. None of them followed a career in music. Badri Kumari supported the family economically by running a family business. She died in September 1998. ==Awards ==

Note: all dates are in Bikram Samwat. Various national awards • First Place in the All Nepal Music Competition – 2019 • Best Music Composition Awards – 2020, 2021, 2025 and 2027 • Mahendra-Ratna Abhushan – 2022 • Gorkha Dakshin Bahu 4th - 2035 • Chinnalata Award – 2043 • Gunaraj Music Award - 2043 • Trishaktipatta 3rd - 2053 • Nepal Motion Picture Award – 2056 • Supradipta Birendra Pajatantra Bhashkar 3rd – 2060 • Image Life-time Achievement Award - 2058 • Natikaji Memorial Award – 2061 Recognitions and honors • Nepal Motion Picture Artists Union – 2050 • Sadhana Samman by the Shadhana Art Foundation – 2054 • Radio Nepal – 2055 • Golden Jubilee Samman of Radio Nepal – 2056 • Nepal Samman by the Sagarmatha Academy – 2057 • Kathmandu Municipality Ward 13 – 2057 • Ahwan Organization - 2057 • Mahadev Samman by the Keshav-Sushma Bhajan Guthi – 2058 == Filmography ==

• Aama (Theme song, with Nati Kaji) • Manko Bandh (with Nati Kaji) • Kumari (with Chandra Raj) • Pachis Basanta • Shanti Deep == Broadway songs (Geeti Natak) and albums of situational songs ==

• Ashirbad ("Farewell to Bride"): An album of situational songs (concept album) describing emotional expressions of a bride and her relatives during marriage ceremony in Nepalese villages. Ashirbad literally translates as blessing in the Nepali language. After the wedding, the bride moves into her husband’s family, usually far away from her family and friends. Since marriage is arranged by the elders of the family, the bride is surrounded by unfamiliar people, in new relationship, and with new duties. It is a sad moment for the bride and her family. The parents, relatives and friends of the bride pray God to bless her (aashirbad) with all the fortune and the happiness of the world in her new home. The album was produced in 1970, at the eve of wedding of the crown prince Dipendra of Nepal. The lyrics were written by Laxman Lohani and the music was written by Shiva Shankar. The songs comprise contemporary modern styles blended with Nepalese folk tunes. • Nalapanima ("Battle at the Nalapani Fort") - Lyrics: Bal Krishna Sama • Parikshya ("Ordeal") - Lyrics: Tulsi Dibas • Swongu Nagu ("Three Stars") - Lyrics: Durga Lal Shrestha • Sulochana (Based on an epic poem) - Lyrics: Shyam Das Vaishnav (Not Staged) • Satyam Shivam Sundaram ==References==