Early life Teejan Bai was born in Ganiyari village, north of
Bhilai, to Chunuk Lal Pardhi and his wife Sukhwati. She belongs to the
Pardhi Scheduled Tribe of
Chhattisgarh state. The eldest among her five siblings, she heard her maternal grandfather, Brijlal Pardhi, recite the Mahabharata written by Chhattisgarhi writer, Sabal Singh Chauhan in
Chhattisgarhi Hindi and instantly took a liking to it. She soon memorised much of it, and later trained informally under Umed Singh Deshmukh.
Career At age 13, she gave her first public performance in a neighbouring village, Chandrakhuri (Durg) for Rs 10., singing in the
Kapalik style of 'Pandavani', a first time for a woman, as traditionally women used to sing in the
Vedamati, the sitting style. Contrary to the tradition, Teejan Bai performed standing singing out loud in her typical guttural voice and unmistakable verve, entering what was till then, a male bastion. Within a short time, she became known in the neighbouring villages and invitations poured to perform at special occasions and festivals. Her big-break came, when
Habib Tanvir, a theatre personality from Madhya Pradesh, noticed her talent, and she was called to perform for then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. In time she received national and international recognition, a
Padma Shri in 1988,
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995, and
Padma Bhushan in 2003. Beginning in the 1980s, she travelled all over the world as a cultural ambassador, to countries as far as England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Tunisia, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Mauritius. She performed sequences from the Mahabharata in
Shyam Benegal's acclaimed Doordarshan TV series
Bharat Ek Khoj based on
Jawaharlal Nehru's book. She continues to perform internationally and is known for her folk singing. She has also been involed in passing on the tradition to younger generations. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Personal life Though she was married at 12, she was expelled by the community, the 'Pardhi' tribe, for singing Pandavani, being a woman. She built herself a small hut and started living on her own, borrowing utensils and food from neighbours, yet never left her singing, which eventually paid off for her. She never went to her first husband's home and later split (divorce). In the following years, she was married twice and later became a grandmother. ==Performance style==