Bidur Mallik is a descendent of Radhakrishna, the elder of the two brother who started the musical tradition of the family. Born on August 15th 1936, he became the senior doyen of the Dhrupad tradtion of Darbhanga after the death of Ram Chatur Mallik in 1990. He inherited the musical knowledge and perfomance techniques of the Mallik Family, without which the annals of classical Indian music would not be complete. Together with his sons and the pakhavaj player Ramji Upadhyaya he visited Europe for the first time in 1983 during a Dhrupad festival organized by Peter Pannke in cooperation with the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation. Presently, he directs the ‚Pandit Sukhdeo Mallik Sangeet Samiti’, a music school he established in the name of his father and Guru in Vrindaban, the centre of Krishna worship and home town of Dhrupad near Delhi. His foremost disciples are his three sons Ramkumar, Anandkumar and Premkumar, who in turn are teaching their own children. As the children have already started to perform to much acclaim, three generations of the family are presently active.
Ramkumar Mallik, born on February 10th, 1957, is a gifted vocalist. He was trained by his father and teaches at the Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University in Darbhanga.
Anandkumar Mallik, the second son born on 25th September 1961, excels as a tabla and pakhawaj player. He has accompanied all the important Dhrupad singers of India and is attached to the ‘Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana’ in Vrindaban. He is regularly acompanying the Goswamis of the Radha Raman Temple at Katha recitations in India as well as in many international tours.
Premkumar Mallik, born on February 15th in 1962, is the youngest son of Bidur Mallik. His training in Dhrupad started at a very early age under the guidance of his Guru and father. He also mastered Khyal, Thumri, Tappa, Bhajan and Ghazal, and was awarded a Gold Medal in the All India Radio Music Competition by the President of India at the early age of 19 years, as well as another Gold Medal by standing first in merit in Praveen (Master of Music) in the All India Level. Presently Premkumar Mallik is a well-known ‘A’ Grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan Television, and his programmes are regularly being broadcasted. He is not only an excellent performer but also a remarkable teacher with many students. He is a lecturer in the Department of Music in the University of Allahabad, and was an artist-in-residence in Berlin on the invitation of the German Academic Exchange Program in 1999. He participated in many major festivals in India and abroad.
Ramji Upadhyaya, born on August 17 th, 1934 is Ramkumar’s and Premkumar’s father-in-law. He is not only closely related to the Mallik Family but has a Dhrupad family tradition of his own. He was trained by his famous father Basudeo Upadhyaya and played with every Dhrupad singer of importance and performed in the most music festivals with the Mallik Family.
Abhay Narayan Mallik, a descendent of Kartaram, the younger of the two brothers who established the family tradition, was born on March 19th, 1937. His great uncle Ram Chatur Mallik lectured Abhay from the age of 16. His first job was at All India Radio in 1969. In 1971 he won the All India Competition held by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and was awarded a two year fellowship. He participated at the Festival of India held in Germany in 1992. Since 1983 he was a reader at the music university Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya in Khairagarh (Madhya Pradesh), but nowadays he has retired.
