Prof. Milap Singh

Prof. Milap Singh Ji was a well known and respected classical artist who learned music under the guidance of twelve ‘Ustads’. He was born in the town of Tando Jam in Hyderabad district in the Sindh province of modern day Pakistan. He was born to Mata Gian Kaur Ji and his father, Sardar Ranjha Singh was a singer. As a young boy, Milap Singh had developed an interest in music. His singing caught the attention of Sant Gurmukh Singh Ji of Sindh. Sant Ji was very impressed with his voice and said that he will become a very famous artist. Sant Ji offered to teach him Kirtan and requested Sardar Ranjha Singh to leave Milap Singh with him. He spent many years under the guidance of Sant Gurmukh Singh Ji and at the same time he was sent to various ‘Ustads’ to learn the intricacies of classical music. Among his twelve teachers was the renowned Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana.

Before the division of Punjab, he took part in many informal challenges against other artists through which he won horses, camels and other assets belonging to those artists who lost to him. He also had numerous awards and gold medals to his name. Prof. Milap Singh was adept in many forms of music including Khayal, Thumri, Kirtan, Qawali and Ghazals. He was very popular at that time and several of his Qawali and Ghazal records were released. Unfortunately, the records were left behind in Pakistan during the partition.

Following the partition, Prof Milap Singh Ji lived in Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh with his family. Once settled there, he began to perform Kirtan and also took part in various classical competitions. In 1962, he received a gold medal from the former Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru for his performance of Sri Raag in a competition held in Amritsar. Soon after that, he also came in first place after performing Raag Basant during a competition held in New Delhi. He was known to perform a special type of ‘taan’ known as ‘Jabre Ki Taan’. In 1970, he moved from Hastinapur to New Delhi with his family. He formed a ‘jatha’ with his sons and began to serve as a Hazoori Raagi in Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, where he remained in service until 1980. After his retirement from the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, he went to the ‘dera’ of Sant Baba Attar Singh Ji ‘Mastuana Wale’ and spent almost a decade teaching Kirtan to children in the ‘dera’.

Subsequently, he traveled abroad to Cebu City in the Philippines and remained there for a few years. He performed Kirtan and taught music to children in the local Gurdwara of Cebu City. He also traveled to Malaysia, Singapore and the United States of America. Prof. Milap Singh Ji lived till the ripe age of 105 and continued to perform Kirtan until the very end. He took his last breath and passed away peacefully on 28th May 2008. The information above was obtained from his son, Bhai Nanak Singh Preet. His other sons include Bhai Hartirath Singh Sodhi and the late Bhai Gurcharan Singh Rasila. Currently, his grandson, Bhai Surjit Singh Rasila is following in his footsteps by serving as Hazoori Raagi in Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.

During his visit to Malaysia, Bhai Hartirath Singh Sodhi narrated an interesting story about Prof. Milap Singh Ji’s stay in the Philippines. While he was there, someone had arranged an interview with him. During this interview, he was asked why he chose to sing classical music. He replied, “Whenever I sing a particular Raag, I get whatever I want”. As a demonstration, he sang in Raag Malhar. It was a sunny day and within minutes of him singing Raag Malhar, clouds began to form and it started to pour heavily.

If anyone has more photos or recordings of Prof. Milap Singh Ji to share, please contact us.

The two Shabads below are from an EP released by HMV in 1971. Accompanying him on the side harmonium is his nephew, Bhai Charanjit Singh Thawar. Please ‘right click’ and ‘save link as’ to download audio files. Enjoy!

Prof. Milap Singh – 01 Man Re Ram

Prof. Milap Singh – 02 Sawan Saras Mana

The recordings below are from an informal session and contain some non Gurbani recordings as well. 

Prof. Milap Singh – 01 Karam Karo (Madhuvanti)

Prof. Milap Singh – 02 Joban Jaande Na Daraan (Gunkali)

Prof. Milap Singh – 03 Deenan Ki Prithpal (Malkauns)

Prof. Milap Singh – 04 Deen Dard Dukhbhanjana (Katki Bhairavi)

Prof. Milap Singh – 05 Raag Kafi

The following recordings are from a program in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh in 2000. Prof. Milap Singh Ji is in his late 90s during this program.

Prof. Milap Singh – 01 Anand Karo (Raag Jhinjhoti)

Prof. Milap Singh – 02 Naunidh Payee

Prof. Milap Singh – 03 Vyakhya

Prof. Milap Singh – 04 Kandhi Vahan (Raag Chander Nandan)

Prof. Milap Singh – 05 Ghar Anand Hamare

Prof. Milap Singh – 06 Guldasta Raagon Ka

Prof. Milap Singh – 07 Gareeb Nivaaz

The following two recordings were obtained from a 78 r.p.m. shellac record released by AA records sometime in the 1930s. This record features two Sindhi songs. It is not Gurbani but provides a glimpse of Prof. Milap Singh Ji’s singing in his youth.

Prof. Milap Singh – 01 Mela Thema

Prof. Milap Singh – 02 Vaido Karyo