NEMI BHAGAT - Village - Bedham, Tehsil - Deeg, District - Bharatpur
Nemi Bhagat, algoza player, was fondly known as Nemi Baba. He was 108yrs old when he passed away in March 2013 and was the oldest living folk artist of Rajasthan.
Nemi Bhagat was a farmer and his main source of income was from farming. Since childhood, he was very fond of body-building and boxing and would be referees to boxing matches in his village. He himself was a boxer and a bodybuilder as well. He liked horse riding as well and could stand up on a running horse.
Nemi Baba did not receive any formal education. He was illiterate.
At the age of 75yrs, he gave up on his family life and started living a life of a saint. He left his home and moved to the outskirts of his village where he built a small temple and started living there.
Nemi Baba learned to play the algoza from Ram Prasad Kaka. His training in algoza began at an age of 10 years. He liked to play the algoza in the fields when he was out farming the whole day. Other than playing the algoza, Nemi Baba could sing a few bhajans (Chetawani bhajan).
A Mumbai based organization, ‘Sh. Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha’, the largest cultural institution in India honored Nemi Baba with their ‘Diamond Jubilee Award’in july 2012. The prize was awarded by ex President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the prize included a cash prize of Rs. 2,51,000/-. This was the first time in the history that a folk artist from Rajasthan had received such a big amount of cash prize.
JVF had invited Nemi Baba to perform at many of its festivals. He performed at Lokrang, Deeg every year from 2003 to 2011. Nemi Baba was also presented at JHIF and Jodhpur RIFF.
20 сен 2024
