Sahana Devi was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n singer, she was a widely listened to singer of Rabindra Sangeet

Rabindra Sangeet

Rabindra Sangeet , also known as Tagore Songs in English, is a form of music composed by Rabindranath Tagore who added a new dimension to the musical concept of India in general and Bengal in specific....

.

Career

She was amongst the few singers to learn directly from Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

 and Dinendranath Tagore

Dinendranath Tagore

Dinendranath Tagore was a Bengali musician and noted singer, a grandson of the eldest brother of Rabindranath Tagore who codified many of the tunes that would appear impetuously to Rabindranath...

. In 1922, she met Dilipkumar Roy

Dilipkumar Roy

Dilipkumar Roy was a Bengali Indian musician, musicologist, novelist, poet and essayist.In 1965, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama, awarded him its highest honour for lifetime achievement, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.-Background and...

 in the Gaya session of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 and was deeply influenced by his musical style, though she retained a distinct way of her own. Sick and deserted by her family, she was given refuge in 1927 by Tagore in his Santiniketan

Santiniketan

Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year...

 but she had to leave the place for her failing health.

Sahana Devi was one of two singers Rabindranath allowed to improvise his songs.

Personal life

Devi was the niece of Chittaranjan Das

Chittaranjan Das

Chittaranjan Das was an eminent Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement.-Personal life:...

 and a cousin of Atulprasad Sen

Atulprasad Sen

Atulprasad Sen was an Bengali composer, lyricist and singer. He is principally remembered as a musician and composer. His songs centred around three broad subjects- patriotism, devotion and love...

.

In 1928, she joined the Aurobindo Ashram

Aurobindo Ashram

Sri Aurobindo Ashram is located at Dandia Bazar in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, western India.it was the first ever ashram to become so popular in south areas....

 at Pondicherry where she lived until her death in 1990.

Devi wrote an autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

in 1978 called 'Smritir Kheya' (Ferrying Down the memory stream)