Master Madan : the child prodigy

Master Madan (1927-1942), a child prodigy (not to be confused with music composer Madan Mohan), died at the young age of 14 years, sang only a few songs which are everlasting and embedded in perfection. During his lifetime he recorded only 8 songs. Of these, only two Ghazals are available publicly. These are the famous,'Yun Naa Rah Rah Ke Hame Tarsaiye'* and, 'Hairat Se Tak Raha Hai'*. The other six songs are very rarely found, and of great archival value. In this post I present to you, all the 8 songs ever recorded by him.



Master Madan was born on December 28, 1927, in Khanna, a village in Jalandhar district of Punjab. He sang in public for the first time when he was three and a half years old, in a rally arranged by Dharampur Sanatorium. The audience was understandably spell bound. He was given many gold medals right there and then. After that he and his elder brother toured all over India and collected many prizes from the rulers of many princely states. They sang in the famous Harvallabh Mela of Jalandhar city and later in Shimla. Reportedly, in the Shimla Sammelan, many notable singers had also come, but thousands were eager to listen to Master Madan only.

Bhajan - Gori Gori Baiyan :  (Download)



Bhajan - Mori Binati Maano Kaanh Re :  (Download)



Ghazal - Man Ki Man :  (Download)



Bhajan - Chetna Hai Toh Chet Lai :  (Download)



At the age of eight, he was a famous radio singer, singing mainly on Delhi radio station on Alipur road. His final public program took place in Calcutta at age 14. He sang, 'Vinati Suno Mori Avadhpur Ke Basiya' for 90 minutes with such beauty that the public refused to go home. One patron respectfully offered Rs. 500, a princely sum in those days, on his feet. Also 9 gold medals were announced by various patrons to be given to him. In those days, gold medals were really made of gold. He returned to Delhi and kept going to the Delhi radio station for about 3-4 months. Soon he started getting sick. Many remedies were tried but nothing helped.

Punjabi Song - Bagaan Vich Pingan Paiyan :  (Download)



Punjabi Song - Raavii De Parle Kande Ve Mitara :  (Download)



Ghazal - Yun Naa Rah Rah Ke Hame Tarsaiye* :  (Download)



Ghazal - Hairat Se Tak Raha Hai* :  (Download)



In the summer of 1942, he went to Shimla, where his forehead, and joints started to shine unusually. He died on June 5, 1942 suffering a great deal of pain. It was suspected that he died of mercury poisoning. It is believed that a jealous singer gave him mercury in his milk. On his death, Shimla closed down and a huge gathering accompanied him on his last journey.

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