The singer who broke into a male-only tradition and carried Chhattisgarh’s Mahabharata folk art to the world passed away at AIIMS Raipur early Saturday, after weeks of critical illness.
Dr Teejan Bai, the Padma Vibhushan-winning Pandavani singer whose guttural, thundering voice turned the Mahabharata into a living performance for five decades, died in the early hours of Saturday at AIIMS Raipur. She was 69 and had been undergoing treatment for several weeks after her health took a sudden turn for the worse.
According to hospital officials, Teejan Bai’s condition deteriorated sharply around 3:15 am on Saturday, and she passed away shortly after during treatment. AIIMS Raipur’s public relations office confirmed the death, closing out a fight that had drawn concern from across Chhattisgarh’s cultural and political circles over the past several weeks.
News of her passing has triggered an outpouring of grief across the country’s art and cultural fraternity, with tributes pouring in for a performer who is widely credited with taking a niche, regionally rooted oral tradition onto national and international stages.
A Health Battle That Lasted Weeks
Teejan Bai’s hospitalisation had been closely watched in Chhattisgarh for well over a week before her death. She was admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit at AIIMS Raipur after her health declined suddenly, and doctors described her condition as critical, saying she was simultaneously battling a severe lung infection, bloodstream infection, and acute kidney injury. Her blood pressure remained persistently low through the ordeal, and a multidisciplinary team of critical care specialists, pulmonologists and haematologists monitored her around the clock.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai personally inquired about her condition. They spoke with her family over the phone as her health worsened, while a local MLA and district collector visited AIIMS to check on her treatment. Despite periods of stabilisation, doctors had remained cautious throughout, noting that the risk to her life had not fully subsided. Late May 2026Teejan Bai admitted to AIIMS Raipur’s ICU after her health deteriorated suddenly. Following weeks: Treated for severe lung infection, sepsis and acute kidney injury; condition described as critical but stabilising at times. Early July 2026: Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and local officials check in on her treatment and family. Saturday, July 5, 2026, ~3:15 am: Health deteriorates suddenly; she passes away during treatment at AIIMS Raipur.
From a Village Near Bhilai to the World Stage
Born on 8 August 1956 in Ganiyari village near Bhilai in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district, Teejan Bai belonged to the Pardhi Scheduled Tribe. She grew up listening to her maternal grandfather recite the Mahabharata in Chhattisgarhi, and took to it so completely that she had memorised much of it by early childhood, later training informally under a local guru.
At the age of 13, she gave her first public performance for a fee of Rs 10 — and did something unheard of at the time: she sang standing, in the loud, forceful Kapalik style of Pandavani, a mode that had traditionally been reserved for male performers, while women sang seated in the quieter Vedamati style. The choice cost her dearly. Her own community expelled her for singing Pandavani as a woman, and she built a small hut and lived largely on her own for a period, borrowing food and utensils from neighbours, but never gave up performing.
A style built on defiance — a woman standing where only men had stood, singing the Mahabharata in a voice loud enough to fill a village square.
Her breakthrough came when theatre personality Habib Tanvir noticed her talent and arranged for her to perform before then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. From there, recognition followed quickly and kept growing over more than five decades, during which she performed not just across India but in Asia, Europe, and beyond, carrying Chhattisgarh’s rural performing arts tradition to audiences that had never encountered it.
A Life Wrapped in Honours
Teejan Bai’s contribution to Indian folk art was recognised at the highest levels of the state. She was awarded the Padma Shri, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2003, and finally the Padma Vibhushan — India’s second-highest civilian honour — in 2019. She had also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995 from India’s national academy for music, dance and drama.
69 Age at death
2019 Padma Vibhushan
50+ Years performing
What Pandavani Means to Chhattisgarh
Pandavani, literally “stories of the Pandavas,” is a traditional oral performance art from Chhattisgarh in which the singer enacts and narrates tales from the Mahabharata, using a tambura or ektara as both instrument and prop — at different moments in a performance, it can stand in for Bhima’s mace, Arjuna’s bow, or Draupadi’s hair. It is this expressive, physically demanding style of solo storytelling that Teejan Bai is credited with elevating from a village tradition into a recognised national art form.
Why Her Passing Matters Beyond Chhattisgarh
Teejan Bai’s death is being described by artists and cultural commentators as an irreplaceable loss for Indian folk culture. She was among a small handful of performers who managed to carry a hyper-local oral tradition onto a global stage without diluting its roots, and her passing has drawn condolences from political leaders, fellow artists and cultural institutions across the country.
Tributes Pour In
As word of her death spread on Saturday morning, tributes began arriving from across the arts, literature, culture and political establishment in Chhattisgarh and beyond, many describing her as an irreplaceable figure who leaves behind a legacy of struggle, courage and artistic devotion that will continue to inspire generations of performers.
