Mahendra Yadav

Mahendra Yadav is from a family of musicians. Taking after his grandfather and his father, he is the third generation of singers in his family. He belongs to the Yadav caste, and his father and grandfather were both proficient singers of Birha. Around the year 2001, when he was in his 5th class, his teacher Jagdish Yadav identified his talent and encouraged him to sing a folk song in memory of the martyrs of the Kargil war. His performance became immensely popular across the tehsil, and he was encouraged to start his formal training in singing.

Later in his 9th class, Uma Kant Yadav, a renowned singer from Azamgarh, taught him Birha, and he started performing around the district. He later mastered many different art forms, including Nirgun bhajan, Ghazals and Qawwali. He can sing Birha in about eight different rasas. He also performs Shivnarayani bhajan at weddings, jagarans and other religious occasions.

He has travelled to many places to perform and popularize the folk music of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He has performed all across India, including in Mumbai and Delhi, and even in Nepal. He has performed for the Information and Public Relations Department of the Uttar Pradesh government, Akashvani and All India Radio and for Doordarshan in Gorakhpur. Alongside his career in music, he is also a farmer and owns a couple of vehicles which he rents out to tourists and other visitors.

• Purvanchal
• Uttar Pradesh