A voice in Punjabi song

Asa Singh Mastana was a Punjabi singer known for performances associated with folk song, including jugni and Heer. A biographical account published by Kirtan Sewa places his early life in the Sheikhupura area of undivided Punjab and his death in 1999. Sources differ about his birth year, so a precise year needs care. His career connected Punjabi-language performance with broadcasting and recordings heard beyond the places where a song originated. The terms used to describe folk music cover many different repertoires and performers; they do not imply that every song has one fixed version.[1]

The Padma Shri

The Government of India’s 1985 awards notification lists Asa Singh Mastana for the Padma Shri in the field of Punjabi folk songs. The notification is a contemporary official record of the honour and its stated field; it does not provide a full biography or a catalogue of recordings. A later biographical account also reports a Sangeet Natak Akademi award for folk music of Punjab in 1986. Awards illuminate how institutions recognised a performer at particular moments, while recordings, programmes and listeners’ memories offer different evidence of how music circulated and was received.[2][4]

Songs, recordings and memory

A biographical survey of Mastana’s work lists songs such as Kali Teri Gut and Balle Ni Punjab Diye and refers to recordings with Surinder Kaur. Names of performers, song titles and release details are important when searching catalogues because Punjabi songs have often been recorded by more than one artist. Reissues may also group recordings from different periods under a later album title. Listening to available recordings alongside sleeve notes, broadcast records and interviews can help trace individual performances without assuming that one commercially released version is the only way a song was sung.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Kirtan Sewa. Asa Singh Mastana ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Biography and folk repertoire. Accessed 2026-11-03.Official award record, film catalogue, or interview inspected.Return to A voice in Punjabi song, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Government of India. Padma awards notification, 1985 ↗Written source · Source date: 1985-01-26 · Locator: Padma Shri listing. Accessed 2026-11-03.Official award record, film catalogue, or interview inspected.Return to The Padma Shri, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Jugti. Asa Singh Mastana: Life, Songs and Honours ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Recordings and repertoire. Accessed 2026-11-03.Official award record, film catalogue, or interview inspected.Return to Songs, recordings and memory, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Kirtan Sewa. Asa Singh Mastana ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Accessed 2026-11-03.Biography or interview inspected.Return to The Padma Shri, paragraph 1 ↑
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