ISLAMABAD: The 13th death anniversary of legendary classical musician and singer Malika Pukhraj was observed on Saturday. Malika Pukhraj was born in village Mirpur and when she grew up her mother moved to Kanak Mandi area of Jammu, in present Jammu & Kashmir, where she spent early years of her life, a private news channel reported. She was given the name “Malika” at birth, by a `Majzoob’, in Akhnoor area, and was named Pukhraj by her aunt. Pukhraj was coached by Ustad Ali Baksh Kasuri – father of Barray Ghulam Ali Khan. At age nine, she visited Jammu and performed at coronation ceremony of Maharaja Hari Singh, who got so impressed by her voice that she was appointed a court singer in his Durbar, and stayed there for another nine years. Pukhraj got married to Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah, a government officer and had six children, including Saffiya, her eldest daughter; Tahira Syed, one of Malika Pukhraj’s two daughters, emerged as a well-known singer in her own right. Pukhraj was termed as a highly popular singer of Pakistan. She was generally called as “Malika” meaning The Queen. She is extremely popular for her rendition of Hafeez Jalandhri’s song, “Abhi Tou Main Jawan Hoon” (I am still youthful), which is still enjoyed. She was among the greatest singers of British India in the 1940s, and after partition of India-Pak in 1947, she migrated to Lahore, where she received further fame through her radio performances with composer, Kale Khan. In 1977, when All India Radio, for which she sang until Partition, was celebrating its Golden Jubilee, she was invited to India and awarded with the `Legend of Voice’ award. In 1980, she received the Presidential Pride of Performance Award, Pakistan. Pukhraj also recorded her memoirs in the novel Song Sung True. Pukhraj died in Lahore on February 4, 2004.