Kalpana Patowary

Biography

Kalpana Patowary, also credited professionally as Kalpana, is an Indian folk and playback singer and politician from Assam. She has recorded songs and folk music in several Indian languages, with Bhojpuri being the major genre. Due to her contribution to Bhojpuri music, she is often referred to by the moniker "Bhojpuri Queen".
Patowary embarked on her career at the age of 4 and received further training from Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan ,Dipen Roy and Shikha Dutta for Sangeet Bisharad in Hindustani Classical Music at Bhatkhande Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Lucknow. She has sung in more than 32 languages, including Bhojpuri, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and English, throughout her solo musical journey.

Early life and background

Patowary was born in a Yogi-Nath Rudraja Brahmin family of Natha Sampradaya community in Barpeta district in Assam. A graduate in English literature, Patowary is an alumnus of Cotton College of Guwahati. Trained in Kamrupiya and Goalporiya folk music by her folksinger father Sri Bipin Nath Patowary, Kalpana started to publicly perform at the age of 4 with her father and is also trained as Sangeet Visharad in Indian classical music from Bhatkhande Music Institute University, Lucknow. She sings many forms of Bhojpuri folk music including Purvi, Pachra, Kajri, Sohar, Vivaah geet, Chaita, and Nautanki.
Patowary has worked exclusively on the lost traditions of Bhikhari Thakur in Bihar and has released several songs reinventing and commemorating his life and work.

Career

Patowary holds the distinction of being the inaugural Bhojpuri singer to introduce the age-old Khadi Birha tradition to international platforms.
In 2013, Patowary featured in the documentary film Bidesia in Bambai, released on 8 December. The documentary provides a perspective on Mumbai through the eyes of migrant workers and their music.
She received an invitation to perform during a 15-day tour across four Latin American countries, arranged by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to commemorate Indian Arrival Day.
Patowary's pioneering accomplishment as the first woman was to record and sing in the Chhaprahiya Purvi style, a genre previously dominated by male artists.
Patowary marked her acting debut in the Bhojpuri movie "Chalat Musafir Moh Liyo Re," portraying the character of Janki alongside co-star Dinesh Lal Yadav.
In September 2025, Patowary was awarded the Bihar Kala Samman(National Award) 2023–24 by the Government of Bihar for her contribution to Bhojpuri music and arts. In August 2026, Patowary was honoured with the Pandit Rajkumar Shukla Kala Shikhar Samman by Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary for her musical travelogue Champaran Satyagraha, featuring the song "Tinkathiya Neel Kheti."

Political career

On 12 July 2018, Patowary became a member of the BJP in a ceremony graced by the presence of its president, Amit Shah, and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi in Patna.
On 9 October 2020, Patowary affiliated herself with the Asom Gana Parishad during an event conducted at the party's headquarters in Guwahati.. She also served as the cultural chairperson of the party from November 2020 during the election campaign. In the 2021 Assam Assembly election, Patowary contested as a candidate representing the Asom Gana Parishad from the Sarukheri constituency, where the incumbent MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar defeated her.