Prabhu Nam Kaur

Prabhu Nam Kaur, the mother of Snatam Kaur Khalsa, has been singing sacred mantra and shabad from the Kundalini Yoga and Sikh traditions for more than 35 years. She has released two CDs: Seasons of the Soul and Mother's Blessing.

Prabhu Nam Kaur took piano lessons from age five until she was 20, and she also studied the flute for a few years in high school. She sang in the school choir and never had any formal training in voice, but all the years of piano lessons transferred easily to harmonium.

The first shabad she ever learned was Dhan Dhan Ram Das Gur, in a class taught by Amarjeet Kaur in Los Angeles in 1974. Later, she studied briefly with Jasbir Kaur. Both of these teachers had come to teach at the request of Yogi Bhajan. In 1977, she went to Amritsar and met Bhai Hari Singh, who played at the Golden Temple for 54 years before retiring. She has continued studying with him whenever the opportunity arose, both in India and in the United States when he has traveled here.

Prabhu Nam Kaur says that her daughter, Snatam Kaur, continually inspires her, and if she has taught Snatam about music, Snatam has certainly taught Prabhu Nam much as well.