Maithili Thakur
Maithili Thakur | |
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 Maithili Thakur performing at Sanskruti Arts Festival in 2023 | |
| Born | Maithili Thakur 25 July 2000 Madhubani, Bihar, India |
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| Years active | 2025 - present (politician), 2012–present (singer) |
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| YouTube information | |
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| Years active | 11 January 2014–present |
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| Subscribers | 5.24M |
| Views | 880M |
| Last updated: 23 March 2026 | |
Maithili Thakur (born 25 July 2000) is an Indian playback singer trained in Indian classical music[1] and folk music and the current Member of Legislative Assembly for the Alinagar constituency seat in Bihar. She has sung original songs, covers, and traditional folk music prominently in Hindi, Bengali, Maithili, Urdu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, English and more Indic languages.[2]
Early life
Thakur was born in Benipatti, Madhubani district, Bihar to a Maithil musician and music teacher working in Delhi Ramesh Thakur and Bharti Thakur.[3] She is named after goddess Sita as well as her mothertongue. Maithili, along with her two brothers, Rishav and Ayachi were trained by their grandfather and father in Maithili Folk, Hindustani classical music, Harmonium and Tabla. Realising his daughter's potential around the age of 6, her father relocated themselves to Dwarka in New Delhi for better opportunities.[4] Her first music teacher, her grandfather, began teaching her music when she was only 4 years old.[5] At the age of 10, she started singing at jagrans and other musical functions.[6]
Music career
In 2011, Thakur appeared in Little Champs, a singing competition television series telecast in Zee TV. Four years later, she contested in Indian Idol Junior, telecast in Sony TV.[4] She won the "I Genius Young Singing Star" competition in 2016, following which she launched her album, Ya Rabba (Universal Music).[7]
Rising stars
In 2017, Thakur was a contestant in the season 1 of Rising Star, a television singing competition. Maithili was the first finalist of the show, singing Om Namah Shivaya which gained her direct entry into the final.[8] She was runner up, losing out by just two votes.[9] Following the show, her internet popularity rose significantly.[4]
2019 onwards
After a huge success from videos on Facebook and YouTube the trio has been performing at various National and International Events, Literature Fests. Maithili has been awarded Atal Mithila Samman by the Government of India. In 2019 Maithili and her two brothers, Rishav and Ayachi, were made the brand ambassadors of Madhubani by the Election Commission.[2][10] Rishav is on the tabla and Ayachi is a singer and performs often on percussion as well.[2] She was awarded Lokmat Sur Jytosna National Music Award 2021 by the Information & broadcast Minister Anurag Thakur.[11][12]
Political career
In 2025, several media outlets reported that Thakur was considering entering politics ahead of the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. She met with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Nityanand Rai, prompting speculation about a possible candidature from her native constituency of Benipatti in Madhubani district.[13][14]
Subsequently she stood for elections from Alinagar constituency seat in the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections and won the seat. Contesting on the BJP ticket, she defeated her nearest rival, Binod Mishra from the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) by around 11,700 votes. She was the youngest ever member of the 18th Bihar Assembly.
Awards and recognition
- Maithili Thakur was awarded the Cultural Ambassador of the Year Award by the Prime Minister of India at the inaugural National Creators Award on 8 March 2024.[15]
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ Whitehead, Kate (9 March 2020). "Meet Maithili Thakur, India's teenage folk-singing internet sensation". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- 1 2 3 Khurana, Suanshu (29 April 2019). "Vocalist Maithili Thakur and her three brothers on being Election Commission's brand ambassadors in Madhubani". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "बिहार की ये बेटी रातों रात बन गई सिंगिंग सेंसेशन, मात्र 18 वर्ष की उम्र में फेसबुक ने बनाया सुपरस्टार". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). 10 October 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- 1 2 3 Bhatt, Shephali (4 November 2019). "How life changes for internet celebrities – good, better, and sometimes worse". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "Maithili Thakur - Rising Star". Biographya. 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- ↑ "The hard road to success for YouTube star Maithili Thakur". IndianSpice. 4 April 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ↑ "Max Life Insurance launches 3 albums for the Winners and Runner's Up of i-genius Young Singing Stars Season 2". The Hans India. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "Rising Star: Maithili Thakur is the first finalist; who'll ultimately win the show?". India Today. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ PTI (24 April 2017). "Bannet Dosanjh wins Rising Star, defeats Maithili Thakur by just two votes". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "गायिका मैथिली ठाकुर बनीं मधुबनी की ब्रांड एंबेस्डर, निर्वाचन आयोग ने लिया फैसला". Zee News Hindi. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ↑ "Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards 2021: मैथिली ठाकूर, लिडियन नादस्वरम यांचा सन्मान; 'सूर ज्योत्स्ना' पुरस्कार सोहळ्याला दिग्गजांची उपस्थिती". Lokmat (in Marathi). 28 December 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- ↑ "Lokmat Media Group hosts the 8th edition of Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards MediaNews4U". 25 December 2021.
- ↑ "Maithili Thakur to contest Bihar election? What she said after meeting BJP leaders". Hindustan Times. 7 October 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
- ↑ "Bihar polls: Maithili Thakur says 'I want to go back to my village'; awaits official nod". The Times of India. 7 October 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
- ↑ "'People are tired of listening to me': PM Modi's light-hearted exchange with singer". The Times of India. 7 March 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 9 March 2024.