Purnima Chaudhury was a well-known vocalist of Banaras Gharana.
Born on 28 January 1945 at Behrampur in West Bengal, Purnima was the youngest daughter of renowned lawyer Shashanka Shekhar Sanyal.
Purnima started learning music under renowned vocalist and Guru A. Kanan. After her marriage, she moved to Madhya Pradesh. Later the family migrated to Benares and she started Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra. After death of Mahadev Prasad Mishra, she also had guidance from Vidushi Girija Devi. She was widely acclaimed for her exposition of Khayal as well as Thumri, Dadra, Tappa.
She attained degree of Sangeet Pravin (Master in Music) from Prayag Sangeet Samity, Allahabad. She was a top grade artiste of Akashvani and Doordarshan. She was recipient of the Senior Fellowship from Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.
She also participated in various prestigious Music Conferences in the major cities of India as well as in UK, USA, Canada, Singapore, France, etc.
She had rendered her voice in the film Meeting a Mile Stone on Ustad Bismilla Khan, & Bengali films like Chokher Bali and Harbert.
Purnima Chaudhuri passed away on 4th March 2013 in Kolkata.