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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}
{{Short description|Indian folk dancer (1979–2019)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Queen Harish
| image = Queen-harish-3.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Queen Harish during a dance performance
| birth_name = Harish Kumar
| birth_date = {{birth year|1979}}
| birth_place = [[Jaisalmer]], [[Rajasthan]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|6|2|1979}}
| death_place = [[Jodhpur]], Rajasthan
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Dancer
| yearsactive =
| known for = Rajasthani folk dances
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children = 2
| parents =
| website =
| awards =
}}
'''Harish Kumar''' (1979 – 2 June 2019) popularly known as '''Queen Harish''' was a folk dancer from [[Rajasthan]], India. His work focused on the revival of Rajasthani folk dances,<ref name="IOI">{{cite news |title=Farewell, Queen Harish – India's most famous drag queen |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/rest-in-pieces/farewell-queen-harish-indias-most-famous-drag-queen/ |work=Times of India Blog |date=21 June 2019}}</ref> and his performances included various folk dance forms from Rajasthan.

==Biography==
[[File:Queen Harish-1.png|thumb|Queen Harish in drag costume]]
Harish Kumar was born in 1979, in a carpenter family in the [[Sutradhar (caste)|Suthar community]] in [[Jaisalmer]] in [[Rajasthan]].<ref name="Indian Express"/> He started dancing at the age of 13.<ref name="Wire">{{cite news |title=Obituary {{!}} Queen Harish, India's 'Dancing Desert Drag Queen' |url=https://thewire.in/lgbtqia/obituary-queen-harish-dancing-desert-drag-queen |work=The Wire}}</ref> Harish, who lost his parents, started [[Drag queen|drag]] dancing to take care of his sisters.<ref name="Wire"/> Inspired by 'Annu Master', the first drag performer in the Jaisalmer region, he started learning drag dance under him.<ref name="Wire"/> He practiced American tribal style belly dance to make his body more capable of all feminine movements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blush.me |url=https://www.blush.me/cheers/something-inside-realised-glorious-performing-woman-queen-harish |website=Blush |language=en |access-date=7 February 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207061824/https://www.blush.me/cheers/something-inside-realised-glorious-performing-woman-queen-harish |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Harish had performed [[Ghoomar]], [[Kalbelia]], [[Chang dance|Chang]], [[Bhavai]], [[Chari Dance|Chari]], and other folk dances of the Rajasthan state, in nearly 60 countries.<ref name="Indian Express">{{cite news |title=Jaipur diary: Rajasthan mourns folk dancer Queen Harish |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/jun/06/jaipur-diary-rajasthan-mourns-folk-dancer-queen-harish-1986630.html |newspaper=The New Indian Express|first=Rajesh|last=Asnani|date=6 June 2019|accessdate=16 May 2022}}</ref> His performance was one of the highlights of the annual Jaipur Literary Fest.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swaminathan |first1=Chitra |title=Dance like Queen Harish |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/dance/dance-like-queen-harish/article27546806.ece |work=The Hindu |date=6 June 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref> He has participated in ''Raqs Congree'' in [[Brussels]], ''Belly Dancing Championship'' in [[Seoul]] and ''Desilicious'' in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Harish of Jaisalmer, Traditional Dancers from Jaisalmer |url=https://www.jaisalmeronline.in/city-guide/queen-harish-of-jailsalmer |website=www.jaisalmeronline.in |language=en |access-date=7 February 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207061831/https://www.jaisalmeronline.in/city-guide/queen-harish-of-jailsalmer |url-status=dead }}</ref> He has appeared in the reality television show 'India's Got Talent' and several Bollywood movies including ''Appudappudu'' (2003), ''Jai Gangaajal'' (2016) and ''[[The Accidental Prime Minister (film)|The Accidental Prime Minister]]'' (2019).<ref>{{cite news |title=Who was Queen Harish Kumar? |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-who-was-queen-harish-kumar-2756490 |work=DNA India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harish |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6765888/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm |website=IMDb}}</ref> In 2007, he starred in the documentary ''[[When the Road Bends… Tales of a Gypsy Caravan]]'' by American filmmaker [[Jasmine Dellal]].<ref name="SFGATE">{{cite web |last1=Roy |first1=Sandip |title=Queen Harish dances in drag |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Queen-Harish-dances-in-drag-3276039.php |website=SFGATE |date=22 July 2008}}</ref><ref name="ie">{{cite news |title=Rajasthani folk dancer Queen Harish dies in road accident |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/rajasthani-folk-dancer-queen-harish-kumardies-in-road-accident-5761665/ |work=The Indian Express |date=3 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> In collaboration with the government of Rajasthan, he ran a daily evening show at Jaisalmer called ''The Queen Harish Show''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen Harish: The Man, The Woman, The Performer |url=https://enewsroom.in/queen-harish-man-woman-performer/ |work=eNewsroom India |date=4 March 2018}}</ref> He was also a choreographer with over two thousand students in [[Japan]] alone.<ref name="Indian Express"/>

===Personal life and death===
Harish was married and had two sons.<ref name="Asian">{{cite news |last1=Soparrkar |first1=Sandip |title=Queen Harish: The man, the woman & the mystery will stay the same forever |url=https://www.asianage.com/life/more-features/100619/queen-harish-the-man-the-woman-the-mystery-will-stay-the-same-forever.html |work=The Asian Age |date=10 June 2019}}</ref> He died at the age of 39, on 2 June 2019, in a road accident on a highway in Kaparda village near [[Jodhpur]] in Rajasthan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=ഡെസ്ക് |first1=വെബ് |title=നാടോടി നർത്തകൻ ക്വീൻ ഹാരിഷ് വാഹനാപകടത്തിൽ മരിച്ചു|url=https://www.madhyamam.com/india/queen-harish-rajasthans-top-folk-dancer-killed-suv-accident/613934 |work=www.madhyamam.com |date=2 June 2019 |language=ml}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harish, Queen}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Folk dancers]]
[[Category:Indian male dancers]]
[[Category:Dancers from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:People from Jaisalmer]]
[[Category:Indian drag queens]]

Queen Harish - Revision history

Onliporno at 20:15, 5 February 2026