Kunti Moktan
Kunti Moktan, born Kunti Sundas on July 11, 1962, is a Nepali singer from Darjeeling, India. She has classical training and sings Nepali folk and modern songs. She is best known for folk–pop songs like Choli Ramro, Nishthuri Mayalu, and Mathi Mathi Sailungey Ma. She often works with her husband, Shila Bahadur Moktan, who is a musician and singer. Besides performing, she teaches music at schools.
Kunti was born in the Margaret’s Hope Tea Estate in Darjeeling to Prem Kumar Sundas and Bishnu Maya Sundas. She finished high school in Kurseong and played football there, becoming part of the first women’s football team from Darjeeling. She moved to Kathmandu in 1983 to pursue her music career.
She began singing at a young age. Her first song was recorded with All India Radio when she was 15, and she recorded another song for Radio Nepal at 18 (in 1980). She and her husband learned music from Jagdish Chandra Rai in Sonada. She first came to Kathmandu in 1980 for King Mahendra’s birthday celebration and settled there permanently in 1983 with Shila Bahadur Moktan.
Kunti has performed in about 20 countries, including India, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, and South Korea. She also plays the harmonium. Some of her popular songs are Khutta Tandai Gara, Choli Ramro Palpali Dhakako, Sunkai Bhau Chha, Bhanchan Kohi Jindagi Yo, Mathi Mathi Sailungey Ma, and Dali Dali Ma. She and Shila have two daughters, Shital Moktan and Subani Moktan, who are also musicians.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:20 (CET).