Radhakrushna Bhanja – Odisha’s Compositional Bard

On November 5, 1928, a quintessentially autumn day, Radhakrushna Bhanja -more lovingly known as Ninibabu -became the son of the thunderous Baripada Chhau. His father, Bishweshwar Bhanja, and his elder brother were masters of this martial art, parrying and clashing swords, thumping the dhol, whirling the well-carved masks in pandemonium. Such was the charged artistic aura of his childhood that it seemed the gods had decreed his destiny to accompany the rhythm and melody.

By the tender age of seven, Ninibabu had danced in the presence of the king of Talcher, his little feet moving with uncanny precision, his spirit aflame with the joy of performing. A gold medal had been placed around his neck, yet somehow already, his heart sternly whispered, "I want to go another way." It beckoned towards music-indescribable pull, siren's song, the one which no dance could drown out. Like the old saying 'Tulasi Dui Patra ru Base', one pure note was enough to conjure symphonies in his mind.

However, the schooling system remained a cage for him. The arid lines of textbooks blurred under the lively melodies unraveled within him. Drawn to the light, he dripped into Odisha theaters, dancing with notables such as Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra. But dance, lovely as he felt it was, became merely a passing muse. Music was his meditation, his breath, his very soul.

Above and beyond this, he further deepened his mastery of raga and tala under the guidance of gurus - Sudhir Ray  and Sitanshu Nandi  - fostering his deep understanding of raga and tala, whilst Narayan Das Babaji  introduced him to the traditional music, but with a touch of wild beauty of jhumar-laced desi lokageet. These were the formative years as he was being molded into a Srujanasilpiof music: a bridge between the rigid alankara of the classical music, the timeless maryada of the tradition, and the free Chhandaprakasha of Odisha's folk culture.

His first sighting in the radio waves occurred in 1945, at the youthful age of seventeen, albeit in Calcutta Radio Station. Cuttack had yet to obtain its own local station. His golden tones, thick and lustrous, spun tales of enchantment and irony that lingered in the hearts of listeners. Finally, when the radio station in Cuttack was organized, he, as a singer, returned to Odia music as its protector in teaching, elaborate arrangements, and the very soul of his kindness in every form.

By the year 1946, at the beginning of his untied twenties, he carved his name in history with his first recorded song. Not a debut as such, but a renovatio, the birth of modern Odia music. He bravely placed in complement with rustic idioms the sacred palli swara into the modernistic sounds. He created a fearless yet reverent voice for one generation-An artist whose voice will thunder into eternity.

The gods made him a dancer; he defied them to become Odisha's alchemist—turning folk whispers into golden ragas, and thunderous Chhau beats into immortal melodies.

Architect of Sound: Where Tradition Met Innovation
Radhakrushna Bhanja was no ordinary musician; he was a magister musicae (master of music), one who, beyond reach, was capable of carving time into shivers of liquid emotions. His compositions joined forces to sway between the earthy tones emanating from Odisha folk traditions and that contemporary music-the polished-one. Every note was broken into a defiance of convention with an ability to bend just about any scale or rhythm to his grace, leaving behind an unforgettable but vested in-legacy.

Natural Minor Scale and Augmented Descends: The Haunting Mark
The realm of Bhanja's music dwelled oftentimes in that region in the natural minor scale, a "locus melancholiae' (the realm of sorrow) but in his it was longing interwined with romance. But his real forte lay in the unorthodox—he would use augmented intervals to contort the familiar into some new kind of hauntingly beautiful melody
A descending phrase, smooth and arguably predictable, jumps suddenly with a half-step leap into something suspended, turning listeners into yearning. "Bhasa Megh Mu Je Bhashi Jaye Dure"  and "Moo Pardeshi Chadhei" "Sahara Ra Bati Sabu"  and even the movie version of "Chandrama Aago Chandrama" were his signature tunes- every note was a confession, and every pause was an uncompleted heartbeat - A kind of mix of wild freshness expressed with timeless impact of minor scale. The ultimate devastating effect awaited the fusion with folk poetry; the music became more than an accompaniment to the words and actually wept, laughed, and sighed with them.

Abnormal Time Signatures: The 7/8 and 6/8 Enigma
Shri Bhanja was a virtuosus when it came to rhythms-the fugitive 7/8 and 6/8 time signatures would be his point of experimentation. While the 4/4 time signatures constitue a very common rhythmic pattern found in Indian Modern music, Experimental Bhanja’s music would take the opposite asymmetrical stage with a sickly charm - and that to be at ease.
Under 7/8 rhythm, chants in his hands would become swirling trance-like melodies, each beat advancing a foot on this ancient ritual. When the very same composition was altered into 4/4, it held on with the breath of romance-wavering along, faint and undeniably his. Not mere technique-this was magic. One tune could transform from festive joy to painful sorrow without ever losing its spirit. Chandrama Ago Chandram  is one example of his many compositions. His stage performance just few days before he left on heavenly journey has a mesmarizing swing to its romantic praise of beauty at the time of longing, while the song transformed into a fast paced pure romantic song with 4/4 time signature- as it is in movie Sagar Ganga.

The Charm of Hills: Where Earth Met Sky
He spoke the tongue of the tribes and knew akin to few others the folk forms of Jhumar. These songs were not merely sung. He brought them back, combining Chhau's wild percussion with melodies coiling gently in the air, like smoke from a pot of boiling tea in a village. The result was hypnotic; a sound that drifted not only into the ears but into the very bones of its listeners. Have you ever listend to his songs in tribal languge? It is so very intoxicating, with the swinging taalaof Chau and the sweetness of Jhumar. Well, in Movies that love for "Jhumar" is clearly visible in songs like "Damara kau Re Damara Kau"  and "Kini Debi pada ra jhumuka".

Silver Screen: Evergreen Echoes in Odia Cinema
He entered films rather late, but his impact was eternal. With barely ten movies to his credit, including Abhiman, Manini, and Sagar Ganga, he contributed to the soundscape of Odia cinema in its peak era. His four State level Awards for Best Music Director stand testimony to his genius.
He gave musical expression to the words of poets like Nimai Mohanty  and Jeevananand Pani. In return, famous voices such as Lata Mangeshkar, Anuradha Powdwal, Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Mohammed Aziz, Akshaya Mohanty gave life to his compositions. Even in playback, his voice had the unending power of a thousand stories; every phrase dripped with emotion.

Every composition from his oeuvre was fashioned with that wide, vivid brush—the beauty resting in the all-so-familiar minor scales but raising themselves with experimental audacity. The descending melodies enjoy a sublime grace sway harmonically against altered and augmented chords, weaving that almost-charmed spell, which stays on the lips of the listener long after the ending note has faded off. And therein shall lie my very personal favourites: 'Chandrama Ago Chandrama, 'Bhasha Megha Bhasi Jaye Doore', 'Janha Amaku Luchi Dekhuchi', and 'Mun Paradesi Chadhei', which pass far beyond being just songs into becoming the anthemata of Odisha's collective memory. Like a cantus firmus (a timeless melodic anchor), slurring its way through each Odia's heart, they are no less felt than they are heard, no less revered than they are remembered.

A Rebirth of Chhau’s Rhythmic Pulse: A Guru's Enduring Legacy
Bhanja was appointed as a Sangit Guru by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and had become the last pulse of Chhau, which was fading away. At the Baripada Chhau Training Center, he revived the art instead of mere preservation; thunderous footwork of Chhau dancers found expression through his film scores, those primal pulses swimming into the lap of modern orchestration.
His experiments thereby ensured that Mayurbhanj art never fossilized into a piece in a museum. Instead, it continued to thrive-the sway of a melody, the clash of a drum, the murmur of a song that refused to be faded away.

Radhakrushna Bhanja was more than a musician. He was a storm, a whisper, a flame in the dark-light that doesn't create music, but rather carves emotions into time.

Shining gold inks were set in the annals of Odisha's artsylaureate Radhakrushna Bhanja -Who was a genius not just recognized but rather celebrated, with each award becoming a magnum opus unto itself. The State Film Award, an honor of repute, glistens as a testimony to his unparalleled ability of constructing musical compositions that transcended the silver screen. The award, which has been conferred since 1968, through the independent jury comprising the most eminent film personalities-their judgments established him as the king of Odia film music, with his emotional compositions being translated into symphonies heard in both theaters and hearts alike.

Yet, his brilliance knew no confines within the cinematic realm alone: The Sarala Samman, a corona laurea (laurel crown) given to those who lift Odia culture to higher spheres, was placed upon him for his life's work: nurturing Odia music. With the name of this award harking to Sarala Das, a great Odia poet, it honored Bhanja's steadfast dedication to distilling tradition into harmonies."In fact," it seems, "the AIR in Odisha thrummed his name, as if the very land itself rejoiced at his victory.

Next came the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, a tessera thanking him for his work on never shelving folk traditions. Where others heard fading echoes, Bhanja heard an enduring song that his efforts ensured never saw silence-with the rustic tunes of Odisha's villages. Alongside these, the Utkal Sambadik Sangha Awardand the Dharitri Sammanblossomed his legacy, celebrating his twofold genius: as music creator and culture hagiographer. With his pen in one hand and his baton in another, he wrote the artistic history of Odisha.

His genius spread far beyond the confines of his biennial homeland. Rajesh Khanna Samman  glitzed the glory of an accolade showered upon him by the film world, confirming that his tunes were beyond language. Bishub Samman  and Baripada Municipality Honor crowned him as a son-locally celebrated-and the honor's name was whispered with salutation in cardinal co-ordinates within their lanes and markets. And when Akashvani Cuttack manifested him Legends, it reverberated with a voice that the people have joyfully embraced for decades-that Radhakrushna Bhanja was not simply a musician but rather a force of nature with his melodies immortalized in the winds of time.

Thus, these awards were never meant to be mere trophies but testimonia of a life truly dedicated to the divine art, each one a stanza of the majestic epic that is his legacy.

Dies Infaustus (The Unlucky Day)
On May 22, 2003, a sad whisper was carried by the winds of Odisha through the Bayal Sal forests, above the gurgling waters of the Baitarani. The earth wanted to pause because Radhakrushna Bhanja-the king of melody-had left the mortal world-but his voice did not disappear; it seeped into the very soul of the place. His music was everywhere-honking in the voice of a village woman winnowing rice, crackling from an old All India Radio recording, and stomping through a passionately wild folk festival. Our Ninibabu's music did not want to go into silence.

The Magister Musicae (Master of Music)
He was not any simple composer, for he was a miracler, one who could take the rustling leaves of Mayurbhanj and beats of tribal drums and metamorphose those into golden harmonies. His compositions were mathematica et magica (mathematical and magical)-for it was both precise and passionate-entwined like serpents carved into a temple. The song "Chandrama, Ago Chandrama" was neither merely a song nor an incantation: it carried within it the sigh of a lovelorn gopini, the rhythmic tala of a ghungroo, and the distant thunder of waterfalls in Similipal. To experience it was to be transfixus (spellbound) by the very soul of Odisha.

The Unfinished Raga
Promise is made of ragas: ones so powerful they outlive their creators! These melodies of Ninibabu are such ones: immortalis (everlasting), at sunset, entertained by a fisherman rowing back to shore and singing "Rangabati." His music is a river that never ends, a river to which every generation has added its tributary. Yet, the maestro laid down his tanpura, and the symphony remained: unfinished, untamed, semper vivus (ever-living)! And so, the people of Odisha continue dancing and singing, forever lost to that charming spell cast by the very man who taught their hearts to fly!

• Personal Details
  • Full Name:Radhakrushna Bhanja
  • Nickname:Ninibabu
  • Date of Birth:November 5, 1928
  • Date of Death:May 22, 2003
  • Birthplace:Babusahi, Baripada (on banks of Budhabalang river)
  • Parents:
    • Father: Bishweshwar Bhanja Babu
    • Mother: Laxmipriya Devi
  • Spouse:Durgarani Devi
• Key Roles & Affiliations
  • Primary Profession:Music director and musician
  • Other Roles:
    • Lyricist
    • Vocalist
    • Radio artist
    • Chhau dance performer
    • Music teacher
  • Musical Specializations:
    • Palligiti (folk songs)
    • Bhajans
    • Sugam sangeet
    • Jhumar (tribal folk songs)
    • Film music composition
  • Musical Signatures:
    • Experimentation with 7/8 and 6/8 time signatures
    • Frequent use of natural minor scale
    • Innovative use of augmented scales in descending melodies
    • Fusion of Chhau rhythms with melodic compositions
• Notable Works
  • Early Training:
    • Learned Chhau dance from father and elder brother
    • Studied classical music under Sudhir Ray and Guru Sitanshu Nandi
    • Learned traditional music from Narayan Das Babaji
  • 1945:Debuted as Radio Artist (vocalist) at Calcutta radio center
  • 1946:Recorded first song at age 20
  • 1948:Joined Cuttack Radio Station as staff artist, music arranger and teacher
  • Film Career:
    • Music director for about 10 Odia films
    • Notable films:
      • Abhiman
      • Manini
      • Sagar Ganga
      • Kiya Pochiba Maa Akhira Luh
      • Mo Kahnure
      • Sahar Jaluchi
    • Notable Compositions that became tune of masses:
      • Chupi Chapi Gori Kanne
      • Bhasa Megh Mu Jee Bhashi Jaye Dure
      • Saharar Bati Sabu Livigla Pare
      • Moon Pardeshi Chadhei
      • Chandrama, Ago Chandrama
      • Janha Amaku Luchi Dekhuchi
      • Man Mora Eka
  • Later Years:
    • Served as 'Sangit Guru' at Baripada Chhau Training Center (Central Sangeet Natak Academy)
    • Worked to revive endangered music associated with Chhau
• Major Awards
  • State Film Award (1994) for Sagar Ganga
  • Sarala Samman
  • Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
  • Utkal Sambadik Sangha Award
  • Bishub Samman
  • Bidagdha Suramani Samman Upadhi
  • Dharitri Samman
  • Sambad Samman
  • Chitrapuri Sambardhana
  • Nikhila Utkal Sangeet Parishad Jagannath Puraskar
  • Sangeet Sudhakar Balakrushna Das Foundation Award
  • 'Best Musician' Award from the Odisha Government
  • Rajesh Khanna Samman (Hindi Film Industry)
  • Special recognition by Akashvani Cuttack as renowned artist
  • Special Samman from a bank
  • Honored by Baripada Municipality
  • Honored by Shantidevi Memorial Foundation of Bhadrak
  • Honored by Jiten Patnaik of Rairan