‘Never expected’: Singer elated as Odia folk song ’Rangabati’ gets 3rd Padma

As soon as the Centre announced the award, 71-year-old vocalist Krishna Patel couldn’t contain her excitement

Updated on: Jan 27, 2023, 10:10:11 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Odisha’s popular folk song, Rangabati, on Wednesday became the first Indian song which received three Padma awards in a span of six years.

The song has been recreated in several Indian languages, including Telugu and Bengali. (HT photo sourced)

As soon as the Centre announced the award, 71-year-old vocalist Krishna Patel was elated as she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Though it came a little late, I am happy. I never expected that one song could give me the biggest identity and Padma Shri award as well,” said Patel, who recorded the song at the age of 18.

Also Read: Odisha village renamed after popular folk song Rangabati to honour lyricist

In 2017, the Centre first chose Mitrabhanu Gountia, the lyricist of the song, for Padma Shri.

Three years later, Jitendra Haripal, a Dalit singer and male vocalist of the song, was awarded Padma Shri.

“The award will encourage more and more people to write and compose such folk songs,” said Haripal.

Rangabati has broken several records ever since it was aired in All India Radio (AIR) Sambalpur’s Suramalika programme in 1975-76 after Prabhudatta Pradhan composed the music.

It was re-recorded in disc format at Indian Record Company, Kolkata in 1978-79 and the first song of India to be aired in BBC London and VOA in 1979/80.

In 2017, Odisha government renamed Gountia’s village Bilung in Sambalpur district as ‘Rangabati Bilung’ in honour of the song.

Reacting to the news of being selected for the fourth highest civilian honour of the country, song lyricist Gountia said, “The song became a rage in Odisha, undivided Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh a few years after its release. In 2007, the song was played for Odisha’s Republic Day tableau and in December 2010, the it was played during the third ODI cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in Cuttack while in June 2012, the state culture department held a three-day Rangabati Utsav, a festival of dance and music of western Odisha.”

The song has been recreated in several Indian languages, including Telugu and Bengali. It was remade by composer Ram Sampath and Odisha-born singer Sona Mohapatra for MTV India’s Coke Studio Season 4 and was one of the highest viewed songs.

Bollywood musician Shankar Mahadevan had sung the same song during the opening ceremony of Asian Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in 2017.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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