''Mahishasuramarddini'' is a widely popular early

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

special dawn radio programme that has been broadcasting since 1931 on

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

(AIR) in Indian state

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Due to its increasing popularity, now-a-days it is also broadcast by many other stations of

across India. It is a one-and-a-half-hour audio montage of Chaṇḍipāaṭh (chanting from Chaṇḍi) recitation from the scriptural verses of Śrī Śrī Chaṇḍi or

Durga Saptashati The ''Devi Mahatmya'' or ''Devi Mahatmyam'' () is a Hindu philosophical text describing the Goddess, known as Adi Parashakti or Durga, as the supreme divine ultimate reality and creator of the universe. It is part of the Mārkandeya Purān ...

, Bengali devotional songs, classical music and a dash of acoustic melodrama. The program has been translated into Hindi set to similar orchestration and is broadcast at the same time for a pan-Indian audience. This programme is aired every year at day-break on

Mahalaya Pitri Paksha (, ), also spelt Pitru Paksha, is a 16-lunar day period in the Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors ( Pitri), especially through food offerings. The period is also known as Pitarpas, Pitri Paksha/Pitr-Paksha, P ...

. The programme, which started off as a live-performance, has been broadcast in its pre-recorded format since 1966. However, its great popularity remains undiminished even today over 93 years later. This program has become synonymous with Mahalaya which is celebrated to usher the Devipaksha lunar fortnight and the Durga Puja. To this day, most of Bengal and East India fond of the programme wakes up in the breezily pre dawn hours, 4 am to be precise, on the Mahalaya day to tune into the ''Mahishasuramarddini'' broadcast. Presently, one of the recordings are available as audio cassettes and Compact Disks from

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

-RPG which has obtained the rights from All India Radio. The CD version (as of 2002) contains 19 tracks.

Birendra Krishna Bhadra

Birendra Krishna Bhadra Birendra Krishna Bhadra (1905–1991) was a radio broadcasting, broadcaster, playwright, actor, narrator and theatre director from Kolkata, India and a contemporary of Pankaj Mallick and Kazi Nazrul Islam. He worked for the All India Radio, Ind ...

, who will always be remembered for making Mahalaya memorable to one and all, is the voice behind the "Mahisasura Mardini." He recites the holy verses and tells the story of the descent of Durga to earth. It was on the day of Mahalaya, the beginning of "Devipaksha", that the gods and goddesses woke up to prepare themselves for Durga Puja. In 1931, Mahalaya was first broadcast over the radio in Akashvani, Calcutta. The programme was organised by Pankaj Kumar Mallik, Premankur Aatorthi,

, Nripendra Krishna Mukhopadhyay and

Raichand Boral Rai Chand Boral (19 October 1903 – 25 November 1981) was an Indian composer, considered by music connoisseurs to be the Bhishma Pitamah, the father of film music in India. He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indi ...

. So popular was his version of the recitation that when in 1976, the voice of noted Bengali actor,

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), widely known as Mahanayak (), was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and playback singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema ...

was employed for the programme and renamed it as Durga Durgatiharini did not get favorable response from the audience and it was shifted back to the original version of Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Bhadra died long ago, but his recorded voice still forms the core of the Mahalaya program. In a sonorous voice Bhadra renders the Mahalaya recital for one and half thrilling hours, mesmerizing every household with the divine aura of his narration, as the Bengalis submerge their souls in quiet moments of prayer.

Musical composition

Though the theme is

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

and the

mantras A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

, this program is a landmark composition. It is scripted by

Bani Kumar Baidyonath Bhattacharya (23 November 1907 – 15 August 1978) popularly known as Bani Kumar was a radio broadcaster, playwright, composer, radio script writer from Kolkata, India and a contemporary of Pankaj Mallick and Birendra Krishna Bhadr ...

, and narrated by

while

Pratima Bandopadhyay Pratima Bandopadhyay (; 21 December 1934 – 29 July 2004; born as Pratima Chatterjee aka Pratima Chattopadhyay) was a Bengali language, Bengali playback singer from Kolkata, who sang numerous songs in popular Bengali language movies and non-fil ...

(Amala Kirane), Dwijen Mukhopadhyay (Jago Durga Jago Doshoprohoronodharini),

Manabendra Mukhopadhyay Manabendra Mukhopadhyay was an Indian singer and music composer in Bengali films. Coming to limelight in the early 1950s Manabendra was an innovative and stylish singer who had a strong foundation in Indian classical music. With his distincti ...

(Tabo Achinta),

Sandhya Mukhopadhyay Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjee (also spelled Mukhopadhyay; 4 October 1931 – 15 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and musician, specialising in Bengali music. She received Banga Bibhushan, the highest civilian honour of the Indian st ...

Arati Mukhopadhyay Aarti Mukherjee, also known as Aarti Mukherji or Arati Mukhopadhyay (born 18 July 1943), is an Indian playback singer who has sung in Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily ...

, Utpala Sen,

Shyamal Mitra Shyamal Mitra (14 January 1929 – 15 November 1987) was an Indian versatile playback singer and music director along with Hemanta Mukherjee and Manna Dey. Mitra worked in many Hindi and Bengali films as a music director and film producer. He w ...

and Supriti Ghosh (Bajlo tomar alor benu) sang in their melodious voices. The enchanting music is composed by

Pankaj Mullick Pankaj Kumar Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) was an Indian music composer, playback singer and actor, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early exponen ...

. The songs/chants in the order they appear in the programme are as follows: As the recital begins, the serene morning air resonates with the long drawn sound of the sacred conch shell, followed by a tune in Raga Malkosh, which ultimately leads to the start of the programme with the prayer to Goddess Chandi. Immediately an atmosphere is created full of assurance, respect and universal love and peace. This way, ''Mahisasurmardini'' took a permanent place in the heart of Bengali as well as Indian culture.

Artists

Main Artists

- Script Writing *

- Music Composition *

- Narration and Recitation of Scriptures

Singers

* Dwijen Mukhopadhyay (Jago Tumi Jago, Jago Durga, Jago Dashoprohoronadharini) *

(Amala Kirane) *

(Subhro Sankha Robe) *

(Bimane Bimane Aloker Gaane) *

(Tabo Achintya) *

(Subhro Sankha Robe) * Supriti Ghosh (Bajlo Tomar Alor Benu) * Pankaj Kumar Mullick (Jayanti Mangala Kali & Aham Rudrebhirvasubhischara) * Utpala Sen (Shanti Dile Bhori) * Tarun Bandopadhyay (Hey Chinmoyi) * Krishna Dasgupta (Akhilo Bimane Tabo Jayagaane) *

Sumitra Sen Sumitra Sen (7 March 1933 – 3 January 2023) was an Indian Bengali singer and an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. Her rendition style popularised Tagore's songs without losing the original notations. Career Sen started her singing career in 195 ...

(Mago Tabo Bine) * Ashima Bhattacharya (Subhro Sankha Robe) * Shipra Bose (Ogo amar agomoni) * Bimal Bhushan (Namo Chandi Namo Chandi) *

Dhananjay Bhattacharya Dhananjay Bhattacharya (10 September 1922 – 27 December 1992) was an Indian Bengali singer and composer. He was a versatile Shyama Sangeet singer. Career He started his career by singing modern Bengali as well as Hindi songs. His first son ...

(Rupang Dehi, Jayang Dehi) * Haimanti Shukla (Aham Rudrebhirvasubhischara, Jago Dashoprohoronadharini)

Musicians(Instrument)

* Bibekendra Deb Roy violinist

References

* Pragya Paramita.
Heralding The Goddess
, ''expressindia.com,'' ''Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd,'' 15 September 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2007. * Indranil Chakraborty
"Saregama gets going on Bhadra royalty"
''expressindia.com,'' ''Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd,'' 26 September 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2007. *
Mahalaya in Bengal
, ''Mahalaya - Its Relation with the Durga Puja,'' ''NetGlimse.com''. Retrieved on 6 May 2007. *

, ''bangalinet.com''. Retrieved on 6 May 2007. *
Mahisasura Mardini by Birendra Krishna Bhadra (AIR Recording) – Details of tracks and artists
, ''quiqinq.com''. Retrieved on 21 October 2012.

External links

Mahisasura Mardini Mahalaya

Official Website of Kanaka Durgamma Temple
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312191211/http://www.durgamma.com/ , date=2015-03-12 Indian radio programmes All India Radio 1931 in India Religious radio programs Radio programs based on works 1931 radio programme debuts Hindu music Works based on religious texts Durga Puja in popular culture