Those who have not heard Raghunath Panigrahi singing on stage certainly have missed something extraordinary. The way he used to play the harmonium and sing was a spectacle of divinity. He did not merely sing; he transformed into the song itself—that was Raghunath Panigrahi for those who cherish pure music. He infused every note with his very soul. His voice, drenched in honeyed sweetness, flowed with crystalline clarity; his playful mastery of subtle nuances, his impeccable delivery of profound emotion through perfectly struck notes, and his complete immersion in the music’s very essence defined him as Raghunath Panigrahi: the unparalleled, rebellious genius of Odissi.
He is known to be the legend of Odissi music, but his reputation went beyond that. He was a powerful voice in popular genres of music and did playback for Odia, Telugu, and Tamil movies. His dominating identity as the best of Geeta Govinda composers and singers of his time snatched away other laurels that he deserved.
A Child Prodigy
Raghunath was born on August 10, 1932, in a small town named Gunupur in the southern district of Rayagada. He was part of a large joint family, where music was a way of life. He started learning music from his father and performed on smaller stages at a very early age. He belonged to the lesser-known southern style of Odissi singing, or Dakshini style. After Apanna Panigrahi and Tarini Patra, Pt Raghunath was the last torchbearer of that rare southern style of Odissi. With him, an era ended.
He moved to Puri from the tiny town of Gunupur and was later sent to the erstwhile Madras, where his crystal-clear voice and deeply moving rendition caught many eyes, and he became an established playback singer in South cinema in his 20s. Later, he joined the Odia film industry as a playback singer and had mega-hits like Sushama Go Tuma Ange Bhara Madhu Jochhana and Na Jaa Radhika under his belt.
In the golden era of All India Radio and Gramophone Records, dozens of his tracks became highly popular and continue to mesmerize listeners as timeless classics.
It was in Madras, which had a second home for Raghunath, that he met his soulmate, Sanjukta Panigrahi, who later became the brand ambassador of Odissi dance and a legend in her own right. They fell in love and got married in Mumbai.
A Style Of His Own
Pt. Raghunath Panigrahi was a versatile genius. He explored a wide array of forms and genres in Indian music, encompassing devotional and romantic compositions, film playback singing, and Odissi dance pieces, as well as refined classical renditions and vibrant folk traditions. His bhajans and Odissi singing were distinctly different in style and bore a typical signature of his own. Though he was traditional in his learning and rendition, he was open to all kinds of experimentation. In his musical scoring, he mixed lighter and highly nuanced classical elements, and with that, he created his own brand of music.
When he sang those penned by Salabega, the Muslim devotee of Lord Jagannath, he preferred a style fitting the socio-cultural class of the poet. Likewise, he chose a contemporary style while rendering his voice to those by modern poets like Gangadhar Meher, Madhusudan Rao, and Laxmikanta Mohapatra.
Rupa Rekha Nahin Hey Sunya Dehi, the famous Bhima Bhoi bhajan of Panditji, was an example of where one can find the folk-classical mixture at its best.
Chandan Hajuri’s famous song Chaka Nayanaku Patita Kehi has remained the undying spirit of surrender and devotion. When he rendered Laxmikanta Mohapatra’s Sabuthiru Banchita Kari, it deeply touched the soul, stirring profound sympathy and a sense of spirituality. A couple of other notable tracks that bear the typical Raghunath signature are Sri Purusottama Jiba Mana and Kalia Dhana To Lagi Jau E Jibana.
Odissi & Geeta Govinda
He was best known to the world as Geeta Govinda Panigrahi. Prithviraj Kapoor, the legendary actor, used to address him by this name. Panigrahi left a highly promising career in playback singing and devoted his life to Odissi and Geeta Gobinda. To musically discerning Indians, Raghunath Panigrahi’s Gita Govinda served as their cherished daily morning devotion to the Divine, delivered in a voice of exquisite clarity. The moods and magic of Jayadev’s poetry imbued the quality of hypnotics in Panigrahi’s voice. His rendition of Geeta Govinda is transcultural and metamorphosed this 12th-century Sanskrit poetry into the celestial love song of humankind.
The Jugalbandi
Raghunath Panigrahi and Sanjukta Panigrahi as a couple remained inseparable, and their union resulted in a grand repertory of dance-based compositions in Odissi. No Odissi dance recital was complete without Panditji’s composition. Initially, he composed the Astapadis of Geeta Govinda for his wife, Sanjukta, and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. His immortal composition Ahe Nila Saila became the insignia of Odissi dance, and almost every dancer loved to perform on it at least once in his or her lifetime.
Another notable composition by him was Ardhanariswara, which Sanjukta Panigrahi immortalized through her graceful and elegant dance performance. Subsequently, the Nritya Gram ensemble of Bengaluru adopted and reinterpreted it without altering Panigrahi’s composition.
He composed hundreds of musical pieces for generations of dancers, starting from Sanjukta Panigrahi to Bijayini Satpathy. The grand troika—Raghunath, Sanjukta, and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra—created the golden era of Odissi.
(The views expressed by the writer are his own and in no way reflect the policy of Odisha Bytes.)