Bhubaneswar: Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota on August 11 cast a magical spell on the audience at Namami Suromani, a musical concert organised on the occasion of Padma Shri Suromani Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi’s 91st birthday anniversary at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar.
After the customary lighting the lamp ceremony attended by Guruji Chandrabhanu Satpathy as chief guest, the musical evening started.
Singer Babu Panigrahi, son of late Odissi dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi and late classical singer Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi, Adyasha Das and Debasish Mohapatra took the audience on a nostalgic journey. They presented some of the beautiful songs of Suromani Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi.
Babu started the evening with ‘Maa Naama Madhura Ati’ and ‘Nupura Bajae Kie’. Next came onto the stage was Adyasha who sang ‘Akasha Dishe Ki Sundara’ and ‘Ketaki Go Khola Akhi’. The following singer was Debasish who presented ‘Aau Dekhibini Sapana’ and ‘Aji Mun Chalichhi Khali’.
Then the attraction of the evening, Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota came onto the stage. By then, the auditorium was jam-packed with audience eagerly waiting to hear him.
He began the evening with ‘Eisi Lagi Lagan’ and touched the hearts of the audience. He then went on singing bhajans as well as some ghazals. They included ‘Achyutam Keshavam’, Tum Itna Jo Mushkura Rahe Ho’, ‘Hothon Se Chhu Lo Tum’, ‘Rang De Chunriya’, ‘Sham Teri Banshi’, ‘Najar Unchi Ki To Dua Ban Gayi’, ‘Main Sayar Toh Nahin’, ‘Mil Bhi Jaate Hain Toh Katrate Hain’, ‘Marne Ke Baad Bhi’, ‘Itni Shakti Humein Dena Daata’ and so on.
Pradeep Ghosh, Baroda Prasanna Pattanayak, Kishore Nayak and M Kiran Kumar lent him a good support on the Tabla, Synthesizer and Guitar respectively.
The evening was organised by the Sanjukta and Raghunath Panigrahi Cultural Heritage Foundation in association with the department of tourism and department of Odia Language Literature and Culture and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre.
Dr Mrityunjay Rath and Madhumita Mohanty emceed the evening.
