'''Suramani' Pandit'' Raghunath Panigrahi (; 10 August 1932 – 25 August 2013) was an

Odissi music music () is a genre of classical music in India, originated from the eastern state of Odisha. The traditional ritual music for the service of Lord Jagannatha, Odissi music has a history spanning over two thousand years, authentic ''sangita-shas ...

Guru, vocalist, composer and music director. He is most known for his renditions of Jayadeva's

Gita Govinda The ''Gita Govinda'' ( sa, गीत गोविन्दम्; ) is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radha and ''gopis'' (female cow herders) of Vrindavan. The ''Gita G ...

and his vocal support for his wife, the Odissi danseuse

Sanjukta Panigrahi Sanjukta Panigrahi (24 August 1944 – 24 June 1997) was a dancer from India, who was the foremost exponent of Indian classical dance Odissi. Sanjukta was the first Odia woman to embrace this ancient classical dance at an early age and ensure ...

. Raghunath belonged to a family associated with Odissi music for centuries, members of which were 19th-century Odissi poet-composer ''Sadhaka Kabi'' Gourahari Parichha and ''Gayaka Siromani'' Apanna Panigrahi who was the royal musician (''raja-sangitagya'') of Paralakhemundi. He started his musical training from his father Pt Neelamani Panigrahi, who had been collecting traditional Odissi melodies of the Gita Govinda from the Jagannatha Temple of Puri. Later, Raghunath continued learning Odissi music under Pt Narasingha Nandasarma and Pt Biswanatha Das. He was widely known as 'Gitagobinda Panigrahi'. He also sang in popular Odia, Kannada, Tamil and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

movies. Raghunath left a promising career in film music in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

to provide vocal support to his wife,

, a legendary Odissi performer and composer. He made a lifetime contribution of promoting, propagating and popularizing the life and works of

Jayadeva Jayadeva (; born ), also spelt Jaideva, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. He is most known for his epic poem ''Gita Govinda'' which concentrates on Krishna's love with the '' gopi'', Radha, in a rite of spring. This poem, which presen ...

and the cult of

Lord Jagannatha Jagannath ( or, ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ, lit=Lord of the Universe, Jagannātha; formerly en, Juggernaut) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India and Bangladesh as part of a triad along with his brother Balabhadra, and sister ...

. Sanjukta-Raghunath played for many years from the 1960s until the 1990s. After the death of Sanjukta in 1997, he was associated with the

Nrityagram Nrityagram is India's first modern Gurukul (residential school) for Indian classical dances and an intentional community in the form of a dance village, set up by Odissi dancer Protima Gauri in 1990. The residential school offers training in ...

and gave music for many of their productions. He formed the 'Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Trust', in 1999, to promote the cause of Odishi dance. Since 2001, every year on her birth anniversary, the trust has been giving away scholarships to budding dancers, and awards excellence in the field of Orissi dance.

Personal life

Raghunath Panigrahi was born on 10 August 1932 in

Gunupur Gunupur is a Nagar Palika, Municipality and one of the sub-divisional headquarters of Rayagada district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Odisha. It is the second biggest town in Rayagada district. History Gunupur was one o ...

, Rayagada,

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. He started his musical training first under his father, Sri Nilamani Panigrahi, who later put him under the tutelage of Odissi music exponent Pt Narasingha Nandasarma of Puri. He met his future wife dancer

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Kalakshetra Kalakshetra Foundation, formerly simply Kalakshetra, is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. Based in ...

dance school, subsequently they married in 1960 and had two sons.Sanjukta Panigrahi, Indian Dancer, 65
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 6 July 1997. He died on 25 August 2013 in Bhubaneswar at the age of 82.

Filmography

Awards

* Title of Sur Mani 1968 * He received an award from the government of France in the 1980s. *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

,1976 *

State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, 1993 *

, 2010 *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

* Jayadeva Samman- 2008 * Lifetime Achievement award of Banichitra Awards, 2008 * Degree,

Doctor of Literature Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

Ravenshaw University Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The un ...

, Odisha, August 2013 * Degree,

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a Public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha district, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in Odisha, the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university. The pre ...

, Odisha, 2011 * Degree,

Berhampur University Berhampur University is a Public teaching-cum-affiliating university in Brahmapur, Odisha, India inaugurated by former Governor of Odisha, Dr. A.N. Khosla. History Berhampur University was established on 2 January 1967 as an affiliating univ ...

, Odisha, 2010

References

External links

* * - A song by R. Panigrahi in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

from

Aval Yaar ''Aval Yaar'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language legal thriller film, directed by K. J. Mahadevan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Pandari Bai, S. V. Ranga Rao and Sowcar Janaki. It was released on 30 October 1959, and did not do well at the box ...

1932 births 2013 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian male classical singers Odissi Indian male playback singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award People from Rayagada district Indian classical composers Bollywood playback singers Singers from Odisha {{India-singer-stub Odissi music Recipients of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi award