Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta () is a Bengali musician and exponent of

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' (; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengalis, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the ...

Early life

Dasgupta was born into a musical family, the daughter of Late Shri Pabitra Dasgupta, a lecturer at Bhatkhande Marris Music College in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, who trained her in pure Hindustani classical music. Swagatalakshmi completed her M.A. in music at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. She received further training from Smt. Maya Sen, an expert on

. Swagatalakshmi subsequently worked at Rabindra Bharati University for two years as a lecturer. In 1985, Swagatalakshmi won the All India Singing Talent Contest, leading her towards the musical profession. The following year, she came first in Rabindra Sangeet and Bhajan in the All India Radio Music Competition ( Akashbani), and Rabindra Sangeet and Atul Prasadee in West Bengal Rajya Music Competition.

Music

Swagatalakshmi has recorded over 5000 songs across genres including

North Indian classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' literally means classica ...

, Rabindra sangeet,

Carnatic classical music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

, Western music,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and Irish folk songs, Gazal, Nazrul Geeti, modern Bengali songs, Sanskrit Stotras and chanting. In 2006 she recorded the entire '' Geetabitan'' (2,023 Songs of

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

) in 105 days, released as the album ''Ekla Geetobitan'' on 8 August 2006, the anniversary of Tagore's death. She has also recorded the entire 700-verse

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

, Sampurna Chandi, Sanskrit Veda, and the whole of Tagore's ''

Gitanjali __NOTOC__ ''Gitanjali'' () is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, for its English translation, '' Song Offerings'', making him the first non-European and the fi ...

''. Swagatalakshmi has released over 225 albums. Swagatalakshmi sings in nine languages: Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Scottish, English, and Assamese, and has performed internationally. She often accompanies herself on piano, and composes and plays the musical score for her albums. She was the music director, lyricist and singer in the film '' Ding-Dong'', directed by Chinmoy Roy.

Writing

Swagatalakshmi has published three books on poetry and songs: ''Jhaapsa Holo Taapoor Toopoor'', ''Duoranir Chithi'', and ''Aakasher Gaan''.

Awards and honors

* 1995: Promothesh Barua Award for best female performance * 1997: Uttam Kumar Award for best Rabindra Sangeet cassette (''Esechho Prem'') * 1998: Anandolok Award for best Female Playback Singer * 1998: Sailajaranjan Award * 1998/99: Dishari (Film Journalist Award) for best female playback * 1999: Cha-Cha-Cha Award for outstanding achievement in music during the 1990s * 2002: Anandolok Award for best Female Playback Singer * 2003: Anandolok Award for best Female Playback Singer * 2004: Zee Bangla television award for Best Rabindra Sangeet album by a female artist (''Chena Fagun'') Swagatalakshmi also received the Millennium Kalakar Award for her outstanding contribution to Indian music, and the Bharat Nirman Award and Sangeet Mahasamman Award from the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Swagatalakshmi Culture of Kolkata Bengali Hindus Bengali music Rabindra Bharati University alumni Rabindra Sangeet exponents Singers from West Bengal