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Kanika Banerjee | |
|---|---|
 Kanika Banerjee | |
| Born | Anima Mukherjee (1924-10-12)12 October 1924 |
| Died | 5 April 2000(2000-04-05) (aged 75) |
| Other names | Mohar |
| Occupation | vocalist |
| Years active | 1943–2000 |
| Known for | Rabindra Sangeet singer |
| Spouse | |
Kanika Banerjee, also known asKanika Bandyopadhyay (12 October 1924 – 5 April 2000), was a famousBengali singer known for performingRabindra Sangeet.[2] She frequently performed onAll India Radio Kolkata and at institutions across India, Europe and America. With over 300 gramophone records, she was praised for her distinct voice and ability to express the subtle emotions in Tagore’s songs while staying true to the notes.[3]
She was born on 12 October 1924 atSonamukhi inBankura district,West Bengal. Kanika studied atVisva-Bharati University.[3] She was trained in both classical and Rabindrasangeet inSangeet Bhavana (School of Music) at Santiniketan. Shantiniketan (which literally meansAbode of Peace) was built on the model of anAshram (educational hermitage). For this reason, Kanika is also occasionally referred to asAshram Kanya or 'girl of the Ashram'.[citation needed] She was fortunate to take music lessons from none other thanRabindranath Tagore. It was Tagore who named herKanika (her original name beingAnima), also the name of one of his books onPoetry. Her other gurus wereDinendra Nath Tagore,Sailajaranjan Majumdar,Indira Devi Chaudhurani andSantidev Ghosh. She participated in dance-dramas directed by Rabindranath and toured all over India as a member of his cultural troupe.[citation needed]
Kanika Bandyopadhyay joinedSangit Bhavana as a teacher and in due course became Head of the Department of Rabindrasangeet and later its Principal. She was made Professor Emeritus of Visva-Bharati.[citation needed]
Since 1943, Kanika had been a regular artiste of theCalcutta station ofAll India Radio and gave performances at the national level in the musical programmes arranged by other stations as honoured artiste.[citation needed] Her gramophone records came out even in the lifetime of the Poet (Tagore) and there are over 300 gramophone discs to her credit. She was also a singer of Bhajans, Nazrulgeeti (songs byKazi Nazrul Islam) andAtulprasad's songs. However the first song recorded by her was neither a Tagore song nor a Nazrul Geeti but a BengaliAdhunik song composed by Niharbindu Sen.[citation needed]
Kanika was invited to sing by programme organizers not only in India but also in Europe and America and was acclaimed everywhere for her unique rendering of the subtle nuances of emotions expressed in Rabindranath's lyrical compositions. She has written three books on this genre.[citation needed] Her life has been well documented on film by noted film directors. She was associated with the Elmhirst Institute of Community Studies during the last years of her life.
She received the highest accolade from Visva-Bharati University, the Desikottama.[citation needed]
In appreciation of her outstanding contribution to Rabindra Sangeet she was awarded the Gold Disc of the Gramophone Company of India in 1980.[citation needed] She received the best Bengali playback singer award from theBengal Film Journalists' Association in 1973. Kanika bagged theSangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year of 1979.[4] In 1986, she receivedPadma Shri award from the Government of India.[5] Her alma mater (also home turf) Vishva-Bharati University, bestowed upon her Desikottama, its highest award in 1997.[6]
Kanika died at the age of 76, on Wednesday 5 April 2000, atSSKM Hospital in Calcutta after a prolonged illness involving lung and cardiac problems. She left behind her a school of music, with numerous students, who bore the legacy of her very own stylization of Rabindrasangeet. Of her students,Rezwana Chowdhury Banya, the singer from Bangladesh, is perhaps the most well-known, for her striking similarity to Kanika's singing style. Indian Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee gave a condolence speech saying that Kanika "was among the best exponents of Rabindra Sangeet. Generations of music lovers were charmed by her golden voice."[7]
In his obituary: "Nightingale of Rabindrasangeet is no more" published on 5 April 2000, Sankar Ray beautifully summarises his experience of Kanika Bandyopadhyay as a singer:
My memory takes me back to a rainy evening in 1960. All India Radio was broadcasting a programme directly from Santiniketan Ashramik Sangha. Amidst heavy rain, a melodious voice reverberated around. It was Kanika Bandyopadhyay rendering Saghana Gahana Ratri Jharichhey Shrabanadhara (heavy downpour amidst the darkness of night).[citation needed] I still remember the melodious voice of Mohardi as she used to be known....For those for us whose youth had been conditioned by the aesthetic and cultural traditions set out by singers like Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Debabrata Biswas, Subinoy Ray, and Rajeshwari Dutta, it is difficult to write on Mohardi. Next time when I shall go to Shantiniketan, no more shall I have the opportunity to be amidst the melodious breeze that carried her voice as often she used to sing from her house there. Farewell, Mohardi, you remain as ever-lit star in the horizon of our aesthetic sense.[citation needed]
Kanika Bandyopadhyay was a contemporary of other notable exponents of Rabindrasangeet, namelyHemanta Mukhopadhyay,Chinmoy Chattopadhyay,Suchitra Mitra,Debabrata Biswas,Sagar Sen,Sumitra Sen,Rezwana Choudhury Bannya,Santidev Ghosh andSubinoy Roy. In particular, her musical style has often been compared and contrasted with that of Suchitra Mitra. While both singers excelled in songs of love and worship (puja and prem), Kanika's oeuvre was melodious yet melancholy, plaintive yet soul-stirring, whereas Suchitra was bold and strong in her renditions.[citation needed]
Kanika was married in 1945 to Birendra Chandra Bandyopadhyay, former deputy librarian ofViswa Bharati University and a renowned poet.[citation needed] The couple had no children; but later she adopted her younger sister's only son Priyom (Tanaji, the name given by Mohor di). In her later life, Kanika receded to a reclusive lifestyle and led the simple life of an ashramite inSantiniketan.[citation needed]
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