Much to the cheer of Odisha’s musicians and music connoisseurs, Mardal, the indigenous percussion instruments of Odisha, received a rare recognition on Friday as it was featured on India’s first and exclusive music television channel – Insync – for the first time.

The channel, that has India’s legendary musicians like Pt Shivkumar Sharma, Shankar Mahadevan, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Rashid Khan, and Pt Rajan-Sajan Mishra brothers as mentors, aired an exclusive Mardal recital by Bhubaneswar-based Vadya Vani ensemble. Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Mardal exponent Dhaneswar Swain, founder-director of Vadya Vani, presented the concert accompanied by four of his brilliant disciples – Sitakant Jena, Rashmi Ranjan Mishra, Rohit Pradhan and Bibhuti Bhusan Champati with Muralidhar Swain accompanying on harmonium.

“It’s a day of victory for our whole Mardal family around the world. Since decades, we have been striving hard to establish Mardal as an instrument that can be presented individually like tabla, sitar or flute. Unfortunately, it was always construed as an accompanying instrument to Odishi dance,” remarked Guru Dhaneswar Swain.

Such telecast over internationally popular channels will gain international recognition for the age-old Odishi Mardal tradition that has been associated with the temple of Jagannath as a service, he felt. Odisha Mardal has been an integral part of Odisha music and dance, he added.

“The absolute development of Odishi Mardal as an individual instrument has been possible only because of the pioneering efforts of Guru Dhaneswar Swain, a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Watch him perform magic with Mardal,” the famed channel had announced.