For years, it has remained as the most popular song of Odisha. People never get tired of listening to it quite often and grooving to its beats.
“Rangabati”, the pulsating folk duet in Sambalpuri language, has ruled the music space in Odisha ever since it was created in 1978-79. And it has transcended the boundaries of the country to cast a magical spell on foreigners.
The worth of the song has well been recognised by the Union Government as it has conferred three Padma Shri awards to as many persons associated with creation of the song. The three persons are Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel, the male and female singers who rendered the song in their magical voice, and lyricist and composer Mitrabhanu Gountia.
Immortalised by the sweet lyrics by Gountia and magnetic beats and rhythms of tribal musical instruments like drum, dhol and madal, the song was first recorded for All India Radio (AIR) in the voices of Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel. After AIR, Rangabati was released in 1979 by Indian Record Mfg Co (INRECO) in 45 rpm (rotations per minute) vinyl format.
Many contemporary Bollywood singers, including Sona Mohapatra, have presented the song on global platforms. Pieces of the original song have been incorporated into many cinema album fusion songs in the majority of the Indian languages.
Haripal was the first one to get Padma Shri in 2017 while lyricist Gountia received it in 2020. This year, Krishna Patel was chosen for the award.
The Odisha Government has named Bilung, Gountia’s village, after “Rangabati”.
“Rangabati” is an ode in which the lover, a village boy, sweetly cajoles his dear darling to break her silence and come forward to romance with him. The woman, blushing in the sweet-talk of the lover, says she is rustic, introvert and feels very shy to sing and dance with him, let alone romance.
Krishna said, “I’m quite glad that I have been chosen for the Padma Shri. This has in fact brought me more responsibility not only to protect the originality of the precious music but also take it to higher level. If the Union and State Governments help me, I will open a research centre and a library where the voices of all singers shall be recorded and preserved for the future generations. Secondly, I want to go to the villages where the practitioners of the Sambalpuri music live and codify their distinct beats and rhythms that give special identity to our folksongs.”
