Mahalaya and the Voice That Wakes Bengal

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Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s voice in “Mahishasura Mardini” has awakened Bengal at dawn on Mahalaya for generations

A little bit of history, culture, and a radio programme.

Today is a very special day for Bengalis the world over. It is Mahalaya, the day that marks the beginning of the Durga Puja festivities, with an invocation to Goddess Durga to descend upon Earth.

What makes the day even more special is that every year on this day, at 4 am sharp, practically every Bengali household tuned in to AIR for the Mahishasura Mardini programme. My Bengali friends still remember waking up early on this day, sleepy-eyed, all gathered around the radio.

The programme was first aired in 1932, and until 1966 it was broadcast live. The iconic voice was that of Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Birendra babu would bathe in the Ganges at Babughat, just a short walk from Akashvani Bhavan, before coming to perform the programme. Such was his dedication, and it shows in his rendition. Year after year he did it.

All the musicians too would reach the Akashvani studio well before 4 am. The ensemble included Hemanta Mukherjee and several other luminaries of Bengali music. Their creativity and purity still touch every soul.

AIR continues to broadcast editions of the Mahishasura Mardini programme every year. It still begins at 4 am and continues until 5:30 am. Listening to it has become a habit and almost an obsession for many people even today, with most having grown up with it since childhood. They often find it difficult to express the emotions this early morning ritual evokes, and literally wait for it every year as the date approaches.

There is perhaps no better way to understand Bengali culture and ethos than by recognising how deeply people value a tradition like listening to this programme at dawn. I know Bengali friends who hold top positions, are well travelled and modern in outlook, yet still become emotional about this programme.

Externally they may change, but the soul and spirit remain rooted in their culture and tradition. The spirit with which Mahishasura Mardini was first rendered still lives on, even though time has physically claimed each of the voices that originally created it.

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