On Mahalaya bengalies listen to Mohishashur Mordini which is the best creation of All India radio

For Bengalies the greatest festival of the year include Durga Puja. The flavor of the festival is set up by Mahalaya which occurs seven days before the occasion. Mohishahshur Mordini had not lost its appeal even after 60 years of its creation. It is played in All India Radio on the morning of every Mahalaya each year. In 2013 it was also played and it enchanted numerous bengalies all across the world. The mantra in the entire play was uttered by Birendra Krishna Bhadra who became a living legend in the early 50s. He conducted all the important programs in All India Radio from Kolkata at a time when Television did not appear in India and Radio was the only medium of entertainment. From Mahalaya the Petripaksha ends and Devipaksha begins. Hindus all over the world worship Goddess Durga and the occasion lies for four days including Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami Goddess Durga is immersed in holy Ganges. Mahalay is the day when Hindus do tarpan in the Ganges to remember the ancestors who had died but were still attached with the next generation. When Birendra Bhadra directed Mohishashur Mordini, the tale relating to Goddess Durga defeating the devil powers under the name of Mohishahur, Singer Pankaj Mallick and Bani Kumar also made notable contribution to bring in all the legendary singers of Bengal and made them sing significant songs. For example Manobendra Mukherjee sang “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee sang “jago tumi jago”. The other singers included Supriti Ghosh, Sumitra Sen, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shaymal Mitra, Utpala Sen and others. Supriti Ghosh sang the song “bajlo tomar alor benu”, Shipra Bose sang the song “ogo amar agomoni alo”, Tarun Banerjee sang the song “he chinmoyi”, Sandhya Mukherjee sang the song “bimane bimane”, Krishna Dasgupta sang the song “akhilo bimane taba jayogatha”, Pratima Banerjee sang the song “amala kirane tribhubane”, Shyamal Mitra, Arati Mukherjee and Ashima Bhattacharya sang the chorus song “shubhra shankha rabe”, Utpala Sen sang the song “shanti dile bhari”, Pankaj Mullick sang the song “rupang dehi jayang dehi”. Birendra Bhadra was unparallel in the manner in which he pronounced the Sanskrit sloks, which could not be replicated and when Uttam Kumar that greatest superstar of Bengal tried to do it, he was criticized and All India Radio again displayed the Mohishashur Mordini directed by Birendra Bhadra. Even Hindus across India celebrate Navratri and Dussehra based on the success of God in defeating evil powers. Even today Bengalies feel that it creates a Godly atmosphere and gives the feeling that Goddess Durga had really arrived on earth. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree played the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. In 2013 Zee Bangla came up with another musical program on Maa Durga where Arindam Mukherjee did the narration. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored.