Bhubaneswar: Legendary Odia music director Shantanu Mohapatra, who was suffering from old age related ailments and finally succumbed to pneumonia and cardiac failure on Tuesday night, passed away at the age of 84 on Wednesday.
A large number of people paid their last respect to the music maestro at his residence at Palaspalli.
Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Andhra Pradesh Governor B. B. Harichandan, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and many dignitaries, condoled at the demise of Mohapatra.
In a condolence message, Lal said Santanu Mohapatra was part of Odisha music for almost six decades and he will be remembered by all for long and CM Patnaik described Mohapatra as an ‘Unfading Talent’.
Noting that Odisha has lost a talent, Patnaik announced state honour for the departed music director.
Apart from Odia, Mohapatra also worked in different languages. He composed the first modern Odia ballad “Konark Gatha” with lyrics by lyricist Gurukrushna Goswami and sung by Akshay Mohanty. He also wrote ‘Kalijae’ which was sung by Sikandar Alam.
Mohapatra also was the lone Odia music director to work with Hindi music industry legends like Lata Mangeshkar (Surjyamukhi), Mohd Rafi (Arundhati), Manna Dey (Surjyamukhi), Usha Mangeskar (Arundhati) and other artists like Suresh Wadekar, Anuradha Paudwal, Usha Uthup, Kavita Krishnamurthy.
He has won the highest number of awards and accolades as a music director in Odisha, totalling over 80. In honour of his lifetime contribution to Odia culture, the Utkal University of Culture had conferred honorary D.Litt on him in 2011.
By Aditya Nayak
