Sangeetacharya
Satya Kinkar Bandopadhyay
Satya Kinkar Bandopadhyay (1899 - 1980), maestro of the Bishnupur Gharana - was born in Bishnupur of Bankura District. Disciple of the legendary musician Gopeshwar Bandyopadhyay, he was a talent both in vocal and instrumental music. He came to reside in Kolkata permanently from the year 1921. He was an A Grade artist of Akashbani from the beginning and was attached to it till 1962. In the year 1978 he was garlanded by the Rajya Sangeet Academy award. He worked as an examiner of both Rabindra Bharati and Biswabharati Universites. His performance in Dhrupad, Kheyal and Thumri in Kolkata and also throughout the country was well marked by the listeners. He was also awarded the ITC SRA award. He is the author of a number of books related to hindusthani classical music.
[ The Bishnupur Gharana of Bengal has a prestigious past, the history of which has little been revealed. ‘Bishnupur’, the town of Lord Vishnu, is at present a Sub-division town of Bankura district in West Bengal is Mallabhum. Though not vast in area, the region holds a singnificant position in matters as political vigor, civilization and culture. Historians suggest that ‘Mallabhum’ had once been the cultural centre of Eastern India. Among its cultural achievements, music had the highest honour.Most of the exponents of Bishnupur learnt Dhrupad song and instrumental music simultaneously. Bishnupur was at that time the cultural capital of India.]
