Chaudhuri, Himagna Sankar Ray

Chaudhuri, Himagna Sankar Ray (1928-1983) a distinguished vocalist and a scion of the zamindar family of teota. Himagna Sankar Ray Chaudhuri was initially educated at the Teota Academy, and subsequently at the Jagabandhu Institution and Asutosh College in Calcutta.

Naturally gifted with exceptional talent, he also grew up within a rich familial tradition of 'kirtan', 'jatra', 'padabali', and other traditional musical and performing genres of Bengal. He received his formal training in music from ustads like Danibabu, Debabrata Biswas, Samaresh Chowdhury, Sunil Ray and Krishnadas Ghosh. Although he was also an accomplished exponent of 'rabindrasangeet' and the songs of Atulprasad, it was for his distinctive rendition of 'bhanga/purono bangla gaan' that he was best known.

Jointly with Ranajit Sen and Kamala Bose, Raychaudhuri had at one time formed an organisation by the name of 'Hirak', which was largely involved in productions of Tagore's musical plays. He later set up his own group 'Arup Shilpi Goshthi' in 1961, the most successful production of which was 'Two Centuries of Bengali Song'. The Decca Company of London later recorded and produced an LP disc of Himagna Raychaudhuri's songs by the same name, in 1972. Raychaudhuri's music was well received by audiences in the subcontinent, and abroad. He was invited by the Swedish government in 1974, and gave over a hundred performances in Europe in the course of his international tour. Himagna Sankar Raychaudhuri died in 1983. [R Roy]

See also zamindar family of teota.