With the arrival of auspicious Hindu festival Durga Pujo, the first name that comes in every Bengali lip is the voice of renowned radio broadcaster late Birendra Krishna Bhadra. The famous theatre director, playwright, actor and narrator from Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the person who gained popularity through All India Radio for lending his voice for Mahalaya -- the beginning of Durga Pujo festivities for Bengali community. Mahalaya falls on the beginning of Devi-Paksha and the end of the Pitri-Paksha.

Bhadra's oldest radio show Mahishashura Mardini was first broadcast in 1931, where he lent his voice for the shlokas at 4:00 am in the dawn of Mahalaya. Following this, he became so popular that each year people -- especially Bengalies -- waited for his voice to begin the auspicious nine-day Durga Pujo festival. Call it the power of his voice or emotive fluency, Bhadra's spoken shlokas still mark the beginning of Durga Pujo festivities. Mahalaya 2019 Date and Time: Know Tithi and Significance of the Day When Pitru Paksha Ends and Devi Paksha Starts the Countdown for Durga Puja.

It all began when All India Radio in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the 1930s was looking for a powerful voice for a two-hour program called Mahishashura Mardini. The special episode was all about describing the epic battle of goddess Durga with the demon king Mahishashura. Written by Bani Kumar and music composed by Pankaj Kumar Mallik, they found Birendra Krishna Bhadra and the rest is history.

Considering the recitation of Sanskrit shlokas with sheer power, emotions and passion, no other figure gained this much popularity -- either in audio or video. However, noted Bengali actor Uttam Kumar once was employed for the programme, but it failed miserably, and the audience rejected the voice. Following this, All India Radio shifted back to the original version of Birendra Krishna Bhadra's Mahishashura Mardini on Mahalaya. Durga Puja 2019: Kolkata Pandal to Decorate Balakot Air Strike With Models of Abhinandan & IAF Jets.

Late Bhadra -- August 4, 1905, to November 3, 1991 -- was once portrayed in his biopic Mahalaya, which was written and directed by Soumik Sen. Not only this, his daughter Sujata Bhadra received a cheque for Rs 50,917 from music company Saregama India Ltd on the Mahalaya day in 2006 as a royalty for her father's famous work. Still today, Bhadra's voice symbolises the beginning of Durga Pujo festivities for Bengalis.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).