Veteran classical singer of Odisha, Sunanda Patnaik, passed away at a private hospital in Kolkata at 4.30 am on Sunday after a prolonged illness. She was 85.
Daughter of legendary Odia poet Baikunthanath Patnaik, Sunanda was born on November 7, 1934. She started her career in singing at All India Radio in Cuttack in 1948 at the age of 14.
Sunanda was awarded the degree of Masters in Music by the Pune School in 1956. She had also performed at All India Sadrang Sangeet Sammelan in Calcutta in September 1957.
Singer of Gwalior gharana of classical music, Sunanda was referred to as ‘Guruma’ in the classical music circle.
Her popular devotional Odia song ‘Jeevana Patra Mo Bhariccha Kete Mote’ that was penned by her father, still holds a special place in the hearts of Odias. She has several ‘bhajans’ both in Odia and Hindi to her credit apart from several classical songs that she usually rendered in a high pitch.
She had received Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1970 and 1971. She was conferred with the Indian Lifetime Achievement award in 2009 and Lifetime Achievement award from The Orissa society of the Americas (OSA) in 2012.
Sunanda was also the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Tagore Akadami Puraskar) for the year 2012.
