SAMBALPUR: Music composer of popular Sambalpuri folk song ‘Rangabati’, Prabhudatta Pradhan passed away at his residence in Sambalpur on Monday. He was 75. His family sources said Pradhan died of cardiac arrest. Though he was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital, he was declared brought dead. He is survived by his widow and two sons.
Born on November 11, 1943, Pradhan started his career as an instrumentalist in All India Radio (AIR) Sambalpur in 1969. The Rangabati song that earned him fame in 1975 was written by Mitrabhanu
Gountia and sung by Jitendra Haripal and Krishna Patel.
A veteran rhythm player of Odisha having expertise in percussion instruments like Dhol and Mandal had carved a niche for himself in the field of music in Odisha.
He had largely contributed for propagation and popularisation of Sambalpuri music across the globe during his career spanning over four decades.
He composed hundreds of popular Sambalpuri songs for the AIR Sambalpur. He had also worked as a resource person in the radio serial ‘Lokdhara’ and ‘Lokbadya’, produced by AIR Sambalpur.
Pradhan was the recipient of various awards for his contribution to Sambalpuri folk music. He was given the ‘Akashvani Annual Award’ for Sambalpuri musical production ‘Gaon Ke Jima Chal’ in 2001, Odisha
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2002, ‘Paschim Odisha Sanskruti Samman’ by Sambalpur University in 2006.