KENDRAPARA: A pall of gloom has descended on the village Sobala here following the death of Bhajan Samrat Bhikari Bal.
The legendary devotional singer was born in this village on May 25, 1929. The man who began his career as a radio artiste and enthralled the people of the State with his sonorous Oriya bhajans, had to cut back on performances about four years ago due to illness. Bhikari Bal, who rendered more than 20,000 bhajans, had turned 81 this year.
His friend in the village, Yudhister Samal (82) recollects the time he had spent with the singer.
“Bal studied up to Class III with me as he had to quit studies after his parents’ death. He then joined a ‘jatra’ troupe to eke out a living,” he said.
Samal added that Bal later joined as a music teacher in Gokulachandra Sangeet Sadan here in 1951.
“Then he moved to Cuttack to work with AIR. Bal had constructed an ashram in the village in the name of his Guru Benudhar Parida and used to reside there for a week every year,” said Bal’s nephew Suraprasad.