Durga Puja is more than just a festival for Bengalis; it’s an emotion.

Along with stories, food, decorations, and excitement, another essential part of the Pujo is the early morning broadcast of the ‘Mahisasuramardini’ radio show by the legendary Birendra Krishna Bhadra.

His voice and delivery of the Sanskrit shlokas in the musical cantata have now become synonymous with Mahalaya itself.

A prominent Bengali playwright, this man’s 4 am version of ‘Chandipath’ (chanting from Chandi) has managed to convince generations of Bengalis across the globe to make the ultimate sacrifice of their beloved sleep.

It has also revolutionised Indian radio by becoming the oldest and longest-running radio show in the country.

Scripted by Bani Kumar and with music composed by Pankaj Mullick, the programme is a combination of devotional songs, classical music, acoustic melodrama, traditional instrumentals and Sanskrit shlokas.

The 89-minute long audio montage first started as a live performance in 1931, with an orchestra and chorus clad in white dhotis and red-bordered white sarees. However, since 1966, AIR has been broadcasting the pre-recorded version of the show every year on Mahalaya.

Even after 89 years, it is this version that has managed to singularly captivate the audience, both old and new, religious, spiritual or otherwise. While his voice lives on even after decades of his passing, Bhadra’s journey to this recognition was not devoid of challenges.

Back in 1931, when the programme was about to begin, several people from a community of orthodox Hindu Brahmins of Bengal protested against Bhadra’s involvement in the programme. The reason for this protest was because he was considered to be unfit for recitation of ‘Chandipath’ as he was not of the so-called “right caste”.

But Bani Kumar turned a deaf ear to all of the protestations and progressed with the plan.

A man who embraced a simple life, he continued his contract job with AIR for a petty salary of Rs 75 a month and did not even receive a pension when he retired in 1970.

Shockingly, on the Mahalaya day of 2006, AIR sold the copyright of the show to Saregama (HMV) and sent a cheque of just Rs 50,917 to his daughter, Sujata Bhadra, as royalty.

But post this, Bhadra’s version became more popular owing to the burgeoning sale of copies recorded on CDs and cassette tapes. With a hair-rising quiver in his tone, Bhadra has managed to rouse a myriad of emotions while waking up generations of Bengalis to a new dawn of hope.