Ruchira Panda : The Person
Ruchira Panda, is the global face of Kotali Gharana today. Her talim under Pandit Manas Chakraborty lasted two and a half decades, till his passing.
A Kolkata based vocalist, composer and social activist, she also happens to have a signature vocal tone that is a mix of raw power and flexibility.
She is a guru herself and her disciples are already performing in conferences. So the Kotali tradition is in good hands.
Ruchira founded PARAMPARIK, a non-profit in 2001. PARAMPARIK’s social welfare unit has disbursed more than 3 Cr INR (3,66,000 USD) in Rural Education Scholarships for underprivileged students. PARAMPARIK Indian Classical Music Conference, over the last two decades, has sealed its reputation as the best curated conference in Kolkata.
Ruchira Panda : The Artist
A deep-timbre voice
The raw power
The melody
Super-fast taans
Mijaz and Raagdari
Jazz-esque improvisations
The long Badhat
Ruchira Panda : The Performer
In a career spanning twenty-five long years, Ruchira has been performing in the major Classical Conferences in India, USA, Canada, UK, South Asia and Central Asia. She represented India in the UNESCO International Music Festival “Sharq Taronalari” in Samarkand.
Some Worldwide Performances
Nehru Center (London)
LearnQuest Annual Conference (Boston)
Kalakendra ( Portland )
Saptak (Ahmedabad)
Tansen Sangeet Sammelan (Gwalior)
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Festival (Jalgaon)
Ustad Amir Khan Festival (Indore)
Sharq Taronalari (Samarkand)
Jashn-E-Deccan (Hyderabad)
Raga Music Circle (New York)
Chinmaya Mission, Kalanjali (Los Angeles)
SIMA (State College, USA)
Sangeet Piyasi Silver Jubilee Festival (Kolkata)
Gunijan Sangeet Samaroh (Indore)
Basant Bahar (Fremont, USA)
Sarb Akal Music Festival (Calgary, Canada)
SIFAS Singapore
Ragmala (Toronto)
Chitresh Das Dance Company (California)
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Kensington, UK)
Ali Akbar College of Music (San Rafael, USA)
Ruchira Panda : The Accolades
“Senior Fellow”, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India (2023)
Featured Artist of Ravivasariya Sangeet Sabha, Nation Program of Music (July, 2024)
A-Grade artist of All India Radio
Established Empaneled Artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
Junior Fellow of The Ministry of Culture, Govt. Of India (2009)
JADUBHATTA Award, by Salt Lake Music Festival (2009)
SANGEET SAMMAN, by Salt Lake Silver Jubilee Music Festival (2011)
Junior Fellow Award, The Ministry of Culture, Govt. Of India (2009)
SANGEET KALARATNA Award, Matri Udbodhan Ashram, Patna
1st position (KHAYAL and THUMRI) Talent Search Contest by Dover Lane Music Conference (1998-99)
HMV award (Best young talent)
Ustad Amir Khan Best Vocalist Award (1998-99)
Post Graduate in Economics from Jadavpur University
Ruchira Panda : The Torchbearer
Kotali Gharana rose from the riverine fields of undivided Bengal. This is music that is intellectually rich yet as emotive and alive as the soil that it came from. A musical tradition that is also steeped in fine arts and literature―the unmistakably Bengali notes of aesthetics, the tunes of experimentation and the beats of creativity. The compositions from the house of Kotali are exclusive.
Her repertoire includes Khayal, Tarana, Chaturang, Tap-Khayal, Indian Semi Classical music e.g. Tappa, Thumri, Bhajan and some near-extinct classical-based sub-genres of India, like Bundelkhandi Pasar ke Geet, Patjhar, Jhoola, Birha, Chaiti, Kajri, Sawan, Jaad ke Geet and phaag etc. etc. She also renders Bengali Thumri and Bengali Raag Pradhan, compositions which are quintessential Kotali Gharana items.
The Journey
Pandit Manas Chakraborty, son of Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty who was the founder of the Kotali Gharana, trained her for 25 years. Ruchira also completed her Masters in Economics from Jadavpur University.
On her mezzo-soprano voice
….I have an unusually deep voice, and when I was 12 or 13, it was not flexible at all. Because of my tone, seniors used to call the pint-sized me, the mini Gangubai Hangal. My GuruJi, against everyone’s negative predictions when I was little, used all his knowledge of training the vocal chord and adjoining muscles, to turn things around, and made it an asset, an almost operatic chest voice in the upper registers. I also became able to produce the fine kan-swars( touch-notes) in a fast vakra-taan. In a thicker voice this is much harder to pull off than in the lighter, mellower female voices that are more in vogue. [ Excerpted ]
Some Worldwide Performances
The Dover Lane Conference (Kolkata)
Sant Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan (Jalandhar)
Nehru Center ( London )
LearnQuest Annual Conference (Boston)
Kalakendra ( Portland )
Saptak (Ahmedabad)
Tansen Sangeet Sammelan (Gwalior)
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Festival (Jalgaon)
Ustad Amir Khan Festival ( Indore )
Sharq Taronalari ( Samarkand )
Jashn-E-Deccan (Hyderabad)
Raga Music Circle (New York)
Chinmaya Mission, Kalanjali (Los Angeles)
SIMA (State College, USA)
Sangeet Piyasi Silver Jubilee Festival (Kolkata)
Gunijan Sangeet Samaroh (Indore)
Basant Bahar (Fremont, USA)
Sarb Akal Music Festival (Calgary, Canada)
SIFAS Singapore
Ragmala (Toronto)
Chitresh Das Dance Company (California)
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Kensington, UK)
Ali Akbar College of Music (San Rafael, USA)
On not-so-or’nary performances
….Once Ali Akbar Khan saheb called me over to perform at the AACM, San Rafael. And asked me to sing Raga Loom, which is Baba Alauddin’s creation, and his bandish had already travelled to Kotali Gharana through my DadaGuru. After my concert, he told me “Amar shorir aar bhalo nei. Tumi amar college e classical vocal shekhao.” ( I am unwell…so please take over the classical vocal section of my college). He called up my GuruJi to ask for his permission. My GuruJi said yes. Despite the allure, I said no. For me staying outside Kolkata, away from the environment of GuruJi’s house, was unthinkable.[ Excerpted ]
Paramparik
Ruchira founded “Paramparik”, a non-profit charitable organization, in 2001. Paramparik has helped over 8000 sons and daughters of the marginal farmers and daily laborers of West Bengal, to become doctors, engineers, teachers and nurses.
Paramparik has held the prestigious Paramparik Annual Conference in Kolkata since 2001. Almost all the leading artists of Hindustani Classical have graced the Paramparik stage, and a few Carnatic musicians as well.
Paramparik has also started Paramparik Sessions – Kolkata’s first all-vocal, yearly classical conference, to be held in March-April time frame.
On Students and Learning
….Being a great musician or a poet cannot be the locus of a human life, but these are some of the stepping stones towards inculcating humility, philanthropy, empathy and a broad worldview. That worldview actually helps in moulding the creative musical brain, and the poetic mind. Enjoy and feel the world, the blade of grass. Read. Read a lot. Stop rote learning – talk to your music so it talks to you. Performances are the easier part (sic).[ Excerpted ]
On RaagDari
…When it comes to Raagdari, I tell my students to do an extensive analysis of how different artists and gharanas have approached a Raga. That is a staple process in our gharana. My GuruJi taught me to objectively question everything, even himself, since that is a primary ingredient of independent thought. We have endlessly debated a particular application of a note, and such was the intellectual maturity of the man that though I was proved wrong in most cases, a couple of times ( and after we stopped talking for a couple of days ) he came back and acknowledged that my view was the correct one.
…When it comes to the authenticity of Raagdari, my first reference is my GuruJi and then Pandit Ravi Shankar. Both, extremely conscious of the grammatical boundaries of Raga music, yet both radically innovative, both polyglots and they also shared a mutual respect along these lines. This approach gives our music such a fresh and authentic mijaz, free from the dogma of mannerisms copied down the centuries. It is ironic that both died the same day, 12th of December, 2012.[ Excerpted ]
On Creativity
…The first and foremost attribute of our ( Kotali ) approach to music is creativity and live melodic improvisation. In my world, the musical landscape is fluid, unknown, full of magic. The artists sitting in the front row of my GuruJi’s concerts would eagerly imbibe as he freely composed and sang spectacular bandishes live on stage. Each concert would mean exploring new avenues of a Raga.
…Singing the same thing again and again in fifty concerts made no sense to him, neither does it appeal to me. Without that relief of taking up the challenge of going after something unexplored, there is little enjoyment in being on stage. Picking up a raga that one has not sung in a full year, right on stage, just like checking out an old friend to see how time has moulded the dynamics, has its own rewards. Same with creating a fresh bandish in the green room that feels more appropriate for a concert scenario.[ Excerpted ]
On Students and Riyaz
…We, the clan of professional musicians, have all gone through the usual grind. But I strongly encourage students to also accompany me into fine arts, literature, world music, sculpture, philosophy, Zizek and Debiprasad, Tagore and Morrison, Larry Coryell and Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Monet and K.G.Subramaniyam, Lara Fabian and Lata Mangeshkar – because doing only riyaz or focusing on music is fine but may not produce a perceptive, creative, intellectually fully aware individual – any primer on neurobiology would affirm that fact.
On Custom vs Culture
….Bengal is lucky that among other social reformers and intellectuals of the famous Bengal Renaissance, we had Tagore, who was the bedrock of the subsequent century of intellectual maturity of the Bengali milieu. He shaped the core DNA of future Bengali, her aesthetics, finesse, philosophy, language, art and culture – quite different from the rest of the Indian subcontinent. Tagore freed up a whole population from the anarchy of rigid cultural traditions. His aesthetic eye tended to look with suspicion, the tendency of passing less changed ( read “gharanadar” ) forms of music as original ( and therefore, as if of higher value ). The reformer that he was, set the standard of musical experimentation, through pruning and regrowth. A full six or seven generations down the line, we know for sure that any biological or cultural entity that does not adapt and evolve, does not match its time, and will perish. So many art forms have come and gone with the wind, leaving their cultural offsprings to rule the space.[ Excerpted ]
On Lyrics
…It is important to be in love with words and the power they wield when in the vicinity of other words. Originally folk traditions, arcane Saas-Bahu, Nandlala or Ramlala constructs have played their part in the formative years of the Indian bandishes [copied down for generations], but we have come a long way in Bengal, into more modern and abstract lyrical constructs, thanks to Tagore, then the likes of Jibanananda, Buddhadeb Basu, Shankha Ghosh, Bhaskar Chakraborty – the firebrand poets of the Bengali intellectual class.
…That gets reflected in the lyrics I create and/or like to sing. I typically sing my GuruJi’s compositions, then my own ones , and then some curated traditional ones, in that order of preference. To illustrate the point with a concrete example, Ghalib is great [ Saki-Mehtaab-Jaam-Ishq iconographies], but my intellectual hunger can be fulfilled more by Faiz’s latter writings and Ahmed Faraz.[ Excerpted ]
Kotali Gharana
Originating in Kotalipara of today’s Bangladesh, Kotali is one of the myriad minor Gharanas of yesteryears still surviving and thriving today in its niche, due to its unique strengths and obstinately maverick practitioners.
Kotali Gharana : An Introduction
Major and Minor Gharanas of the Indian Subcontinent : An Essay On Kotali
Click to enlarge
Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty
( 1909-1975 )
The first pan-Indian Khayaliya from Bengal, his 20-minute live recording of Chhaya-Hindol (1955) with Ustad Afaq Hussain Khan on Tabla, is enough demonstration of the genius of the man. His musical memory, halak taan and simplicity are stuff of legend. He is credited with the currently ubiquitous 48-beat (4×12) ati-Vilambit ektaal khayal format. A Ratna(Gem) Fellow of Sangeet Natak Academy, and an unassuming person, he famously chased away the Government representative delivering the Padmashree Award news.
Tarapada Chakraborty – A Short Take On A Towering Bengali icon
Pandit Manas Chakraborty ( 1942-2012 )
It is said that in Hindustani classical vocal, Pandit Manas Chakraborty had the best sense of aesthetics and the deepest intellectual grasp – needing the most astute listener of Hindustani classical to map his canvas. A polymath, he shaped the current form of Kotali Gharana, and created hundreds of khayal, tarana, chaturang, tappa, tap-khayal, thumri, dadra, birha/pasar/sawan/jaad ke geet pieces – many, while singing on stage. He also made the long-form (boro gherer) Bengali Thumri and Bengali RaagPradhan standard fare in concerts. Being primarily Bengal-bound and publicity-averse, this musical genius is little known outside Bengal.
The Long-form (Boro-Gherer) Bengali RagPradhan
Photo Gallery
Concert Videos
- Alor Pothe Raga Dhwani
- City : Kolkata
- Year : 2023
- Raga : Nand
- Tap Khayal ( Raga Ripples )
- City : Studio Album Track
- Year : 2019
- Raga : Bhairavi
- Ali Akbar College of Music
- City : San Rafael, California, USA
- Year : 2006
- Raga : Puriya Kalyan
- Bin Sawan ( Crossing Over )
- City : Studio Album Track
- Year : 2018
- Raga : Indian Classical Fusion
- LearnQuest Music Festival
- City : Boston, USA
- Year : 2017
- Raga : Puriya Dhaneshree
- Tansen Sangeet Samaroh
- City : Gwalior, India
- Year : 2015
- Raga : Shudh Sarang
- Bangiya Sangeet Parishad
- City : Kolkata, India
- Year : 2019
- Raga : Charukeshi
- Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan
- City : Jalandhar, India
- Year : 2014
- Raga : Chandrakauns
- Sangeet Piyasi Classical Music festival
- City : Kolkata, India
- Year : 2016
- Raga : Dhulia Malhar
- DoorDarshan TV
- City : Live Interview ( English Subtitles )
- Year : 2019
- Raga : History And Demonstration Of Kotali Gharana
- Salt Lake Music Festival
- City : Kolkata, India
- Year : 2011
- Raga : Mishra Piloo
- Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty Centenary Conference
- City : Kolkata, India
- Year : 2010
- Raga : Mishra Champakali
- Ambadevi Music Festival
- City : Amravati, India
- Year : 2013
- Raga : Mishra Bhatiyar
- Shri Kallol Basu Memorial Concert
- City : Kolkata, India
- Year : 2018
- Raga : Mishra Khamaj (Bengali RaagPradhan)
Events
Kansen Seattle and UW Bothell School of Business
At
North Creek Event Center, University of Washington Bothell, WA, USA
Saturday, 28th March, 2025, 7PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Chiranjit Mukherjee (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
Ragamala Seattle
At
Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Bellevue, WA
Saturday, 22nd March, 2025, 5PM-7.30PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Chiranjit Mukherjee (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
San Ramon, CA, USA
Sunday, 16th March, 2025, 4.30PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Chiranjit Mukherjee (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
Basant Bahar
At
Historic Hoover Theatre, San Jose, CA, USA
Saturday, 15th March, 2025, 5PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Tanmay Bichu (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
Båhushākh
At
Swami Vivekananda Auditorium, RKVM Agarpara, Kolkata.
Saturday, 18th January, 2025, 5PM-9PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Kamalaksha Mukherjee (Harmonium)
Ashavari
At
Gyan Manch, Kolkata
Wednesday, 4th December, 2024, 7.30 PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
SAPTHAK Bangalore
At
Chowdaih Memorial Hall, Bangalore
Sunday, 12th May, 2024, 5.30 PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Rajendra Nakod (Tabla)
Vyasmurti Katti (Harmonium)
Aalor Pothe Raga Dhwani
11th Gurupranam
At
Satyajit Ray Auditorium, ICCR, Kolkata
Saturday, 9th December, 2023, 5PM onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
SRINIKETAN FOUNDATION
At
The Community Center, Flushing, NY
Saturday, 14th October, 2023, 6PM – 10PM
RUCHIRA PANDA
Sandip Ghosh (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
MITHAS
At
MIT Wong Auditorium, Cambridge, MA
Sunday, 8th October, 2023
Vocal Recital : 4pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Nitin Mitta (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
SWARANJALI – ICMDS
At
HINDU TEMPLE, Morrisville, NORTH CAROLINA
Saturday, 16th September, 2023, 6.30pm
RUCHIRA PANDA
Monir Hossain (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
CLASSICAL MUSIC CONFERENCE – W.B.STATE MUSIC ACADEMY
At
RABINDRA SADAN
Friday, 27th January, 2023
Vocal Recital : 6.30 pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabaty (Harmonium)
SOLO EVENING – RUCHIRA PANDA
At
Saptak Archive, Ahmedabad
Saturday, 21st January, 2023, 7 PM
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
SAWAN AAYO – KAILAS SANGEET
At
RABINDRA BHARATHI
Sunday, 26th June, 2022 from 6pm
Vocal Recital : 6.30 pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Rajendra Nakod (Tabla)
Vyasmurthi Katti (Harmonium)
BASANTA – বসন্ত
At
SSVAD Open Air Theatre, Sonajhury Palli, Shantiniketan
Saturday, 19th March, 2022 from 7pm
Vocal Recital : 6.30 pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Gourab Chatterjee (Harmonium)
AANTARIK
At
G. D. BIRLA. SABHAGAR
Sunday, 5th March, 2022
Vocal Recital : 6pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
BASANTA PANCHAM
At
CHANDANNAGAR RABINDRA BHAVAN
Sunday, 15th March, 2020
Vocal Recital : 7pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Soumen Sarkar (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
KOLKATA SUROMURCHHANA
At
UTTAM MANCH
Saturday, 15th February, 2020
Vocal Recital : 7pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Arup Chattopadhyay (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
MEHFIL-E-MUSIC
At
Prachi Apartment
Thursday, 30th January, 2020
Vocal Recital : 7pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Bivash Sanghai (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
DADAR MATUNGA CULTURAL CENTER
At
DADAR MATUNGA CULTURAL CENTER AC SUDITORIUM
Sunday, 19th January, 2020
THUMRI SAMAROH
At
Shastriya Sangeet Mahavidyalaya SabhaKaksh, Maihar
Saturday, 7th December, 2019
Vocal Recital : 6 pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Arvind Azad (Tabla)
Anirban Chakrabarty (Harmonium)
BOLD + BRILLIANT
At
IMI KOLKATA
Sunday, 6th December, 2019
RUCHIRA PANDA
Gururao Deshpande Sangeet Sabha, Bangalore
At
pathi sabhangana, bangalore
saturday 2nd march 2019
Vocal Recital : from 9 pm onwards
PANDITA RUCHIRA PANDA
vidushi jayanti kumaresh
pandita subha mudgal
pandit uday bhavalkar
pandit vinayak torvi
Tirumala Tirupati Devastan
Live From
TIRUMALA
starting from 5th march 2019, Everyday, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm
Vocal Recital : 6 pm onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Kolkata
Hindustani Vocal
BANGIYA SANGIT PARISHAD
At
RABINDRA SADAN
Saturday, 16th February, 2019 from 10pm
Vocal Recital : 3 am onwards
RUCHIRA PANDA
Ashoke Mukherjee (Tabla)
Gourab Chatterjee (Harmonium)
KASHI SANGEET SAMAJ
Varanasi
At
Sabhaghar, Kashi Mumukshu Bhavan, Assi, Varanasi
Sunday, 17th february, 2019, 6pm onwards
Vocal Recital : 3 am onwards