Mahisasuramardini is a widely popular early Bengali radio programme that has been broadcast since 1931 on All India Radio in Indian state West Bengal. It is a one and half-hour audio montage of Chandipath recitation from the scriptural verses of Sri Sri Chandi or Durga Saptashati, Bengali devotional songs, classical music and a dash of acoustic melodrama. The program has been translated into Hindi set to similar orchestration and is broadcast at the same time for a pan-Indian audience. This programme is aired every year at day-break on Mahalaya. The programme, which started off as a live-performance, has been broadcast in its pre-recorded format since 1966. However, its great popularity remains undiminished even today over 89 years later. This program has become synonymous with Mahalaya which is celebrated to usher the Debipaksha lunar fortnight and the Durga Puja. To this day, most of Bengal wakes up in the chilly pre dawn hours, 4 am to be precise, on the Mahalaya day to tune into the “Mahisasura Mardini” broadcast. Presently the recordings are available as audio cassettes and Compact Disks from HMV-RPG which has obtained the rights from All India Radio. The CD version contains 19 tracks.
, who will always be remembered for making Mahalaya memorable to one and all, is the voice behind the “Mahisasura Mardini.” He recites the holy verses and tells the story of the descent of Durga to earth. It was on the day of Mahalaya, the beginning of "Devipaksha", that the gods and goddesses woke up to prepare themselves for Durga Puja. In 1931, Mahalaya was first broadcast over the radio in Akashvani, Calcutta. The programme was organised by Pankaj Kumar Mallik, Premankur Aatorthi, Birendra Krishna Bhadra, Nripendra Krishna Mukhopadhyay and Raichand Boral. So popular was his version of the recitation that when in 1976, the voice of noted Bengali actor, Uttam Kumar was employed for the programme and renamed it as Durga Durgatiharini did not get favorable response from the audience and it was shifted back to the original version of Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Bhadra died long ago, but his recorded voice still forms the core of the Mahalaya program. In a sonorous voice Bhadra renders the Mahalaya recital for two thrilling hours, mesmerizing every household with the divine aura of his narration, as the Bengalis submerge their souls in quiet moments of prayer.
