Raghunath Panigrahi

He formed the 'Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Trust' in 1999 to promote the cause of Odishi dance. Since 2001, every year on her birth anniversary, the trust has been giving away scholarships to budding dancers and awarding excellence in the field of Odissi dance.

• Name — Raghunath Panigrahi • Place of death — Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India • Honorific Prefix — Suramani Pandit • Years Active — 1956-2013 • Occupation — Odissi music Guru, singer, composer • Genre — Odissi music • Died — 25 August 2013 • Birthplace — Gunupur, Odisha, India • Born — 10 August 1932

Panigrahi was born on 10 August 1932 in Gunupur, Rayagada, Odisha. Raghunath belonged to a family associated with Odissi music for centuries, members of which were 19th-century Odissi poet-composer Sadhaka Kabi Gourahari Parichha and Gayaka Siromani Apanna Panigrahi who was the royal musician (raja-sangitagya) of Paralakhemundi. He began his musical training under his father, Pt Neeelamani Panigrahi, who had been collecting traditional Odissi melodies of the Gita Govinda from the Jagannatha Temple of Puri. Subsequently, he was placed under the tutelage of the Odissi music exponent Pt Narasingha Nandasarma of Puri. Later, Raghunath continued learning Odissi music under Pt Narasingha Nandasarma and Pt Biswanatha Das.

He sang in Odia, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. Raghunath left a career in film music in Chennai to provide vocal support to his wife, Sanjukta Panigrahi, a noted Odissi performer and composer. He contributed to promoting the life and works of the 12th-century poet Jayadeva and the cult of Lord Jagannatha. Sanjukta-Raghunath performed together for several decades, from the 1960s until the 1990s. After Sanjukta's death in 1997, he was associated with Nrityagram and composed music for many of their productions. In 2012, his elder son, Partha Sarathi Panigrahi, renamed the foundation as ‘Sanjukta and Raghunath Panigrahi Cultural Heritage Foundation’ (SRPF).

He met his future wife dancer Padma Shri Sanjukta Panigrahi at Kalakshetra dance school, subsequently they married in 1960 and had two sons. The elder son, Parthasarathi Panigrahi, Baboo, is a classical and light classical singer. He died on 25 August 2013 of cardiac arrest at his residence in Bhubaneswar at the age of 82.

• Movie — Language — Year — Role • Ilavelpu — Telugu — 1956 — Playback singer • Jayabheri — Telugu — 1959 — Playback singer • Aval Yaar — Tamil — 1959 — Playback singer • Shri Shri Patitapabana — Odia — 1963 — Playback singer • Chinnada Gombe — Kannada — 1964 — Playback singer • Abhinetri — - — 1965 — Choreographer • Sindura Bindu — Odia — 1976 — Playback singer • Mukti — Odia — 1977 — Playback singer • Ahalya — Odia — 1998 — Music director • Nabajanma — Odia — - — Playback singer • Kaa — Odia — - — Playback singer

Raghunath Panigrahi is recorded as having received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padma Shri in arts.