Overview

• All India Radio’s MaMahishasuramardini, narrated by Birendra Krishna Bhadra, is scheduled to air on Mahalaya, September 21, 2025, in its unchanged recorded form.
• Uttar Kolkata Sarbojonin Durgoutsav in Shyambazar is presenting the theme “Ebar Shudhu Bhadra Kotha” and will open its pandal to visitors at 4 a.m. on Mahalaya.
• The programme blends Bani Kumar’s script and Pankaj Mullick’s music with songs by artists including Hemanta Mukherjee, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, Sandhya Mukherjee and Manabendra Mukhopadhyay.
• First recorded in 1958 and broadcast as a recording since 1966, the show survived a 1976 replacement attempt featuring Uttam Kumar after public backlash forced AIR to restore the original.
• Bengalis in India and abroad still wake to the pre-dawn recitation, increasingly tuning in on radio and digital platforms as a shared start to the Durga Puja countdown.