Akshaya Mohanty, The Odisha Musician Who Is Eternal By Name & Lives Through His Music
Twenty-three years after his passing, Akshaya Mohanty’s voice still echoes through Odisha, a timeless reminder of the man who was singing and composing beyond time.
Published : October 13, 2025 at 2:14 PM IST
|Updated : October 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM IST
Bhubaneswar: “I will be remembered only after my death,” Akshaya Mohanty once said and how true those words turned out to be.
Even after 23 years of his passing, his voice still lingers - on the radio, in the streets, in the hum of people who grew up listening to him. You don’t really need a reason or an occasion to remember Khoka Bhai, as he was fondly called. For Odias, every day can be his day. He wasn’t just a singer or a composer; he was a mood, a memory, a presence that refused to fade.
On his 91st birthday this Sunday, an old friend and a veteran instrumentalist Abani Kanta Das who had accompanied him on rhythm for nearly 50 years shared a memory that feels the only truth about the musician. “Khoka Bhai often said people didn’t understand his music while he was alive. ‘But they will, once I am gone,’ he used to say with a smile.” And that’s exactly what happened. His songs, once ahead of their time, now sound timeless.
He came up with music in the most ordinary places - like the marketplace, the tea stall, the street corner. He could turn a passing face into a lyric, a random sound into rhythm. “I remember once meeting him while he was going to the fish market,” recalled Sangita Gosain, a celebrated Odia musician. “When I called out to him, he laughed and asked if I needed a new composition. Before I could answer, he started humming, words, tune, everything, right there amid the crowd and chatter. That was Khoka Bhai. Music came to him as naturally as breathing.”
Nothing perhaps describes Akshaya Mohanty’s life better than the old adage, “If music be the food of love, play on.” And he did, till his very last breath.
Academician and singer Adyasha Das, who performed several of his numbers at the event, said she regrets not having had the chance to sing with him when he was alive. “I love all of Akshaya Mohanty’s songs, though I have a few personal favourites. As a child, I sang at programmes where the maestro was present, but I missed the opportunity to sing with him or to his compositions,” she said. “His music is actually a heritage we must preserve for all times to come.”
Untrained, unguided, and untouched by convention, Akshaya Mohanty’s voice had a rawness that made every song uniquely his. Versatility was his signature - from devotional bhajans like Kene gheni jaucha Jagannathanku to the street ballad Le nabina tike pachaku ana, from Jajabara to Boulo hebi nahi baha hebi nahi, from romantic melodies like Punya ra nadi tire to the philosophical Smruti tume - he did it all in a style that remains unmatched even today.
Seventy-seven-year-old All India Radio's veteran singer Anjali Ray, rendered a few of his patriotic numbers at the event, reminiscing about the singer’s rare ability to mould his voice to any mood or genre. She also sang the legendary singer's Saja Phula number broadcast on All India Radio, Cuttack years ago.
Another music lover and retired banker Ajit Das shared an instance when Akshaya Mohanty would stand amid the crowd and none bothered to even consider him a celebrity. "That was decades back when we used to see him spend time at his favourite haunt, a busy shop in Ashok Nagar. We knew he was Akshaya Mohanty and had sung hundreds of songs. But getting the essence of the music he made and sung affected us late and by then he was gone," he reminisced.
The celebration, organised by Indradhanu, a not-for-profit musical organisation, brought together singers and music lovers across generations under one roof who rendered the musician's songs and shared anecdotes about their association with him. “It has been our effort to keep Akshaya Mohanty’s legacy alive for ages to come,” said Asit Kumar Das, one of the organisers. “We have been hosting this event for years, and we wish to continue the tradition. We may be celebrating Akshaya Mohanty’s birthday, but in truth, we are celebrating Odia music itself,” he added.
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