on Sitar, although he was playing the instrument regularly on the All India Radio. Pandit Ravishankar, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan among many others treated him with great respect as a sitarist.

Satyakinkar Bandyopadhyay having lost his father early and from his childhood had rigourous talim under his uncle Sangeetnayak Gopeshwar Bandyopadhyay, a legendary figure of the Vishnupur gharana. He learnt Dhrupad, Khayal, Tappa and playing the Sitar and the Esraj - all under his Guru. A quick learner, he turned into a mature musician by the time he was fifteen or sixteen and started his professional life as a musician under the patronage of jamindars as was the practice in those days. He came to Calcutta in the twenties and since then lived in the city until he died at the age of eighty one in December, 1980.

In his prime, in thirties, forties and fifties, the Sangeetacharya used to be invited to perform at all the major musical gatherings and conferences like the All India Music Conference which used to be held in different parts of India, Shankar Utsaf, Murari Sammelan, All Bengal Music Conference and many others. When the Prince of Wales Edward the eighth came to Calcutta, six rages were chosen to be performed for the Prince. The Sangeetacharya sang raga Megh on that occasion. The five other performers were Ustad Majid Khan, Ustad Fida Hussain Khan, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, Pandit Radhikaprasad Goswami and Sangeetnayak Gopeshwar Bandyopadhyay.

Although amazingly versatile, he received recognition mostly as a vocalist and Khayal was his forte. On the strong foundations of his talim and Vishnupur gharana, he developed his own style - very ornamental with taans, sargams and boltaans and very tuneful and intricate.

In the thirties, HMV and Phonophone Company recorded his singing in discs. In the seventies Inreco published his long-playing record with Malkauns Vilambit on one side and Multan Bengali Khayal and a Nidhubabu Tappa on the other. For long time, he was one of the leading performers on the All India Radio. After Doordarshan got started, he also performed in television several times.

In the last years of his life, the Sangeetacharya got many acclaims. He was awarded visiting professorship from Visva Bharati, Rabindra Bharati and Banaras Hindu Universities. He received special honours from the Nritya Natak Sangeet Academy of West Bengal and Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta. He was also invited at the All India Dhrupad conference at Vrindavan.

His originality and creativity found many avenues - he composed many delightful Bengali and Hindi Vandishes. The Sangeetacharya had also a thoughtful and analytic mind which is evidenced in his two published books 'Sangeet Gyan Pravesh' and 'Rag Abhigyan'. He was strongly in favour of Bengali Vandishes in Khayal. When all India Radio did not allow him to sing Bengali Khayal, he decided to fuit performing on Radio.

Among many of his accomplished students, the most notable is his eldest son Pandit Amiya Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, a very senior and well-known exponent of Khayal and another son Pandit Nihar Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, an established Khayalist.

Sangeetacharya Satyakinkar Bandyopadhyay was a pride of the Vishnupur gharana. Blessed with natural gifts and versatility he followed the path of a true artiste, original and creative. But he never forgot his roots in Vishnupur and was ever respectful of his Guru. The Sangeetacharya will remain within us forever as an artiste and as a human being.