Bhikari Bal Biography 
Bhikari Bal was a bhajan singer from Orissa. This Odia singer is hailed as Bhajan Samrat. His Hindu devotional singer of Odia songs made him immensely popular, though he was associated with different genres of music. During the last years of his life, he was ill, and bedridden for 1 year. He passed away on November 2, 2010 aged 89.
Bhikari Bal was born in Kendrapara district of British India, now a part of modern Odisha. He was born in 1929 to Ramachandra Bal and Gellharani Devi. He lost his parents at a very young age. His father was earlier married to one woman and had one son in this marriage. He married Gellharani Devi after the death of his first wife. Though Gellharani Devi gave birth to many children, none of them survived. For superstition, they named their last son as Bhikari Bal, which literally means beggar. They also sold him to a lower caste family and brought him back, so as to see him survived. However he was survived and lived a long life of 89 years, but his parents died very soon. He was brought up by his step brother.
He studied till 9th grade and he joined a singer’s troupe, a Jatra party, through which he got introduced to the world of music in his teens. He learned to sing and act and play harmonium. He got married at the age of 20. He took the job of an Orissi vocalist at the Kalabikash Kendra, Cuttack and he was only a struggling artist in the 1960s. Later he was mentored by singer Balakrushna Das, and it proved to be the turning point of his career. He finally succeeded as a bhajan singer.
Published: July 28, 2018
Updated: July 28, 2018
