Jitendra Haripal Biography 
Jitendra Haripal is a very popular singer from Odisha. He is best known for Rangabati Song in Sambalpuri language of Odisha. Rangabati is arguably the most popular recorded song in Odisha, and Haripal recorded this song aside Krishna Patel. Known to be an exponent of Sambalpuri language of Odisha, he has recorded over 1000 songs till now. He was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India in 2017 for his overall contributions to the Indian Music. He is active in musical field since 1971 and is a veteran of the same. "Rangabati" was recreated in many other languages of India, including one version for a Telugu movie.
Jitendra Haripal is a school dropout and he never took formal learning in music too. His father Mandhata Haripal was a talented musician, and Jitendra Haripal took musical inspirations from his father. He belonged to a very poor family which couldn’t afford his musical studies. His family didn’t even own a piece of land. Though he didn’t take formal training in music, he know the ragas but not their titles. Later when he established as a singer, music listeners used to tell him about the ragas he used for songs, and also their names.
During his younger days, before he established as a singer he worked as a construction labourer and many other odd jobs to support himself. In those days he was not sure if music would provide him better earning alternatives. He started his career as a singer in All India Radio in 1971, and later became "Senior B High" grade as an artist. He shot to instant fame with Rangabati Song in the 1970s and never looked back after that.
Published: January 05, 2020
Updated: January 05, 2020
