Kanika Banerjee Biography 
Kanika Banerjee was a noted Bengali singer of Rabindra Sangeet. Born on October 12, 1924 at Sonamukhi in Bankura district as Anima, she studied classical music and Rabindra sangeet from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. She learnt music lessons from none other than Rabindranath Tagore, who rechristened her as Kanika – one of the titles of his poetry. She also learnt from Dinendra Nath Tagore, Sailajaranjan Majumdar, Indira Devi Chowdhurani and Santidev Ghosh.
She has been a regular artist of Rabindra Sangeet at All India Radio, Kolkata station since 1943. After completing her studies in Santiniketan, she joined Sangeet Bhavana as a teacher. Later she became Head of the Department of Rabindrasangeet and principal. She was made Professor Emeritus of Visva-Bharati. Along with her career as faculty, she used to perform at AIR and has also released a few discs. Her first recorded song was a Bengali Adhunik song composed by Niharbindu Sen. A few of her early songs were released while Tagore was alive. Throughout her life, Kanika Banerjee released over 300 gramophone discs. Apart from Rabindra Sangeet, she has also recorded Bhajans, Nazrulgeeti and Atulprasad's songs. She has also sung in many concerts in Europe and America and her expressed emotions in Tagore’s lyrical compositions made her a popular Rabindra Sangeet Singer. She got married in the year 1945. She was married to Birendra Chandra Bandypadhyay, former deputy librarian of Viswa Bharati University who was a known poet also.
She is often regarded as the Nightingale of Rabindra Sangeet. In 1997, she was honoured with Desikottama, the highest accolade of Visva-Bharati. Several documentary films have also been made based on her life. Rezwana Chowdhury Banya, the popular singer of Bangladesh was a student of Kanika, who has better carried away her singing style and tradition. Both had a striking similarity in singing style. Kanika died at the age of 76, on Wednesday April 5, 2000 after a prolonged illness.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 28, 2014
