Odisha: Bilung village in Sambalpur dist renamed Rangabati Bilung

Sambalpur: The Bilung village in Sambalpur district of Odisha has been renamed as ‘Rangabati Bilung’. Odisha government issued a letter in this context on Wednesday. The change of name has been done after the famous Sambalpuri language song ‘Rangabati’. Mitrabhanu Gauntia, lyricist of the most famous and ever green song ‘Rangabati’ was born in Bilung.

‘Rangabati’ is the most popular Sambalpuri song. While Jitendra Harpal and Krishna Patel have lent their voice to the song Prabhudatta Pradhan is the composer of the song.

The Rangabati song was first recorded in All India Radio (AIR), Sambalpur in 1975-76. Later it was recorded by a Kolkata based music company and released on disc in 1978-79.

Recognising the popularity of the famous folk song ‘Rangabati’ of Odisha, the state government, on obtaining No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the Government of India, renamed Bilung under Bamra Tehsil in Sambalpur district as ‘Rangabati Bilung’, said a notification issued by the Revenue Department.

Gauntia was born in Bilung village in 1942 and has composed about 1,000 Sambalpuri songs. He received Padma Sri Award in 2020 in addition to Odisha State Sangeet Natak Academy Award and Akashvani National Award for music.