Bhupen Hazarika's residence to feature in KMC's heritage list

Kolkata: The Kolkata residence of music maestro Bhupen Hazarika at Golf Club Road in Tollygunge will soon make it to Kolkata Municipal Corporation's (KMC) heritage building list. The matter has been recently approved in the meeting of the Member, Mayor-in-Council (MMiC) at KMC.

Hazarika had spent several years of his life at the three-storied residence and it was his first address in Kolkata when he arrived at the city in 1952. He began his career as a musician in Kolkata and the house used to be the venue for discussions between noted Indian musicians.

Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar (Hemanta Mukherjee), Kishore Kumar and Manna De have all visited the house. Hazarika's famous rendition O Ganga tum Behti ho Kyun, like many other famous songs, was conceived and planned in this house as well.

After he had started working full-fledged in Mumbai and travelled worldwide since the 80s, he settled in Mumbai and from the early 90s the house remained under lock and key.

The KMC is yet to decide the Heritage Grade of the residence. At present there are 1,200 houses of the city in KMC's heritage list. 611 of them are under Grade I, with 197 in Grade II and 109 in Grade III B, while the remaining are yet to be graded.

Hazarika is acknowledged to have introduced the culture and folk music of Assam and Northeast India to Hindi cinema at the national level. He received the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1975.

Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padmashri (1977), and Padmabhushan (2001), Hazarika was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1992) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2008). He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012 and Bharat Ratna in 2019.

His songs, based on the themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, have become popular among the people of Assam, besides Bengal and Bangladesh.

Hazarika was born on September 8, 1926 in Sadiya, Assam and died on November 5 in Mumbai.