The 83-year-old legendary vocalist of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, Ustad Mihir Lala, has passed away. He died yesterday at 7:30 a.m. at his home in the port city.
He is survived by his son and daughter, as well as his wife, Jayanti Lala, a renowned artist recognized for her Nazrul Sangeet performances. His many admirers, as well as his family and friends, are terribly saddened by his passing.
Up till his death, Mihir Lala was the principal of the esteemed music school Arjya Sangeet Chattogram. His widow, Jayanti Lala, claims that he received state honors at the city’s JM Sen Hall, and that the Baluar Dighi Moha Shamshan in Chattogram served as the venue for his funeral.
The date of Ustad Mihir Lala’s birth is January 4, 1941. Despite being born in Cox’s Bazar, he grew up in Chattogram’s Boalkhali upazila. He was the third of Advocate Chandra Vinod Lala and Kuldabala Lala’s eight children. Rabindra Nath Lala, his older brother, was famously Pandit Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay’s first pupil.
Mihir Lala had a strong love of music from an early age. Ustad Abu Bakr Siddiqui was his mentor when he started his musical career, and he later studied with some of the subcontinent’s most renowned music maestros. Additionally, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan was his teacher. In the end, Pandit Barin Majumdar’s guidance was ultimately responsible for his rise to prominence in the classical music industry.
He actively participated in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War as a vocalist for Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. 2018 saw him awarded the Shilpakala Padak in appreciation of his noteworthy contributions to the field of music studies.
