Visva-Bharati's Vinaya Bhavana — the school of education — will celebrate the birth centenary of legendary Rabindra Sangeet exponent Kanika Bandopadhyaya on November 10.

Kanika Bandopadhyaya (1924-2000), fondly known as Mohor-di in Santiniketan, was named Kanika by Rabindranath Tagore himself.

Trained by Tagore, she is credited for taking the bard's songs to the world through her inimitable voice, alongside other notable Rabindra Sangeet exponents from Santiniketan such as Santidev Ghosh and Suchitra Mitra.

"Mohor-di was not only connected with Sangit Bhavana; she also played a pivotal role in the growth of what is now Vinaya Bhavana, originally set up as the Art and Craft and Music Teachers' Training Centre in 1948. We have organised this event to honour her contributions," said Samiran Mondal, the principal of Visva-Bharati's Vinaya Bhavana.

The central university will organise the programme in collaboration with the Kanika Bandopadhyaya Memorial Trust (KMMT), an organisation dedicated to preserving and spreading the purity of Tagore's music, art and culture in the Santiniketan tradition.

Priyam Mukherjee, a descendant of Kanika and the secretary of the Trust, told The Telegraph that Kanika’s original name was Anima, which Tagore changed when she was a young girl, impacting her life profoundly.

“It was an evening in 1935 when Rabindranath first met her. He asked her if she knew how to sing. Upon hearing her voice, he instructed her to come and learn music from him. He changed her name from Anima to Kanika. This was not merely a change of name, it transformed her into a personality who would then go on to take Tagore’s songs to the world,” said Mukherjee.

The Trust opened an archive and museum dedicated to Kanika at her Santiniketan home on September 1 this year.

Kanika joined the Sangit Bhavana — the school of dance, drama, and music established by Tagore in the early 1900s — as a teacher.

She eventually became its principal.

She held the title of professor emeritus at Visva-Bharati until her passing in 2000.

"Since 1943, Kanika had been a regular artiste of the Calcutta station of All India Radio and gave performances at the national level in the musical programmes arranged by other stations as honoured artiste. Her gramophone records came out even in the lifetime of the Poet and there are over 300 gramophone discs to her credit," Visva-Bharati wrote while describing Kanika on its website.

Visva-Bharati conferred her with its highest honour, the Desikottama, in 1997.

On February 6, 1997, Lata Mangeshkar visited Santiniketan and met Kanika at her home in the university town.

A source recalled that Lata had expressed a desire to record a Rabindra Sangeet album directed by Kanika.

That was not to be as Kanika passed away in 2000.

The cultural event, titled Kanika Bandopadhyaya Satabarsho Porey (Kanika Bandopadhyaya After 100 Years), will be inaugurated by Visva-Bharati’s acting vice-chancellor Binoy Kumar Saren.

Students of Vinaya Bhavana will start the evening with dances and songs.

Then, popular Rabindra Sangeet artistes such as Srikanta Acharya, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Ranjini Mukhopadhyay, Manini Mukhopadhyay and Ritapa Bhattacharya will perform at the event.

Students from Kanikadhara, a music institution in Santiniketan, will sing the event’s inaugural song.

Mukherjee, who will deliver a speech on Kanika at the university's centenary event at Lipika Auditorium, expressed pride in the collaboration with Visva-Bharati.

“We are proud of the programme to be organised by Visva-Bharati’s Vinaya Bhavana. Kanika Bandopadhyaya nurtured the culture of Santiniketan and Tagore throughout her life, and therefore this event brings us immense joy,” Mukherjee said.