Shri Rakhal Chandra Mohanty was born in 1932 at Tatana in the district of Kendrapara.After matriculating in 1948 he went on to pursue a career in musical studies and earned the highest degree of Masters in Music (Vocal) from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal in 1973. He charted his professional career there after by starting as a music teacher in Odissi Vocal from 1955 to 1973 in Indian College of Music and Dance of Kala Vikash Kendra at Cuttack and climbed the ladder of success to become a top grade music composer of AIR and Doordarshan. His wide ranging composition in both light as well as classical music spearheaded him to the top as an eminent music director for film and the higly popular audio cassette industry.
Rakhal Chandra Mohanty has been extremely fortunate to be associated with the who’s who of the Orissa’s music monarchs like Late Sangeet Sudhakar Balakrishna Das.,Late Pandit Bhubaneswar Mishra,Late Guru Khitish Chandra Maitre and many more. His association with Late Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra added a new dimension in understanding the music composition for dance recitals and he excelled as one of the accompanying vocalists for top graded dancers of the yester years.
Under his belt he carried a series of significant composition and awards. While the compositions were mainly for historical and mythological ballets his crowning glory were consisting of the Gan Pradhan Award (1991),Jivanara Swaralipi(1992),Karuna Kendra (1993) and Santira Pathe (1994) all in a row from AIR Cuttack. The distinguishing awards which needs mention are Geet Govinda Samman from Nikhil Utkal Sangeet Silpi Parisad (1977), Indian School of Dance, Music & Theatre, Canada (1977),Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2002) and many more. He has widely traveled within the country and overseas. His important tour abroad include Germany, USA,Canada,UK,France,USSR,Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.