Bhubaneswar, Jan. 12: Veteran music director Prashant Padhi presented his gift to all Jagannath devotees in the New Year in the form of a music album dedicated to the deity. The album was released on Sunday evening at a fair on Exhibition Ground.

Titled Prabhu Darshan, the devotional music album has 30 songs. 'It is in MP3 format to accommodate more songs. All the numbers are based on spiritual ideas and stories related to Lord Jagannath,' said Padhi.

Padhi composed and sang all the songs of this special music album. 'This is an endeavour to give Jagannath devotees the perfect start to their New Year,' said the 55-year old music director who had been working on the album since the past couple of months.The songs have been penned by four writers, including Padhi himself. The other three lyricists are Nirmal Nayak, Jiten Mohanty and Panchanan Padhi.

'We have tried our best to retell old tales in a refreshing way in our songs,' said Nayak.

Padhi had released his last album during the Rath Yatra and is already planning his next one at the time of Nabakalebara. 'Devotees will get a special album filled with emotional bhajans for Lord Jagannath during the Nabakalebara,' he said.

Meanwhile, the music director turned filmmaker is ready with his upcoming film College Time starring Amlan and Riya, which is all set to release on January 23.

'I was working on Prabhu Darshan during the shooting of College Time. But, I have tried to do justice to both. While my music is usually a tribute to the divine, the film is focused completely on the youth,' said Padhi.