1.
History of Bengal
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The history of Bengal includes modern-day Bangladesh and West Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, at the apex of the Bay of Bengal and dominated by the fertile Ganges delta. The advancement of civilization in Bengal dates back four millennia, the region was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers act as a marker of the region. Bengal, at times, has played an important role in the history of the Indian subcontinent, the areas early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major Janapadas, while the earliest cities date back to the Vedic period, the region was part of several ancient pan-Indian empires, including the Mauryans and Guptas. It was also a bastion of regional kingdoms, the citadel of Gauda served as capital of the Gauda Kingdom, the Buddhist Pala Empire and Hindu Sena Empire. This era saw the development of Bengali language, script, literature, music, art, from the 13th century onward, the region was controlled by the Bengal Sultanate, Hindu Rajas, and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Isa Khan, a Muslim Rajput chief, afterwards, the region came under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire. Under the Mughals, Bengal Subah generated 50% of the empires GDP, the gradual decline of the Mughals led to quasi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, subsequent Maratha expeditions in Bengal, and finally the conquest by the British East India Company. The British took control of the region from the late 18th century, the company consolidated their hold on the region following the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Battle of Buxar in 1764 and by 1793 took complete control of the region. Kolkata served for years as the capital of British controlled territories in India. The exact origin of the word Bangla is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang/Banga that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Venga, which came from the Austric word Bonga meaning the Sun-god, according to the Mahabharata, a number of Puranas and the Harivamsha Vanga was one of the adopted sons of King Vali who founded the Vanga Kingdom. It was either under Magadh or under Kalinga Rules except few years under Pals. The Muslim accounts refer that Bong, the earliest reference to Vangala has been traced in the Nesari plates of Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala. The records of Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty, who invaded Bengal in the 11th century, shams-ud-din Ilyas Shah took the title Shah-e-Bangla and united the whole region under one government. An interesting theory of the origin of the name is provided by Abul-Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari, from this suffix added to the Bung, the name Bengal arose and gained currency Stone Age tools dating back 20,000 years have been excavated in the state. Remnants of Copper Age settlements in the Bengal region date back 4,000 years, the original settlers spoke non-Aryan languages— they may have spoken Austric or Austro-Asiatic languages like the languages of the present-day Kola, Bhil, Santhal, Shabara, and Pulinda people. At a subsequent age, peoples speaking languages from two other language families— Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman—seem to have settled in Bengal, archaeological discoveries during the 1960s furnished evidence of a degree of civilisation in certain parts of Bengal as far back as the first millennium BC
2.
Bengalis
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The Bengalis, also spelled as the Bangalees, are a major Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group. They are native to the region of Bengal in South Asia and they speak the Bengali language, the most easterly branch of the Indo-European language family. Bengalis are the third largest ethnic group in the world after the Han Chinese, apart from Bangladesh and West Bengal, Bengali-majority populations also reside in Indias Tripura state, the Barak Valley in Assam state and the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The global Bengali diaspora has well-established communities in Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and they have four major religious subgroups, including Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians and Bengali Buddhists. Archaeologists have discovered remnants of a 4,000 years old Chalcolithic civilisation in the greater Bengal region, however evidence of much older Palaeolithic human habitations are found in the form of a Stone Implement and a Hand Axe in Rangamati and Feni districts of Bangladesh. The origin of the word Bangla ~ Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from a tribe called Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. Kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed in and around Bengal and were first described in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BCE as well as in Hindu epic Mahabharata, from the 6th century BCE, Magadha expanded to include most of the Bihar and Bengal regions. It was one of the four kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha and was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BCE, the word is speculated to have come from Gangahrd in reference to an area in Bengal. Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire, one of the first recorded independent kings of Bengal was Shashanka, reigning around the early 7th century. After a period of anarchy, Gopala came to power in 750, atisha was a renowned Bengali Buddhist teacher who was instrumental in revival of Buddhism in Tibet and also held the position of Abbot at the Vikramshila university. Tilopa was also from Bengal region, the Pala dynasty was later followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena Empire. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the century by Sufi missionaries. Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region, bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkic general of the Slave dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords under the Bengal Sultanate for the few hundred years. Islam was introduced to the Sylhet region by the Muslim saint Shah Jalal in the early 14th century, Mughal general Man Singh conquered parts of Bengal including Dhaka during the time of Emperor Akbar. Few Rajput tribes from his army permanently settled around Dhaka and surrounding lands, later on, in the early 17th century, Islam Khan conquered all of Bengal. Other figures have been considered to be part of the Renaissance and he is considered one of the fathers of radio science, and is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction
3.
Bengali renaissance
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This movement questioned existing orthodoxies, particularly with respect to women, marriage, the dowry system, the caste system, and religion. The parallel socio-religious movement, the Brahmo Samaj, developed during time period. Future leaders like Keshub Chunder Sen were as much devotees of Christ, as they were of Brahma and it must also be acknowledged that many of the later Brahmos were also leaders of the freedom movement. The renaissance period after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 saw a magnificent outburst of Bengali literature, while Ram Mohan Roy and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar were the pioneers, others like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee widened it and built upon it. The first significant nationalist detour to the Bengal Renaissance was given by the writings of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, later writers of the period who introduced broad discussion of social problems and more colloquial forms of Bengali into mainstream literature included Saratchandra Chatterjee. The Tagore family, including Rabindranath Tagore, were leaders of this period and had a particular interest in educational reform and their contribution to the Bengal Renaissance was multi-faceted. Indeed, Tagores 1901 Bengali novella, Nastanirh was written as a critique of men who professed to follow the ideals of the Renaissance, in many ways Rabindranath Tagores writings can be seen as imbued with the spirit of the Upanishads. His works repeatedly allude to Upanishadic ideas regarding soul, liberation, transmigration and—perhaps most essentially—about a spirit that all creation not unlike the Upanishadic Brahman. Tagores English translation of a set of poems titled the Gitanjali won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and he was the first Asian to win this award. That was the example at the time but the contribution of the Tagore family is enormous. A serious comparison was started by the dramatis personae of the Bengal renaissance like Keshub Chunder Sen, Bipin Chandra Pal, for about a century, Bengals conscious awareness and the changing modern world was more developed and ahead of the rest of India. The role played by Bengal in the awakening of India is thus comparable to the position occupied by Italy in the European renaissance. Very much like the Italian Renaissance, it was not a mass movement, there were, nevertheless, examples of Muslim intellectuals such as Syed Ameer Ali, Mosharraf Hussain, Sake Dean Mahomed, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Roquia Sakhawat Hussain. The Freedom of Intellect Movement sought to challenge religious and social dogma in Bengali Muslim society, sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a polymath, a physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist, and writer of science fiction. He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made significant contributions to plant science. He is considered one of the fathers of science, and is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction. He was the first from the Indian subcontinent to get a US patent, anil Kumar Gain and Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis were leading mathematicians and statisticians of their time. Gain went on to found Vidyasagar University, while Mahalanobis laid the foundation of the Indian Statistical Institute, satyendra Nath Bose was a physicist, specializing in mathematical physics
4.
Bengali language
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Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in South Asia. With over 210 million speakers, Bengali is the seventh most spoken language in the world. Dominant in the last group was Persian, which was also the source of some grammatical forms, more recent studies suggest that the use of native and foreign words has been increasing, mainly because of the preference of Bengali speakers for the colloquial style. Today, Bengali is the language spoken in Bangladesh and the second most spoken language in India. Both the national anthems of Bangladesh and India were composed in Bengali, in 1952, the Bengali Language Movement successfully pushed for the languages official status in the Dominion of Pakistan. In 1999, UNESCO recognized 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the movement in East Pakistan. Language is an important element of Bengali identity and binds together a diverse region. Sanskrit was spoken in Bengal since the first millennium BCE, during the Gupta Empire, Bengal was a hub of Sanskrit literature. The Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were spoken in Bengal in the first millennium when the region was a part of the Magadha Realm and these dialects were called Magadhi Prakrit. They eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi, Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what are called Apabhraṃśa languages at the end of the first millennium. Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000–1200 AD from Sanskrit, for example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around the 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. Proto-Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty, during the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterized by the elision of word-final অ ô, the spread of compound verbs and Arabic and Persian influences. Bengali was a court language of the Sultanate of Bengal. Muslim rulers promoted the development of Bengali as part of efforts to Islamize. Bengali became the most spoken language in the Sultanate. This period saw borrowing of Perso-Arabic terms into Bengali vocabulary, major texts of Middle Bengali include Chandidas Shreekrishna Kirtana. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the dialect spoken in the Nadia region, a west-central Bengali dialect. Bengali presents a case of diglossia, with the literary
5.
Bengali alphabet
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The Bengali alphabet or Bangla alphabet or Bangali/Bengali script is the writing system for the Bengali language and is the 5th most widely used writing system in the world due to its population. Historically, the script has also used to write Sanskrit in the region of Bengal. From a classificatory point of view, the Bengali script is an abugida, i. e. its vowel graphemes are mainly realised not as independent letters and it is written from left to right and lacks distinct letter cases. It is recognisable, as are other Brahmic scripts, by a horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together which is known as মাত্রা matra. The Bengali script is less blocky and presents a more sinuous shape. The Bengali script evolved from the Kamarupi script, which belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts, Assamese script has an additional character, wô, represented as ৱ, which is absent in the Bengali script. The version of the used for Manipuri is also a different variation, it uses the rô. It also uses the Assamese script character sounding wô, represented as ৱ, the Bengali script was originally not associated with any particular language but was often used in the eastern regions of the Middle kingdoms of India and then in the Pala Empire. It later continued to be used in the Bengal region. It was later standardised into the modern Bengali script by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar under the reign of the East India Company, today, the script holds official script status in Bangladesh and India, and it is associated with the daily life of Bengalis. The Bengali script can be divided into vowel diacritics, consonant and vowel letters, modifiers, digits, the Bengali script has a total of 11 vowel graphemes, each of which is called a স্বরবর্ণ sbôrôbôrnô vowel letter. The sbôrôbôrnôs represent six of the seven vowel sounds of Bengali. All of them are used in both Bengali and Assamese, the two main languages using the script, অ ô /ɔ/ sounds as the default Inherent vowel for the entire Bengali script. As a result, the sound is orthographically realised by multiple means in modern Bengali orthography, usually using some combination of এ, অ, আ, two vowel symbols for the vowel sound and two symbols for the vowel sound. The redundancy stems from the time when this script was used to write Sanskrit, a language that had a short ই and a long ঈ, and a short উ and a long ঊ. The letters are preserved in the Bengali script with their traditional names despite the fact that they are no longer pronounced differently in ordinary speech and these graphemes serve an etymological function, however, in preserving the original Sanskrit spelling in tôtsômô Bengali words. The grapheme called ঋ ri does not really represent a vowel phoneme in Bengali, nevertheless, it is included in the vowel section of the inventory of the Bengali script. This inconsistency is also a remnant from Sanskrit, where the grapheme represents a retroflex approximant, when a vowel sound occurs at the beginning of a syllable or when it follows another vowel, it is written using a distinct letter
6.
Bengali vocabulary
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Bengali is one of the Magadhan languages, evolved from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali languages. The core of Bengali vocabulary is thus etymologically of Magadhi Prakrit, thus making the origins of borrowed and reborrowed words in the Bengali vocabulary numerous and diverse, due to centuries of contact with various languages. However, these figures do not take account the fact that a huge chunk of these words are archaic or highly technical. The productive vocabulary used in literary works, in fact, is made up mostly 67% of native tôdbhôbô words. Deshi and bideshi borrowings together make up the remaining 8% of the used in modern Bengali literature. This table below compares the differences of spoken and used vocabularies in Bangladesh, the most common borrowings from foreign languages come from three different kinds of contact. Later, East Asian travellers and European colonialism brought words from Portuguese, French, Dutch, some very common borrowings are shown below
7.
Bengali Hindu wedding
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Bengali Hindu wedding refers to Bengali wedding with Hindu rites and rituals. A traditional wedding is arranged by Ghotoks, who are friends or relatives of the couple. The matchmakers facilitate the introduction among the family and the prospective bride, Bengali weddings are traditionally in four parts, the brides Gaye Holud, the grooms Gaye Holud, the Beeye and the Bou Bhaat. These often take place on separate days, the first event in a wedding is an informal one, the groom presents the bride with a ring marking the engagement, a system which is gaining popularity. This can sometimes be considered as Ashirwaad, there can be subtle differences in Bengali Hindu marriages in West Bengal and Bangladesh. In Paaka Katha, the parents of the bride/groom, along one or two very close relatives/friends go to the other partys house to formally settle the marriage. It may be followed by a lunch / dinner and it is a kind of acceptance of the boy and the girl on both sides. Gaye Holud – A ceremony in which five or seven married women of the household grind turmeric with mortar and pestle and this brightens up the brides complexion and makes her skin glow. Gaye Holud is also celebrated on grooms side, bor Jatri – The members of the grooms house as well as his friends dress in their best attire and journey to the brides house where the wedding takes place. Then they are served sweets and drinks, the significance is they are winded up securely to each other. Subho Dristi – After saat paak the bride and the groom are made to look at each other in front of all the assembled invitees, the bride is told to remove the paan leaves. This exchange of loving glance is to them to be together officially by the society. Mala Badal – After the circles are completed, still sitting high on the piri, the bride and this is the first step in which they accept each other. Yagna – The bride and groom sit in front of the sacred fire, agni, the fire god is made the divine witness to the marriage. Saptapadi – Seven circular rounds are taken by the couple around the fire thereby solemnising the occasion, anjali – An offering to the fire is made. The brides brother puts puffed rice in the hands of the bride, and they then pour the offering into the fire together. Sindoor Daan and Ghomta – Once again seated at their places in chadnatolla the groom applies sindoor or vermilion on the brides hair-parting. The bride then covers her head with a new sari offered by the groom as ghomta or veil
8.
Gaye holud
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Gaye holud is a ceremony observed mostly in the region of Bengal. It is part of a series of celebrations constituting the Bengali wedding. It originates from the Hindu wedding religious ceremony where Lord Shiva and his bride Sati were applied with Haldi to cool the couple, later adopted in the Indian subcontinent as a wedding ritual and celebration by different communities, it continued in different religions down generations. The gaye holud takes place one or two prior to the religious and legal Bengali wedding ceremonies. The gaye holud may be a joint event for the bride and grooms families, or it may consist of events for the brides family. Separate events are held for the brides gaye holud, the grooms family - minus the groom himself - go in procession to the brides home. They carry with them the wedding outfit and jewelry, wedding decorations such as the turmeric paste and henna, cosmetics, sweets. They may also bring fresh fish dressed as a wedding couple, the procession traditionally centers on the brides female relatives and friends, who traditionally dress in matching clothes. The bride, her attendees, and all the guests traditionally wear red, yellow, orange, nowadays, other colours may be permitted for gaye holud guests. The guests then enjoy a feast, including music, dance and some performances, the bride is seated on a dais, and the henna is used to decorate her hands and feet with elaborate abstract designs. The turmeric paste is applied by the guests to her face, turmeric is known to cleanse, soften and brighten the skin, giving the brides skin the distinctive yellow hue that gives its name to this ceremony. The sweets are fed to the bride by all the guests and attendants. The grooms gaye holud comes next, and has the form as the brides holud ceremony. In this ceremony, the bride does not participate, the groom is accompanied by his younger male relatives and friends, and as with the brides ceremony, the guests traditionally wear red, yellow, green, or orange clothing. The brides family brings the gifts for the groom to his house, the guests exchange sweets with and apply turmeric paste to the groom, and a feast is arranged for the guests from the grooms family. Unlike the bride, the groom does not get applied to his body, henna is only applied to the bride. Although similar ceremonies exist in parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is not considered a function, as it is celebrated by Muslims, Hindus
9.
Walima
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Walima, or the marriage banquet, is the second of the two traditional parts of an Islamic wedding. The walima is performed after the nikah or marriage ceremony, the word walima is derived from awlam, meaning to gather or assemble. It designates a feast in Arabic, Walima is used as a symbol to show domestic happiness in the household post-marriage. While walima is often used to describe a celebration of marriage, it is held to celebrate the birth of a newborn. Scholars have different views on what the time of walima is. Walima in literal translation means to assemble and is used to describe an assembly or party celebrating major life events, Walima is essentially interchangeable with American and English terms such as, wedding reception or celebration, birthday party, or housewarming party. Similarly, walima is generally interchangeable with other terms that essentially mean to assemble for the purposes of celebrating a marriage, newborn. While it is an Arabic term, it is not necessarily a term reserved for Muslims per se, Islamic view of marriage Nikah Nikah urfi The Fiqh Of Walima
10.
Chand Sadagar
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Chand Sadagar, was a rich and powerful merchant of Champak Nagar, Chaygaon in ancient Kamrup. According to Hindu mythology, Chand Sadagar was an ardent devotee of Shiva and she tried all the tricks to force Chand Sadagar to change his mind but he was equally determined and protected himself with the mantras or mystic words he had received from Shiva. However, when Manasa appeared to him as a beautiful woman, thereafter, he lost his supernatural powers that came with the mystic words. He then took the help of Sankara, whose capabilities were more than even his when he had full powers, when Chand Sadagar still refused to be intimidated into worshipping Manasa, she started sending serpents that killed all his six sons. His trading interests collapsed as he did not have the heart to look after them properly, even in the midst of such adversity his determination revived and he set out on a sea voyage to rebuild his business. After a successful business tour he set sail for home, his ship laden with treasure, Manasa launched a storm, and although Chand Sadagar initially survived with support from Durga, she was later asked to withdraw by Shiva on a request from Manasa. Once that happened Chand Sadagar’s ship was wrecked, but Manasa swept him ashore at a place where an old friend Chadraketu lived, chandraketu tried his best to bring him round to the goddess Manasa but Chand Sadagar steadfastly refused. They agreed to be born on earth, one as Chand Sadagar’s son and the other as daughter of Saha, having returned to Champak Nagar, Chand Sadagar managed to rebuild his life. At around the same time Sahas wife gave birth to a daughter, both the children grew up together and were a perfect made-for-each-other, but when their horoscopes were tallied, it was predicted that Lakshmindara would die of snake-bite on the wedding night. However, as both the children were already devotees of Manasa and were so well matched that the marriage went ahead, in spite of all the precautions, Manasa had her way, one of the snakes, sent by her, killed Lakshmindara. To get back her husbands life from the Gods in the heavens and she faced many dangers during her incredibly long and difficult journey. After she pleaded with the goddess, Manasa said, “You deserve to have him back, Chand Sadagar worshipped Manasa on the eleventh day of the waning moon every month. He could not forgive the goddess for all the suffering he had to go through and he offered her flowers with the left hand and turned his face away from her image. Manasa did not hold anything against him for that, from then on Chand Sadagar and his family lived in peace and prosperity. Chand Sadagar’s status and prestige ensured that the worship of Manasa became generally accepted, Champak Nagar is placed in Chaygaon, Kamrup, about 30 km from Guwahati and few in Anga. Excavations in 1934-36 revealed a terraced podium with 172 rectangular blind cells, local mythology associates it with legendary Lakshmindara-Behula. In the Mahasthangarh area in village Chenghispur,700 m west of the north-west corner of the citadel has revealed remains of a temple, the mound is named after Sanoka, wife of Chand Sadagar. The Karatoya once a mighty river but now a stream flows nearby
11.
Bonbibi
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Banbibi, also Bandevi, Bandurga and Byaghradevi is a guardian spirit of the forests venerated by both the Hindu and the Muslim residents of the Sundarbans. She is called upon mostly by the honey-collectors and the woodcutters before entering the forest for protection against the attacks from the tigers and it is believed that the demon king, Dakkhin Rai, an arch-enemy of Banbibi actually appears in the disguise of a tiger and attacks human beings. The narratives of Banbibi are found in several texts named as the Banbibir Keramati or the Banbibir Jahuranama, amongst its earliest poets, Bayanuddin and Mohammad Khater are well known and their texts are almost similar. These texts consist of two episodes, her battle with Dakkhin Rai and the narrative of Dukhe. In The Hungry Tide, his 2004 environmentalist novel, Amitav Ghosh mentioned two accounts of the Banbibi story of Dukheys Redemption. In River of Fire, Qurratul Hyder mentions in footnote that Ban-Bibi is Fatima, daughter of prophet Muhammad, Banbibi is believed as the daughter of Berahim, a faqir from Mecca. When his first wife Phulbibi could not bear any child, Ibrahim married Golalbibi with Phulbibis permission tagged with a condition of fulfilling a wish of her in future, at the same time, God decided to send Banbibi and Shah Jangali from heaven for a divine mission. He instructed them to take birth as the children of Golalbibi, when Golalbibi became pregnant, Ibrahim left her in a forest to satisfy his first wifes wish, as he promised her earlier. Banbibi and Shah Jangali were born in the forest to Golalbibi, allah sent four maids from heaven to take care of them. Golalbibi abandoned Banbibi in the forest left with Shah Jangali in her arms, Banbibi was raised in the forest by a doe. After seven years, Ibrahim understood his mistake and took back Golalbibi, once, while praying at the mosque of the prophet of Islam, Banbibi and Shah Jangali received two magical hats. With the help of those magical hats, they flew to the country of eighteen tides in Hindustan, after reaching there, Shah Jangali gave the adhan. The country of eighteen tides was under the control of the demon king Dakkhin Rai, the sound of adhan reached his ears. He sent his friend Sanatan Rai to enquire about them, when, Sanatan informed him about the duo, he decided to throw them out of his territory. While he was about to go into the battle, his mother Narayani prevented him going and she herself went with her army of ghosts. Banbibi defeated Narayani after a long battle, but out of mercy, she returned the half of the erstwhile kingdom of Narayani and her son. Narayani became a friend of Banbibi, while the inhabited part of the Sunderbans is believed as the realm of Banbibi, Dakkhin Rai is believed as the ruler of the deep forest. Once, there were two Moule brothers, Dhona and Mona in a named, Barijhati
12.
Manasa
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Manasa is the sister of Vasuki, king of Nāgas and wife of sage Jagatkāru. She is also known as Vishahara, Nityā and Padmavati and her myths emphasize her bad temper and unhappiness, due to rejection by her father Shiva and her husband, and the hatred of her stepmother, Chandi. In some scriptures, sage Kashyapa is considered to be her father, rather than Shiva, Manasa is depicted as kind to her devotees, but harsh to people who refused to worship her. Denied full godhead by her parentage, Manasa’s aim was to fully establish her authority as a goddess. Originally a Adivasi goddess, Manasa was accepted in the pantheon worshipped by Hindu lower caste groups, later, she was included in higher caste Hindu pantheon, where she is now regarded as a Hindu goddess rather than a tribal one. As a Hindu goddess, she was recognized as a daughter of sage Kashyapa and Kadru, by the 14th century, Manasa was identified as the goddess of fertility and marriage rites and was assimilated into the Shaiva pantheon as a relative of Shiva. Myths glorified her by describing that she saved Shiva after he drank poison and her popularity grew and spread to Southern India, and her cult began to rival Shaivism itself. As a consequence, stories attributing Manasas birth to Shiva emerged, Manasa is depicted as a woman covered with snakes, sitting on a lotus or standing upon a snake. She is sheltered by the canopy of the hoods of seven cobras, sometimes, she is depicted with a child on her lap. The child is assumed to be her son, Astika and she is often called the one-eyed goddess and among the Hajong tribe of northeastern India she is called Kānī Dīyāʊ, as one of her eyes was burnt by her stepmother Chandi. The Mahabharata tells the story of Manasas marriage, sage Jagatkāru practiced severe austerities and had decided to abstain from marriage. Once he came across a group of men hanging from a tree upside down and these men were his ancestors, who were doomed to misery as their children had not performed their last rites. So they advised Jagatkāru to marry and have a son who could free them of those miseries by performing the ceremonies, Vasuki offered his sister Manasas hand to Jagatkāru. Manasa mothered a son, Astīka, who freed his ancestors, Astika also helped in saving the Nāga race from destruction when King Janamejaya decided to exterminate them by sacrificing them in his Yajna, fire offering. Puranas are the first scriptures to speak about her birth and they declare that sage Kashyapa is her father, not Shiva as described in the Mangalkavyas. Once, when serpents and reptiles had created chaos on the earth, the creator god Brahma made her the presiding deity of snakes and reptiles. Manasa gained control over the earth, by the power of mantras she chanted, Manasa then propitiated the god, Shiva, who told her to please Krishna. Upon being pleased, Krishna granted her divine Siddhi powers and ritually worshipped her, Kashyapa married Manasa to sage Jaratkaru, who agreed to marry her on the condition that he would leave her if she disobeyed him
13.
Thakurmar Jhuli
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Thakurmar Jhuli is a collection of Bengali folk tales and fairy tales. Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder was the person who first collected some folk-stories of Bengali, the Nobel-Laureate, Rabindranath Thakur wrote the introduction to the compilation. Since then, it has become a favourite of Bengali children, over the years, it has become a household name in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Some characters and stories like Lalkamal-Nilkamal and Byangoma-Byangomi have gained a legendary status, hundreds of edition of the book have been published from Bangladesh and West Bengal since the original publication. An English translation by Rina Pritish Nandy has been available lately, the tales in Thakurmar Jhuli follow the structure of the parable and often conclude with a moral. They are also known to make use of fantastical scenarios. Binaries of good and evil are common tropes, as is the use of talking animals, kiranmala is a Bengali fantasy television series based on some stories of Thakurmar Jhuli, which airs on STAR Jalsha channel from August 4,2014. All the works of Majumdar are titled after a grandparent, who is the fragile yet robust representative of the era and thereby embody a sense of heritage. The tales are expressed in a manner that relates to a culture and time. The original tales of legends, rites, rituals, and myths were mostly narrated and propagated through oral traditions to provide moral, when the stories are digitized, the same messages are often adapted for a more recent and contemporary audience, thus preserving their relevance. Tales my Grandmother Told Me Watch Thakurmar Jhuli
14.
Nasreddin
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He is considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes. He appears in thousands of stories, sometimes witty, sometimes wise, but often, too, a Nasreddin story usually has a subtle humour and a pedagogic nature. The International Nasreddin Hodja fest is celebrated between 5 and 10 July in his hometown every year, claims about his origin are made by many ethnic groups. The alleged tomb of Nasreddin is in Akşehir and the International Nasreddin Hodja Festival is held annually in Akşehir between 5–10 July, according to Prof. Mikail Bayram who made an extensive research on Nasreddin, his full name is Nasir ud-din Mahmood al-Khoyi, his title Ahi Evran. He was sent to Anatolia by the Khalif in Baghdad to organize resistance and he served as a kadı in Kayseri. This explains why he addresses judicial problems in the not only religious ones. During the turmoil of the Mongol invasion he became an opponent of Persian Rumi. He was addressed in Masnavi by juha anecdotes for this reason and he became the vazir at the court of Kaykaus II. As generations have gone by, new stories have been added to the Nasreddin corpus, others have been modified, the themes in the tales have become part of the folklore of a number of nations and express the national imaginations of a variety of cultures. Although most of them depict Nasreddin in an early small-village setting and they purvey a pithy folk wisdom that triumphs over all trials and tribulations. The oldest manuscript of Nasreddin dates to 1571, today, Nasreddin stories are told in a wide variety of regions, especially across the Muslim world and have been translated into many languages. Some regions independently developed a similar to Nasreddin, and the stories have become part of a larger whole. In many regions, Nasreddin is a part of the culture. Since there are thousands of different Nasreddin stories, one can be found to fit almost any occasion, 1996–1997 was declared International Nasreddin Year by UNESCO. Some people say that, whilst uttering what seemed madness, he was, in reality, divinely inspired, many peoples of the Near, Middle East, South Asia and Central Asia claim Nasreddin as their own. In several cultures he is named by the title alone, in Arabic-speaking countries this character is known as Juha, Djoha, Djuha, Dschuha, Chotzas, Goha. Juha was originally a folk character found in Arabic literature as early as the 9th century. Lore of the two characters became amalgamated in the 19th century when collections were translated from Arabic into Turkish, in Sicily and Southern Italy he is known as Giufà
15.
Alif Laila
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Alif Laila is a TV series based on the stories from One Thousand and One Nights. It was produced by Sagar Films and it was made in two seasons. The first season was aired on DD National and season two on ARY Digital, popularity of the show lead to it being broadcast in Bengali on BTV, and ETV. The show started re-airing from 2012 on every weekdays on Dhamaal TV, the plot line of the series starts right from the very beginning when Scheherazade starts telling stories to Shahryar. Alif Laila contains both the well-known and the stories from One Thousand and One Nights which are mentioned here. Actual word is Alf Laila meaning thousand nights, prologue to The Story of King Shahryar and Queen Scheherazade. The episodes of Alif Laila was released on both VCD and DVD format, the DVD release was marketed as 20 volumes consisting of 143 episodes, while the VCD released as 50 sets. There also been DVD and VCD releases of single story arcs, Alif Laila was the winner of Most Outstanding T. V. Serial awarded by India Cine-goers Academy. K, sodhi, Ramesh Ambavale, Akhtar, Vinod, Nagesh played minor roles in every story arc. Suraj Kiran composed Mehbooba Mehbooba for a scene during Sinbad arc, bollywood singers Suresh Wadkar, Asha Bhosle, Kavita Subramaniam, Mohd. Aziz, Mitali Choudhary, Chetna, Usha Mangeshkar, Satish Dehra, Sushil Kumar, Vasi Raza, etc. lend their voices to the Arabic-themed songs for the first season
16.
Bengali cuisine
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Bengali cuisine is a culinary style originating in Bengal, a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, which is now divided between Bangladesh and West Bengal. Other regions, such as Tripura, and the Barak Valley region of Assam also have large native Bengali populations, with an emphasis on fish, vegetables and lentils are served with rice as a staple diet. Bengali cuisine is known for its subtle flavours, and its spread of confectioneries, Bengali food has inherited a large number of influences, arising from a historical and strong trade links with many parts of the world. Bengal fell under the sway of various Turkic rulers from the thirteenth century onwards. The Jews brought bakeries to Bengal and the families of Wajid Ali Shah. British patronage and the Babu Renaissance fueled the development of different culinary strands into a distinct heritage. From the culinary point of view, some major historical trends influenced Bengali food, Bengal has been ruled by Muslim governors since the days of the Delhi Sultanate, five short-lived, Delhi-based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. However, for more than 500 years, Muslim rule in Bengal was centred in Dhaka, trade routes going from Delhi to Dhaka traversed almost the entire width of todays Bengal, crossing most major rivers. Dhaka evolved a vibrant cuisine based heavily on the influence of the Mughal courts, popularly called Mughlai cuisine and characterised by rich sauces and these food traditions continued in the courts of the Nawabs of Bengal. Though defeated by the British in 1757, they continued as puppet rulers of Bengal until 1880, with their courts, manners and cuisine maintained by doles from the English. Another key influence to the food came much later, when Wajid Ali Shah, concerning Awadhi cuisine, the Nawab is said to have brought with him hundreds of baburchis, khansamas and moshlachis. While deriving from Mughlai cuisine, Awadh preferred mutton to beef and was liberal in the use of attor of aromatics such rose or ketoki and this is the other reason a shift occurred from using beef to using mutton instead. The recipes that have a Mughal Bengali influence do not use mustard, the reason mustard was not used is that it was not appreciated much by the Mughals and was avoided. The Christian influence came to Bengal a few hundred years after its arrival on the Western borders of India, while the religion spread among the population, the region remained isolated from the political and religious centres of Christian India. This meant that people retained many of their customs, especially food habits. Though the Dutch and the French also had colonies in West Bengal and that came from the British, and other Western immigrants such as the Baghdadi Jews who set up Kolkatas famous Jewish bakeries. West Bengals flourishing community of Anglo-Indians formed a once-influential cuisine, the key culinary influence of the Christian community was the ritual of tea. Baking, which was pretty much unknown until the British came along, the popularity of baked confectioneries was a direct result of the British popularising the celebration of Christmas
17.
Pahela Baishakh
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Pahela Baishakh, also called Pohela Boishakh, is the traditional new year day of the Bengali people. The festival date is set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar as the first day of its first month Baishakh and it therefore almost always falls on or about 14 April every year on the Gregorian calendar. The festival is celebrated with processions, fairs and family time, the traditional greeting for Bengali New Year is শুভ নববর্ষ Shubho Nabobarsho which is literally Happy New Year. The festive Mangal Shobhajatra is organized in Bangladesh, in 2016, the UNESCO declared this festivity organized by the Dhaka University as a cultural heritage of humanity. In Bengali, Pahela stands for ‘first’ and Baishakh is the first month of the Bengali calendar, Bengali New Year is referred to in Bengali as Nababarsha. During the Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar and this calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles. Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, according to some historians, this started the Bengali calendar. According to Shamsuzzaman Khan, and Nitish Sengupta, the origin of the Bengali calendar is unclear, some historians attribute it to the 7th century king Shashanka. The term Bangabda is found too in two Shiva temples much older than Akbar era, suggesting that Bengali calendar existed before Akbars time and it is also unclear, whether it was adopted by Hussain Shah or Akbar. The tradition to use the Bengali calendar may have started by Hussain Shah before Akbar. Vaishakhi is an ancient harvest festival of India, particularly the Punjab region, Vaisakhi, also spelled Baisakhi, is observed by both Hindus and Sikhs. The current Bengali calendar in use in the Indian states is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta and it retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh. Their calendar remains tied to the Hindu calendar system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals, for Bengalis of West Bengal and other Indian states, the festival falls either on 14 or 15 April every year. This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987, since then, the national calendar starts with and the new year festival always falls on 14 April in Bangladesh. The Bengali New Year is observed as a holiday in Bangladesh. It is celebrated across religious boundaries by its Muslim majority and Hindu minority, the day is marked with singing, processions, and fairs. Traditionally, businesses start this day with a new ledger, clearing out the old, singers perform traditional songs welcoming the new year. People wear festive dress with women desking their hair with flowers, white-red color combinations are particularly popular
18.
Ekushey Book Fair
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The Ekushey Book Fair or Amar Ekushe Grantha Melā, popularly known as Ekushey Boi Mela is the national book fair of Bangladesh. It is arranged each year by Bangla Academy and takes place for the month of February in Dhaka. This event is dedicated to the martyrs who died on 21 February 1952 in a calling for the establishment of Bengali as one of the state languages of former East Pakistan. Muktodhara Publishing house started a sale in front of Bangla Academy in the 21 February 1972. Chittaranjan Saha of Muktodhara took the initiative, later, other book publishers joined unofficially. Gradually it became official and the most popular fair of Bangladesh. Bangla Academy took over organization of the fair in 1978, in 1984 it was named Amar Ekushey Book Fair. Notably, in 1990s, another national book fair called Dhaka Boi Mela was initiated and this book fair is organized by government in February every year. Boi Mela started merely as a fair, it has evolved into a national cultural festival reflecting the cultural spirit of the modern Bengali nation. In addition to sales, Bangla Academy organizes literary and cultural events every day. Thousands of people gather to purchase books and to time in the company of books. Publishers of Bangladesh take year-long preparation to publish a number of books during this month. In 2008,362 book stalls were set up by publishers, book sellers and such other organization including Bangla Academy, the venue of the book festival and outside is decorated with banners, festoons and placards in conformity with the spirit of Amar Ekushey. The fair venue is free from smoking and polythene and it is the cultural reunion of Bangladesh where nearly every writing-related person comes. Attracted by discounted price, readers rush there, given the importance, generally head of government inaugurates the fair on the first day of February. TV stations live broadcast the inaugural ceremony, usually, the fair continues from 1 February to the 28th. It is limited only in Bangla Academys boundary, the Ministry of Culture is in control of the fair while the Academy does the groundwork. Usually the Prime Minister inaugurates the fair, between 300 and 400 publishing houses takes part
19.
Nabanna
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Nabanna is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music in Bangladesh and in the Indian State of West Bengal. It is a festival of food, many preparations of Bengali cuisine like pithe are cooked and offered. The festival is celebrated with mela which are called nabanna mela and it is one of the numerous festivals that gave the name baro mase tero parban to the land of Bengal. Although the nabanna parban is somewhat different from other ones since it is not connected to a such as Ratha Yatra. The villagers and locals from both the religious groups join the festival with equal participation. There are also several fertility rituals which make the festival truly a harvest ritual, the festival gets a lot of support from the creative army of Bengali culture. Several poets, musicians, baul and painters flock to such mass gatherings, there is a famous play written on nabanna by Bijon Bhattacharya which depicts the sad incident of the great Bengal Famine of 1943. Nowadays the Festival Nabanna is celebrating every Bengali year in Dhaka, mr. Shahriar Salam is main planner of the organisation. There are huge number of activists, organisations & performing in a day long festival. Traditional Dance, Song & Rally arranging by the Committee, once upon a time 1st Agrahayan was the first day of Bengali New Year. It is a festival in Bengal. Below is a found in west Bengal on one such mela website. People from several villages of Howrah and even from other districts of West Bengal come here, people not only come to visit the Mela. In addition, they participate in cultural programmes and competitions like Pithe Making, Seat-and Draw. An Art-Camp may attract creative minded people where artists from different states will participate, some rare items of rural Bengal as Dhenki, paddy of different varieties directly from the farmers house are to be exhibited in the Exhibition ground. You can taste some delicious Bengali dishes like Pati-sapta, Payesh, bengals time-honoured culture and heritage will be presented to you in forms of Baul song, Chhou-dance, Jatra, Tarja, Kobi-gaan, etc. These artists come from different parts of the state to perform their talent, moreover, you can refurbish your collection of folk arts from the exhibition-cum-sale stalls of handicrafts made by rural artisans. Several dance and music forms have grown out of the ritual accompanied with the festival, also the name nabanna is associated to several rural welfare projects and banks
20.
Kolkata Book Fair
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It is a unique book fair in the sense of not being a trade fair – the book fair is primarily for the general public rather than whole-sale distributors. It is the worlds largest non-trade book fair, Asias largest book fair and it is the worlds third largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair. Many Kolkatans consider the book fair an inherent part of Kolkata, the fair offers a typical fairground experience with a book flavour – with picnickers, singer-songwriters, and candy floss vendors. With a total footfall of over 2 million people, it is worlds largest book fair by attendance. The success of the Kolkata Book Fair has resulted in many fairs in smaller cities in West Bengal like Siliguri. The popularity of the Kolkata Book Fair was seminal in India being nominated the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006, the book fair has been celebrated in theatre, literature, songs and limericks in Kolkata. The book fair was started on a scale in 1976 by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild. The book fair was started to meet the public demand for books. The fair traditionally starts on the last Wednesday of January, and it was initially a week-long event but popular demand forced authorities to extend the duration to 12 days in 2005. Even though there is usually a holiday in Calcutta during the period of 23 January to 26 January. The fair typically overlaps with the Hindu festival of Saraswati Puja, Saraswati is the Goddess of Learning, and hence many Hindu households observe the day by worshiping books on that day and not touching books for any other purpose. This practice causes a lower footfall on the day in the book fair. Since year 2009, the fair has been held in its new location at Milan Mela near Science City on E. M. Bypass, the initial apprehension about reduced attendance at the new site has been proven wrong. Millions visited the fair in 2009. The fair used to be held on the Maidan, Kolkatas large urban park and it was being held at the Park Street end of the Maidan, due to a better road and rail network, having moved there from the other end of Maidan in 1991. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kolkata played host to two book fairs, one by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild, and one by the Government of West Bengal − the Grontho Mela. Grontho Mela was held from late December until early January, and was the showcase for books published by Government-run publishing houses. While this was initially a commercial venture, the unprecedented growth of the Kolkata Book Fair caused the Government of West Bengal to merge the two book fairs in 1992
21.
Poush Mela
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Poush Mela is an annual fair and festival that takes place in Santiniketan, in Birbhum District in the Indian state of West Bengal, marking the harvest season. Commencing on the 7th day of the month of Poush, the fair lasts for three days, although vendors may stay until the month-end. The key characteristic of this fair include live performances of Bengali folk music, devendranath Tagore with twenty followers accepted the Brahmo creed from Ram Chandra Vidyabagish on 21 December 1843. This was the basis of Poush Utsav at Santiniketan A Brahma mandir was established at Santiniketan on 21 December 1891, a small fair was organised in 1894 in connection with the establishment anniversary of the Brahma mandir, in the ground opposite the mandir. What started as a small homely Poush Mela now attracts attention of not only the people of Birbhum district, in earlier days the mela was held in the ground on the north side of Brahma mandir. On that day, a display was held in earlier days after evening prayers. As the mela increased in size, it was shifted to the field in Purbapalli, Poush Utsav is inaugurated on 7 Poush. At dawn, Santiniketan wakes up to the music of shehnai. The first to enter the scenario is the Vaitalik group, who go round the ashrama singing songs and it is followed by a prayer-meeting at Chhatimtala. Then the entire congregation moves on to Uttarayan singing songs, Poush Mela is characterized by the live performances of Bengali folk music, especially the baul music. It includes folk songs, dances and tribal sports and this fair offers a perfect insight of true heritage of the state. The students of Santiniketan present their magnificent performance and make this festival more enjoyable, each day of this festival is filled with different activities. The last day of fair is devoted to those who are related to Santiniketan. Some 1,500 stalls take part in the fair, the number of tourists pouring in for the three-day fair is around 10,000. Obviously, many of them do stay back in Santiniketan, which has 85 lodges with accommodation for 1,650, beside of this, room on rent can be hired for some days. Local printed fabrics and handicrafts are available in the stalls erected during the fair, visva-Bharati University Jaydev Kenduli Fairs in Birbhum Santiniketan travel guide from Wikivoyage
22.
Durga Puja
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Durga Puja, also called Durgotsava and Navaratri, is an annual Hindu festival in the Indian subcontinent that reveres the goddess Durga. It is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, typically September or October of the Gregorian calendar and it is a major festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism across India and Shakta Hindu diaspora. Durga Puja festival marks the battle of goddess Durga with the shape-shifting, deceptive and powerful buffalo demon Mahishasura, and her emerging victorious. Thus, the festival epitomises the victory of Good over Evil, the primary goddess revered during Durga Puja is Durga, but her stage and celebrations feature other major deities of Hinduism such as goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya. The latter two are considered to be children of Durga, the Hindu god Shiva, as Durgas husband, is also revered during this festival. The festival begins on the first day with Mahalaya, marking Durgas advent in her battle against evil, starting with the sixth day, the goddess is welcomed, festive Durga worship and celebrations begin in elaborately decorated temples and pandals hosting the statues. Lakshmi and Saraswati are revered on the following days, the festival is an old tradition of Hinduism, though it is unclear how and in which century the festival began. The prominence of Durga Puja increased during the British Raj in its provinces of Bengal, Durga Puja has been a ten day festival, of which the last five are typically special and an annual holiday in regions such as West Bengal and Tripura where it is particularly popular. In the contemporary era, the importance of Durga Puja is as much as a festival as a religious one wherever it is observed. In Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Durga Puja is also called Akalbodhan, Sharadiya Pujo, Sharodotsab, Maha Pujo, Maayer Pujo, Durga Pujo, in Bangladesh, Durga Puja used to be celebrated as Bhagabati Puja. It is also called Durga Puja in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Delhi, Durga is an ancient deity of Hinduism, according to archeological and textual evidence available. However, the origins of Durga puja are unclear and undocumented. The word Durga, and related terms appear in the Vedic literature, such as in the Rigveda hymns 4.28,5.34,8.27,8.47,8.93 and 10.127, and in sections 10.1 and 12.4 of the Atharvaveda. A deity named Durgi appears in section 10.1.7 of the Taittiriya Aranyaka, while the Vedic literature uses the word Durga, the description therein lacks the legendary details about her or about Durga puja that is found in later Hindu literature. A key text associated with Durga puja observations is Devi Mahatmya, Durga was likely well established before the time this Hindu text was composed, which scholars variously estimate to between 400 to 600 CE. Durga calmly understands and counters the evil in order to achieve her solemn goals, Durga, in her various forms, appears as an independent deity in the Epics period of ancient India, that is the centuries around the start of the common era. Both Yudhisthira and Arjuna characters of the Mahabharata invoke hymns to Durga and she appears in Harivamsa in the form of Vishnus eulogy, and in Pradyumna prayer. The prominent mention of Durga in this popular epics may have led to her worship, the Indian texts that mention the Durga Puja festival are inconsistent
23.
Bengal School of Art
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Havell, the principal of the Government College of Art, Kolkata from 1896, eventually it led to the development of the modern Indian painting. This caused controversy, leading to a strike by students and complaints from the local press, Havell was supported by the artist Abanindranath Tagore, a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore painted a number of works influenced by Mughal art, a style that he and Havell believed to be expressive of Indias distinct spiritual qualities, as opposed to the materialism of the West. Tagores best-known painting, Bharat Mata, depicted a woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities. Tagore later attempted to develop links with Japanese artists as part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art, through the paintings of Bharat Mata, Abanindranath established the pattern of patriortism. Painters and artists of Bengal school were Nandalal Bose, M. A, the Bengal schools influence in India declined with the spread of modernist ideas in the 1920s. As of 2012, there has been a surge in interest in the Bengal school of art scholars and connoisseurs. Sanat Chatterjee is one of the last living pioneers of Bengal School of art and he studied under Asit Kumar Haldar for around fifteen years. According to Siva Kumar, This happened because early writers were guided by genealogies of apprenticeship rather than their styles, worldviews and his ideas on this issue are formulated in the catalogue essay of the exhibition Santiniketan, The Making of a Contextual Modernism. Contextual Modernism Modern Indian painting Indian Fine art Progressive Artists Group Tanjore painting Rajput painting Madhubani painting New Indian Art Havell, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Anthology of Indian Art Art Galleries in India Which Way Indian Art. by Mukul Dey Profile of a Pioneer, Sarada Ukil by Satyasri Ukil Kokka and the Early Neo-Bengal School Masters
24.
Kalighat painting
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From the depiction of Hindu gods, god, and other mythological characters, the Kalighat paintings developed to reflect a variety of themes. In the nineteenth century, the school of painting that was flourishing in Bengal was the traditional art of scroll paintings that was popular in the rural areas. These paintings were done on cloth or patas and they depicted conventional images of gods and goddesses and scenes from epics like Tulsidas’ Rama charita manas. The artistes were villagers who travelled from place to place with their paintings and sang the scenes from the epics depicted in the paintings during village gatherings. These artists, called patuas or ‘painters on cloth’ were said to be half Hindu and half Muslim, meanwhile, the British, having established themselves in the country politically started to evince interest in art, literature, and music. They set up institutions that imparted a European style of training to Indian artists. The Calcutta School of Art was one school and attracted traditional artists–the patuas—to the city. Initially these artists were concentrated around the temple at Kalighat where there was a demand for religious art, gradually, they started to learn from the newer techniques and discovered that these could help them increase their earnings. They started creating new forms of art and the Kalighat painting was born, the Kalighat School was an agreeable and unique blend of two different styles of painting—the Oriental and the Occidental—and steadily gained popularity. Among the deities that the Kalighat artists painted, the goddess Kali was a favorite, Images of Durga, Lakshmi, and Annapurna were also popular, especially during the Durga Puja festival. The artists also portrayed themes like Sita-Rama, Radha-Krishna and the exploits of Hanuman, another theme depicted, dear to the Bengali ethos, was that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his disciples. But the Kalighat artists did not restrict themselves to religious themes and their paintings depicting different professions and costumes were also popular with the tourists. Even contemporary events like crime were the subject of many paintings, the artists also chose to portray secular themes and personalities and in the process played a role in the Independence movement. They painted heroic characters like Tipu Sultan and Rani Lakshmibai, an important achievement of the Kalighat artistes was that they made simple paintings and drawings, which could easily be reproduced by lithography. Such prints were then hand coloured and this trend continued up to the early part of the twentieth century and these paintings ended up in museums and private collections. The charm of the Kalighat paintings lies in the fact that they captured the essence of daily life, a history of Indian painting, the modern period. Kalighat Paintings ISBN 81-7436-135-9, by Aditi Nath Sarkar and Christine Mackay Kalighat Painting, Images from a Changing World Kossak, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Indian painting Madhubani painting Mughal painting Rajput painting Tarakeswar affair, a theme in the paintings Kalighat Paintings of West Bengal Som
25.
Charyapada
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The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Bengal. It was written in Proto-Bengali between between the 8th and 12th centuries and it is said to be the oldest collection of written in those languages. A palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyapada was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Haraprasad Shastri at the Nepal Royal Court Library, the Charyapada was also preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. As songs of realization, the Charyapada were intended to be sung and these songs of realisation were spontaneously composed verses that expressed a practitioners experience of the enlightened state. The revellers may also improvise songs of realization to express their heightened clarity, Haraprasad Shastri at that time was a librarian of Asiatic Society, Calcutta and was engaged in a self-assigned mission to trace and track ancient Bengali Manuscripts. His first and second trip to Nepal in 1897 and 1898 partly met with success as he could collect a good number of folklore written in Pali. However, after he discovered the manuscripts in 1907, all written on trimmed palm leaves having the size of 12. 8x0.9 inches. According to a section of historians the original numbers of verses and this manuscript is presently preserved at the National Archives of Nepal. Later Prabodhchandra Bagchi published a manuscript of a Tibetan translation containing 50 verses, the Tibetan translation provided additional information like the Sanskrit commentary in the manuscript known as Charyagiti-koshavrttiwas written by Munidatta. It also mentions that the text was translated by Shilachari. The manuscript of the Charyapada discovered by Haraprasad Shastri from Nepal consists 47 padas, the title-page, the colophon-page, the pages 36,37,38,39 and 66 containing the padas 24,25 and 48 and their commentaries were missing in this manuscript. The 47 verses of this manuscript were written by 22 Mahasiddhas, or Siddhacharyas, in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon version of the text and its commentary 50 padas are found, which include the padas 24,25 and 48 and the complete form of the pada 23. Pada 25 was written by the Siddhacharya poet Tantripāda, who work was not found earlier, in his commentary on pada 10, Munidatta mentioned the name of another Siddhacharya poet, Ladidombipāda, but no pada written by him has been discovered so far. The names of the Siddhacharyas in Sanskrit are mentioned prior to each pada, probably, the Sanskrit names of the Siddhacharya poets were assigned to each pada by the commentator Munidatta. Modern scholars doubt whether these assignments are proper on the basis of the internal evidences, controversies also exist amongst the scholars as to the original names of the Siddhacharyas. The poets and their works as mentioned in the text are as follows, so in many cases the literal meaning of a word does not make any sense. As a result, every poem has a descriptive or narrative surface meaning, Some experts believe this was to conceal sacred knowledge from the uninitiated, while others hold that it was to avoid religious persecution. An attempt was made to decipher the secret tantric inheritance of Charyapada, Haraprasad Shastri, who discovered a few Charyapada, considered that it was written during the 10th century
26.
Layla and Majnun
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Layla and Majnun is a love story between Qais ibn Al-Mulawah and Layla that took place in the 7th century Arabia. The Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi also wrote a poem praising their love story in the 10th century who also wrote Khosrow. It is the third of his five long poems, Panj Ganj. Lord Byron called it “the Romeo and Juliet of the East. ”Qays and Layla fall in love each other when they are young. Qays becomes obsessed with her, and the community gives him the epithet Majnun, long before Nizami, the legend circulated in anecdotal forms in Iranian akhbar. The early anecdotes and oral reports about Majnun are documented in Kitab al-Aghani, the anecdotes are mostly very short, only loosely connected, and show little or no plot development. Nizami collected both secular and mystical sources about Majnun and portrayed a vivid picture of the famous lovers, subsequently, many other Persian poets imitated him and wrote their own versions of the romance. Nizami drew influence from Udhrite love poetry, which is characterized by erotic abandon and attraction to the beloved, Other notable reworkings are by Maktabi Shirazi, Hatefi, and Fuzûlî, which became popular in Ottoman Turkey and India. Sir William Jones published Hatefis romance in Calcutta in 1788, the number and variety of anecdotes about the lovers also increased considerably from the twelfth century onwards. Mystics contrived many stories about Majnun to illustrate technical mystical concepts such as fanaa, divānagi, self-sacrifice, Nizamis work has been translated into many languages. Qays Ibn al-Mulawwah fell in love with Layla and he soon began composing poems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. His unselfconscious efforts to woo the girl caused some locals to call him Majnun, when he asked for her hand in marriage, her father refused because it would be a scandal for Layla to marry someone considered mentally unbalanced. Soon after, Layla was married to noble and rich merchant belonging to the Thaqif tribe in Taif. He was described as a man with reddish complexion whose name was Ward Althaqafi. The Arabs called him Ward, meaning rose in Arabic, when Majnun heard of her marriage, he fled the tribal camp and began wandering the surrounding desert. His family eventually gave up hope for his return and left food for him in the wilderness and he could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing in the sand with a stick. Layla is generally depicted as having moved to a place in Northern Arabia with her husband, in some versions, Layla dies of heartbreak from not being able to see her would-be lover. Majnun was later found dead in the wilderness in 688 AD and he had carved three verses of poetry on a rock near the grave, which are the last three verses attributed to him
27.
Bengali poetry
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Bengali poetry is a form that originated in Pāli and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. It is antagonistic towards Vedic rituals and laws as opposed to the shramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism, however the modern Bengali owes much to Sanskrit. The history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development, poetry of the age, the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. Modernity was introduced into Bengali poetry in the 1930s, Bengali poetry probably began during the 10th century. It is known for the mystic poems called Charyacharyavinishchaya, and sometimes called Charyapad or Charyagiti and these poems were discovered in Nepals Royal Library by Bengali scholar Mahamahopadhyay Haraprasad Shastri. Krittibas Ojha Kashiram Das The Medieval period of Bengali poetry was between 1350 and 1800 and it was known as the period of Jayadeva, the renowned 12th-century poet from neighboring Odisha who was famous for his poem Gitagovinda. Other noted poets from this period include 13th century Vidyapati, known for his lyrics and Baḍu, Chandidas. Sri Krishna Kirtan is considered to be the most important philosophical, the period from 1500 to 1800 is known as the Late Middle Bengali Period. During this period, there was an influence of Chaitanya. Vaishnava poets include Govinddas and Gyandas, beside Vaishnava poetry, the most significant work of the 16th century was Mukunda Chakravartis Chandimangal. Other Mangal-Kāvyas or religious texts are Manasamangal, Dharmamangal and Phullaketu, two of Bengals most well known Muslim poets, Daulat Qazi and Alaol, lived in the 15th century in Myanmar. Bharat Chandra marks the transition between Precolonial theocentric poetry and modern poetry, iswar Gupta, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, Biharilal Chakravarti, Rabindranath Tagore are noteworthy poets of this period. It was a movement that brought permanent change to the structure. Kazi Nazrul Islam first built the foundation of modern Bengali poetry by introducing modern concept of revolt against all autocracy, hypocrisy, superstition, one notable sect of modernists included pro-socialism poets like Sukanta Bhattacharya and Samar Sen. Modern Bengali poetry has also witnessed feminist intellect Kabita Singha, mallika Sengupta, Krishna Basu and Sriparna Bandyopadhyay being some of the most prominent names
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Bengali novels
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Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Though the first Bengali novel was Karuna O Phulmonir Bibaran, the Bengali novel actually started its journey with Durgeshnandini written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865, almost all these literary activities went on in full swing in Kolkata. Dhaka, on the hand, could not participate in the early stage but literature created by. Novels of Bangladesh fall almost fifty years behind the Bengali novels, in its history of about one hundred years, novels of Bangladesh got a good number of novels where creative emancipation of the writers has been established. In the early stage, glorification of the beliefs and lives was the theme of most of the novels. Later on, picturization of real Bengali life became a common topic, by the end of the fifties, the novelists gradually turned to human mind and its analysis. A great change of the theme came after 1971, novels about the Liberation War of Bangladesh began to come forth. Even till now it has not ceased to be an interesting topic, the content and form of the novels saw various changes in the last fifty years. Starting from ordinary narration, now it has reached to magic realistic presentation through stream of consciousness, to many, Anowara was the most significant one among the earlier novels written in Bangladesh. This novel was written by Mohammad Najibar Rahman in 1914, but the milestone in the modern novels of Bangladesh is Syed Waliullahs Lalsalu. The history of Bangladeshi novels can be categorized in 3 major parts, Mohammad Najibar Rahmans Anowara was the first notable novel and it moved the whole Bengali Muslim community after publication. Main theme of most of the novels in this era was Muslim society and belief, examples of novels incorporating these theme is Najibar Rahmans Premer Somadhi and Goriber Meye, Sheikh Idris Alis Premer Pothe. In this time, for the first time the life of the Bengali farmers took an artistic delineation through Kazi Abdul Waduds Nodibakshe, then Kazi Imdadul Huq sprinkled a new wave. His famous novel Abdullah was published in periodicals in 1920 and it came into form in 1933. According to Biswajit Ghosh this novel was ‘bourgeois and humanitarian revolt against devotion to Peers, religious dogmas, purdah-system, later, Kazi Abdul Wadud and Humayun Kabir extended this attitude. Another novelist Abul Fazal exposed human psychological analyses in his novel Chouchir and he afterwards continued with his own style and wrote Prodip O Patongo and Shahoshika. It is well accepted that this type of approach was a first attempt in novels of Bangladesh. A progressive novelist Humayun Kabir wrote an English novel Rivers and Women which was published in 1945, later the Bengali form was published in 1952 by the name of Nodi O Nari
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Bengali science fiction
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Bengali science fiction is a part of Bengali literature containing science fiction elements. Science fiction in the Bengali language is known as kalpabigyan, Bengali writers wrote various science fiction works in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the British Raj, before the partition of India. The earliest notable Bengali science fiction was Jagadananda Roys Shukra Bhraman and their bodies were covered with dense black fur. Their heads were larger in comparison with their bodies, limbs sported long nails and this story was published a decade before H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds in which Wells describes the aliens from Mars. Some specialists credit Hemlal Dutta as one of the earliest Bengali science fiction writers for his Rohosso and this story was published in two installments in 1882 in the pictorial magazine Bigyan Dorpon. In 1896, Jagadish Chandra Bose, considered to be the father of Bengali science fiction and this tale of weather control, one of the first Bengali science fiction works, features getting rid of a cyclone using a little bottle of hair oil. Later, he included the story changes in the collection of essays titled Abyakto as Palatak Tufan. Both versions of the story have been translated into English by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, roquia Sakhawat Hussain, an early Islamic feminist, wrote Sultanas Dream, one of the earliest examples of feminist science fiction in any language. It depicts a feminist utopia of role reversal, in men are locked away in seclusion. The short story, written in English, was first published in the Madras-based Indian Ladies Magazine in 1905, premendra Mitra wrote the first novel, Kuhoker Deshe. Hemendra Kumar Ray wrote Meghduter Morte Agomon, after Qazi Abdul Halims Mohasunner Kanna, Humayun Ahmed wrote the first modern Bengali SF novel, Tomader Jonno Valobasa. This book is treated as the first full-fledged Bangladeshi science fiction novel and he also wrote Tara Tinjon, Irina, Anonto Nakshatra Bithi, Fiha Somikoron, and other works. Bengali science fiction is considered to have reached a new level of sophistication with the contributions of Muhammed Zafar Iqbal. Iqbal wrote a story named Copotronic Sukh Dukho when he was a student of Dhaka University and this story was later included in a compilation of Iqbals work in a book by the same name. Muktodhara, a publishing house of Dhaka was the publisher of this book. This collection of fiction stories gained huge popularity and the new trend of science fiction emerged among Bengali writers and readers. After his first collection, Mr. Iqbal transformed his own science fiction cartoon strip Mohakashe Mohatrash into a novel, all told, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal has written the greatest number of science fiction works in Bengali science fiction. Following in the footsteps of the ancestors, more and more writers, especially writers, started writing science fiction
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Bangiya Sahitya Parishad
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Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is a literary society in Bengal. Established during the time of the Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, the organisation was founded by L. Leotard and Kshetrapal Chakraborty in 1893. Then it was known as The Bengal Academy of Literature, on 29 April 1894, the name of the society itself was changed to Vangiya Sahitya Parishad. 1894 saw the first officers, with Romesh Chunder Dutt as the first president and Rabindranath Tagore and that same year saw the first publication of the societys journal, previously in English as most business of the society was, in Bengali. 1900 saw Rabindranath Tagores brother, Satyendranath Tagore, made President, the society, which moved into its permanent home in 1909, rapidly expanded to over 30 branch offices. Its notable members have included Debendra Prasad Ghosh, [, Romesh Chunder Dutt and Ramendra Sundar Tribedi
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Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi
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Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, popularly known as Bangla Akademi, is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in West Bengal. The Akademi is housed in two buildings, one at Nandan-Rabindra Sadan Complex in South Kolkata and the other at Rabindra-Okakura Bhaban. Annadashankar Roy became the first President and Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay the first secretary of the Akademi, the Bangla Akademi has been successful in extending its activities and programs to different districts of West Bengal and even to other states in India. In April 1894, the Academy was reorganized and rechristened as Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, rabindranth Tagore himself was closely associated to the institution since its inception. Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is the first academic institution on matters pertaining to Bengali language, see Also, University of Calcutta During the 20th Century, the affairs concerning the promotion of Bengali language did not remain a sole responsibility of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. As language prospered and literature enriched, a need of reform as well as an authority to enforce the reforms was felt by the scholars of the time. On May 1936, a rule for Bengali spelling was first imposed. These rules were amended by Rabindranath Tagore and other scholars. Main Article, Bangla Academy After the partition of India in 1947, as a result, Bangla Academy in Dhaka was established in 1955. In 1990, the Bangla Academy enforced new regulations for Bengali spelling which is similar to the 1937 regulation of the University of Calcutta. In West Bengal, various prominent institutions backed the process of development of the language, for example, Rajsekhar Basu and Ananda Bazaar Patrika tried to simplify Bengali spelling, but instead of rationalize the spelling system, it aroused controversy over the authority of such bodies. Even institutions like Visva-Bharati University failed in the task, in 1962, the Government of West Bengal started using Bengali for all official purposes. Since then, a need for a regulator of the language has been felt. Afterward it was converted into a society and registered under Societies Registration Act, on December 8,1994, it was declared an autonomous Governmental body. At the time of its foundation, the Akademi had 30 members in its Karma Samiti and 78 in Sadharan Parishad including the government delegation, the Chairman is called Sabhapati and Vice-Chairman is called Saha-Sabhapati. Members, officially known as Sadasyas, remain in the Akademi for life, however, any member can resign from his office by his will. In 2007, after the Nandigram massacre, some of Akademi members including Sankha Ghosh, there is also a post of Secretary, or Sachib, who is the chief governmental delegation at the Akademi. The office of the Secretary of the Akademi is held by Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay since its inception, now the Akademi works under various sub-committees and editorial boards concerning different affairs
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Bangla Academy
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The Bangla Academy is Bangladeshs national language authority, established in 1954. It is located in Burdwan House in Ramna, Dhaka, within the grounds of the University of Dhaka, the Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair. The importance of establishing an organisation for Bengali language was first emphasised by the linguist Muhammad Shahidullah, later, following the Language movement, on 27 April 1952, the All Party National Language Committee decided to demand establishment of an organisation for the promotion of Bengali language. Following the election success of the Front, the education minister Syed Azizul Haque placed the order to fulfill this promise, in 1955, the government formed a committee to expedite the process. The committee was composed of leading intellectuals like Muhammad Shahidullah, Qazi Motahar Hossain, bhattacharya, W. H. Shadani, and Muhammad Barkatullah. On 3 December 1955, the Chief Minister of East Bengal, Abu Hussain Sarkar, Barkatullah acted as the Special Officer in charge. Later, in 1956, Muhammad Enamul Haque took over as the first director, in 1957, an act of the parliament formally established the funding source and the Government support for the institute. The first book published by the academy was Laili Maznu, an epic by the medieval poet Dawlat Ujir Bahram Khan, the first fellow of the academy was the poet Farrukh Ahmed. The publication division was established in early 1957, the research, culture and library divisions, after the independence of Bangladesh, the directors position was renamed Director General. Mazharul Islam, head of Bangla Department of Rajshahi University, was the first Director General of the institute, on 19 September 2008, a new 8-storied building, containing a 500-capacity auditorium and a 100-capacity seminar room, opened next to the main building. The functions and structure of the institute was devised on the model of the French Academy and it has also established the Bangla Academy Literary Award, given each year for contribution to the Bengali language. To commemorate the Language movement and the Language martyrs day, the Academy organises the month-long Ekushey Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country
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Bangla Academy Literary Award
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It was introduced in 1960 and recognized six categories, poetry, novels, short stories, essays, juvenile literature and translation. Beginning in 1985, two awards were introduced to recognize overall contributions to Bengali language and literature. Altaf Hossain Shaheen Akhtar Abul Momen Atiur Rahman Moniruzzaman Abdus Selim Tajul Mohammad Faruk Chowdhury Masum Reza Sharif Khan Sujan Barua 7 persons were awarded. Abu Hasan Shahriar Shahaduz Zaman Morshed Shafiul Hasan Niaz Zaman MA Hasan Noorjahan Bose Rashed Rauf Ananda Purashkar Sahitya Akademi Award to Bengali Writers Rabindra Puraskar Bangla Academy
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Music of Bengal
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Bengali music comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. Composed with lyrics in the Bengali language, Bengali music spans a variety of styles. Bengal is today split between the Indian state of West Bengal and the independent country Bangladesh, the Middle Ages saw a mixture of Hindu and Islamic trends when the musical tradition was formalized under the patronage of Nawabs and the powerful landlords baro bhuiyans. Another writer of the time was Vidyapati, the Bishnupur Gharana is the sole Classical gharana of Bengal. It originated in Bishnupur, Bankura by the musicians of the Malla Kings. Bahadur Khan of Delhi, a descendant of the Tansen, was the father of Bishnupur Gharana, bahadur Khan was brought to Bishnupur by Malla King Raghunath Singha II. The Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels from the Bengal region and they are thought to have been influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Muslim Sufi philosophers. The greatest personality in Bengali music is, without a doubt, none other than Rabindranath Tagore (known in Bengali as Robi Thakur and Gurudeb, the latter meaning Respected Teacher. With close to three songs written and composed over a poetic lifetime that spanned more than sixty five years. His music is based on poetry, and hence is an exemplary instance of kavya-geeti. His songs are affectionately called Rabindra Sangeet, and cover topics from humanism, structuralism, introspection, psychology, romance, yearning, nostalgia, reflection and this truly reinforces the notion that Rabindrasangeet has at its heart some unbelievably powerful poetry. The Upanishads influenced his writing throughout his life, and his music is addressed almost always to an inanimate entity, a personal, a private god. Rabindranath Tagore was a curator of melodic and compositional styles, in the course of his travels all over the world, he came into contact with the musical narratives of the West, of the South of India, and these styles are reflected in some of his songs. There are several classifications of his work, most of his musical poems are detailed in two series of books – the Gitabitan and the Swarabitan. However, there exist several poems of his that are set to music and these are handed down from his students to their students and so on. Shyama Sangeet is a genre of Bengali devotional songs dedicated to the Hindu goddess Shyama or Kali which is a form of supreme universal mother-goddess Durga or parvati and it is also known as Shaktagiti or Durgastuti. Shyama Sangeet appeals to the man because it is a musical representation of the relationship of eternal and sublime love. It is free of the rituals of worship and also the esoteric practice of the Tantra
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