Kolkata

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KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : HISTORY

In 1690, Job Charnok, an agent of the East
India Company chose this place for a British
trade settlement. The site was carefully
selected, being protected by the Hooghly River
on the west, a creek to the north, and by salt
lakes about two and a half miles to the east.
There were three large villages along the east
bank of the river Ganges, named, Sutanuti,
Gobindapur and Kalikata. These three villages
were bought by the British from the local land
lords. The Mughal emperor granted East India Writers Building in British
Company freedom of trade in return for a
era
yearly payment of 3,000 rupees.
What was Calcutta like before the British
came?
It was a village; the capital city of Bengal was
Murshidabad, around 60 miles north of
Calcutta. In 1756, Siraj-ud-daullah, Nawab of
Bengal, attacked the city and captured the fort.
Calcutta was recaptured in 1757 by Robert
Clive when the British defeated Siraj-uddaullah on the battle field of Plassy. In 1772,
Calcutta became the capital of British India,
and the first Governor General Warren
Hastings moved all important offices from
Howrah Bridge - old
Murshidabad to Calcutta. Till 1912, Calcutta
was the capital of India, when the British
moved the capital city to Delhi. In 1947, when
India gained freedom and the country got
partitioned between India and Pakistan,
Calcutta was included in the Indian part of
Bengal, West Bengal. Calcutta became the
capital city of the state of West Bengal.
At the end of the fifteenth century, a

reference to Kolkata was found in the
famous novel of Manasa Mangal
written by Bipradas. The character of
Chand Saudagar in the novel paid a
visit to Kalighat to offer puja to the
Goddess Kali on the way to Saptagram.
When the Portugese first began to
frequent Bengal about the year 1530,
Old Court House Street
the two great centres of trade were

Chittagong and Saptagram.
In the Ain-i-Akbari, a work written in
1596 by Abul Fazal in the court house
of Emperor Akbar, a reference to
Calcutta is noticed under the
Government of Satgaon(Saptagram).
1690 August, Job Charnok, an agent of
East India Company (established 1600)
settles in the village of Sutanutee.
1693 Charnok died.
1696 Fort at Calcutta Factory
commenced.
1698 East India Co. bought three
villages (Sutanuti, Kolkata, Gobindapur
) from local landlord Sabarna
Chowdhury.
1699 East India Company started
developing Calcutta as a Presidency
city.
1707 Mughal Emperor Aurongajeb
died.
1715 British people completed building
the Old Fort.
1717 The Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar granted the East India Company
trading privileges in return for a yearly
payment of 3,000 rupees.
1727 As per the order of King George I,
a civil court was set up. The city
corporation was established and
Hallwell became the first mayor of the
city.
1740 Ali Vardi Khan became the
Nawab of Bengal.
1756 Ali Vardi Khan died and Siraj-udDawlla (Mirza Muhammad) became the
Nawab of Bengal. Siraj-Ud-Dawlla
attacked and captured Calcutta. He
changed the name of the city to
Alinagar.
1757 23rd June, British people (under
the leadership of Robert Clive) defeated
Siraj-Ud-Dawlla at Plassey (in Nadia
district).
1757 British first printed currency bill
Calcutta High Court
Great Eastern Hotel
Standard Chartered Bank
in Calcutta mint.
1765 Clive took Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa from Badsha Alam II ( Delhi)
with an agreement of paying excises.
1770 Infamous famine.
1772 Calcutta became the capital of
British India when the first Governor
General, Warren Hastings, transferred
all important offices to the city from
Murshidabad.
1775 Nandakumar, a local landlord was
hung in a false allegation when he
accused Warren Hastings of corruption.
1780 James Hicky established a printed
press and published first news paper
"The Bengal Gazzette".
1784 The first official news paper "The
Calcutta Gazzette", was published.
1784 Sir William Jones took initiative
and established The Asiatic Society.
1795 First Bengali drama 'Kalpanik
Song Badol' was staged by Gerasim S.
Lebedef at Bengali Theatre.
1801 Fort William College was
established.
1804 The Governor House (presently
Raj Bhawan) was built.
1813 The Town Hall was built.
1818 First Bengali Magazine
Digdarshan was published from
Srerampur, with the help of David
Hare.
1817 The Hindu College (presently
Presidency College) was established
with efforts from Rammohan Roy,
David Hare and Radhakanta Dev.
Initially the college started with 20
students.
1828 Sahid Minar (Octorloney
Monument) was built.
1829 Rammohan Roy was successful in
making 'satidaho' (a Hindu rule)
banned by British Governor General
William Bentinck.
1839 Sangbad Prabhakar, the first
Bengali daily was published.
The Statesman Office
The Botanical Garden

Old Photos
1854 First Railway line in India was

inaugurated (from Calcutta to
Hooghly).
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab
of Awadh came to Calcutta in 1857. He
built the town of Metiaburj and died in
1887.
1857 The University of Calcutta was
established.
1864 The GPO (General Post Office)
building was constructed.
1873 First Tram car (horse drawn) in
the city was launched.
1875 "The Statesman", leading English
Daily newspaper, started.
1875 The Indian Museum was built.
1883 Surendra Nath Banerjee called for
a National convention (which led to the
forming of Indian National Congress in
1885 at Bombay).
1883 First telephone communication
between Calcutta and Howrah through
a cable laid beneath the floating
Howrah bridge.
1886 Second convention of Indian
National Congress happened at
Calcutta.
1888 Indian Football Association
established.
1895 Scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose
experimented on transmission through
radio waves at Town Hall.
1896 First motor car appeared on city's
street.
1899 For the first time in Calcutta,
electricity was generated.
1902 First Electric tram car from
Esplanade to Kidderepore.
1905 Lord Curzon, viceroy of India,
tried to partition Bengal. There was a
strong protest. Finally he failed to do
so.
1911 British moved the capital of India
from Calcutta to Delhi
1911 A local football team, Mohan
Bagan defeated British team in IFA
shield final and created national

sensation.
1913 Rabindranath Tagore, the great
philosopher, poet and writer received
Nobel Prize in literature.
1921 King Edward VIII inaugurated the
Victoria Memorial building.
1922 Popular Bengali Daily
Anandabazar Patrika started.
1924 Chittaranjan Das was elected as
the first Indian mayor of the city of
Calcutta.
1929 Agnes Goinxha Bejaxhiu (Mother
Teresa) came to Calcutta to join Bengal
Loreto Mission.
1939 The World War II hit Calcutta.
1941 Tagore died.
1941 Subhash Chandra Bose escaped
from house arrest by British.
1943 Thousands of people got killed in
famine.
1946 Communal riot killed thousands
of people in and around the city.
1947 India gained independence.
Bengal got partitioned; Calcutta
became the capital city of the state of
West Bengal in India. Dr. Prafulla
Chandra Ghosh became the first Chief
Minister of West Bengal, followed by
Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. Calcutta and
suburban area received thousands
of people from East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) as a result of the partition.
1952 The National Library was moved
to Alipore from Esplanade. Alipore
Mint inaugurated.
1962 India-China war affected Calcutta.
1962 Bidhan Chandra Roy passes
away. He was the chief minister from
1948 through 1962. Prafulla Chandra
Sen became the chief minister and
remained till 1967 (1962-1967).
1971 Tension of India-Pakistan war on
freedom of Bangladesh.
1970-71 The Naxalite Movement hit
the city resulting arrests of hundreds of
youths and creating enormous tension

among city dwellers.
1975 First TV transmission started in
the city from August 9th.
1977 Left Front led by CPI(M) Party
won the state election and came into the
power of state Government.
1977 The world famous football player
Pele played in a football match in the
city.
1978 A major flood hits Calcutta.
1979 Mother Teresa, a permanent
resident of Calcutta was awarded Nobel
Peace Prize.
1984 Metro, the first underground
railway in India, started from
Tollygunge to Esplanade.
1984 First color TV transmission
started from the TV centre
(DoorDarshan).
1989 France's highest civilian award,
Legion d'Honour was conferred upon
Satyajit Ray by President F. Mitterrand
in Calcutta.
1992 Satyajit Roy, film director,
received prestigious "Life Time
Achievement" Oscar award and "Bharat
Ratna". He died in the same year.
1995 First cellular phone service starts
in the city.
1997 Mother Teresa died in Calcutta.
1998 Amartya Sen (grew up in
Shantiniketan and studied at Calcutta)
received Nobel Prize in Ecomonics
2001 Calcutta was officially renamed as
'Kolkata' from 1st of Januray.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Chief Ministers of West Bengal ---o Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
(15.AUG.1947 - 22.JAN.1948)
o Bidhan Chandra Roy
(23.JAN.1948 - 01.JUL.1962)
o Prafulla Chandra Sen
(02.JUL.1962 - 28.FEB.1967)
Ajoy Mukherjee (01.MAR.1967

- 21.NOV.1967)
o Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
(21.NOV.1967 - 19.FEB.1968)
o President's Rule (1968-1969)
o Ajoy Mukherjee (25.FEB.1969
- 30.JUL.1970)
o Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
(02.APR.1971 - 25.JUN.1971)
o Siddhartha Shankar Ray
(20.MAR.1972 - 30.APR.1977)
o Jyoti Basu (21.JUN.1977 05.NOV.2000)
o Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
(06.NOV.2000 -)
-------------------------------------------------------------o
How did the city get the name Calcutta ?

Different opinions:
Kalikata is derived from the Bengali

word Kalikshetra meaning "Ground of
the Goddess Kali."
Some say the city's name is derived
from the location of it's original
settlement on the bank of a canal (khal).
Some match the name to the Bengali
words for lime (kali) and burnt shell
(kata), since the area was noted
for manufacturing shell-lime.
Another opinion is that the name is
derived from the Bengali term kilkila
(meaning, "flat area"), which is
mentioned in the old literature.
2001 Calcuttaweb.com
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KOLKATA : Places to Visit

Academy of Fine Arts
Established in 1933, the Academy of Fine Arts holds impressive
collection of Indian art. Majority of the pieces have been donated
by Lady Ranu Mukherjee from her personal collection. The
collection includes rare paintings of Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini
Roy, contemporary Indian art, mediaeval Bengal and Indian
textiles, sculptures, miniature paintings, manuscripts. There is a
room dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore which displays some of
his personal belongings. The auditorium hosts group theatres, dance programs and various
cultural shows through out the year.
Art Galleries: Daily open 3-8 pm except national holidays.
Museum: Daily 12-7 pm except Monday. Entry Rs.5
Website: academyoffinearts.tripod.com
Location : 2, Cathedral Road, Kolkata 700071.
Phone: 22234302
Agri-Horticultural Garden
Agri-Horticultural Garden is situated in Alipore and was
founded by William Carey in 1820. This garden has a
significant collection of botanical varieties with facilities for
gardeners and plant/flower lovers. The pleasant and quiet
garden is ideal for a walk. There is state-of-the-art greenhouse
in the garden which was donated by the royal family of
Darbhanga. Picnic is not allowed.
Timings: Garden 7am - 10am & 2pm - 6pm
Location: Alipore. The garden is opposite to the Zoological Garden.
Phone: 24791713
Armenian Church
Designed by Armenian architects (Aga Nazar and Katchik Arfiel) in
the early 18th century, this is the oldest extant church in Kolkata
today. The Armenians settled in the city in 17th century and used to be
a vibrant community. The church was originally designed as a wood
structure, which was later replaced by a brick and mortar building. The
interior is decorated with marble and the overhead gallery contains
mural tablets. Three oil paintings by artist A.E. Harris can be found in the altar.
Location: 1, Armenian Street (off Brabourne Road).
Asiatic Society
Located in the intersection of Park Street and Chowranghee, Asiatic
Society was formed in 1784 by Sir William Jones and a group of
Europeans with Warren Hastings as it's first patron. The library inside
has approximately 149,000 volumes including 8,000 rare Sanskrit,
Arabic, Persian and Hindi manuscripts. It is also rich with
archaeological relics, geological and ethnological specimens. The rooms of the society
contain valuable work of art, including original paintings by Reubens, Guiles, Reynolds and
others. The library also has an interesting collection of manuscripts, coins, inscriptions and
engravings. The Ashokan rock edict is a unique item here.
Web Site: www.asiaticsocietycal.com
Location: The Asiatic Society, 1, Park Street, Kolkata 700016. Intersection of Park Street
and Chowringhee.
Timing: Mon-Fri 10:30am - 6pm
Phone:
Asutosh Museum of Modern Art
Located at Centenary building of University of Calcutta. In 1937 the
Asutosh Museum of Indian Art was opened in the Western Hall of the
then Senate House. This museum has rare and valuable collections
including Bengal patachitra paintings, katha shilpo art, folk art, terra
cotta, ivory art etc.
Web Site: www.caluniv.ac.in
Location: University of Calcutta. Centenary Building. College Street.
Timing: Mon-Fri 11:30am - 4:30pm
Belur Math
This magnificent temple located on the bank of river Ganges is the head
quarter of the Ramakrishna Mission. It was conceptualized by Swami
Vivekananda, the illustrious disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The
construction took four years and was completed on 1899. The temple
building is one of the finest specimen of temple architecture in India. The
display includes Swami Vivekananda's room, meditation bed, belongings etc. From the
temple, one can have a panoramic view of the holy river Ganges.
Website: www.belurmath.org
Timing: 8am - 11:30am & 4pm - 7:30pm
Location: PO Belur Math, Dist Howrah 711202
Phone: 2654 1144/1180/5391/8494/9581/9681
Birla Planetarium
Inaugurated in 1963, Birla Planetarium was the first of it's kind
in India. The Planetarium owns an astronomical observatory
equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope.
The central dome has a diameter of 27 meter. The building is
modeled after the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi. The central hall can
accommodate 500 people which hosts daily shows in English,
Hindi and Bengali.
Website: education.vsnl.com/planetarium
Location: 96 J.L. Nehru Road (close to Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral and Maidan)
Timings: 12-7pm (closed Monday) Entrance fee Rs.15
Phone: 22236610
Dakshineswar Temple
Located on the bank of the river Ganga near Bally Bridge,
Dakshineswar Temple remains as one of the most important
Hindu temple in Kolkata. The main temple houses an idol of
Goddess Kali on a silver lotus with thousand petals. There are
twelve spires known as Navratna Temple and a courtyard
surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Lord Siva. Shri
Shri Ramakrishna, the great 19th century religious personality attained enlightenment in this
temple. There is a congregation of 5 ancient trees known as Panchavati, a spot for
meditation. The temple is full of memoirs of Ramakrishna and his wife Sarada Devi. On an
average, over 40,000 people visit this temple every day.
GPO
The GPO (General Post Office) building is located in BBD Bag area
with it's 220 feet high dome, Ionic-Corinthian pillars and Edwardian
architecture. Designed by Walter B. Granville and built in 1868, the
building is of immense archaeological interest.
The adjoining area is postal museum exhibiting stamps and artifacts
commemorating history of Indian postal services. At the
southwestern end of the building is the Philatelic Bureau, which is a
collector's delight. GPO serves as the chief post office of the state of West Bengal.
High Court
The oldest High Court of India opened in 1872. The red and
yellow Gothic style architecture is replica of the Stadt-Haus
(town hall) at Ypres in Belgium and was architected by
Walter Granville. The tower is about 195 feet tall.
The building hosts an impressive Bar library and a Judge's
library.
Website: calcuttahighcourt.nic.in
Howrah Bridge
Indian Museum
The largest museum in the country was constructed in 1878. Prior
to that the museum was located at the Asiatic Society building.
The museum has now over sixty galleries of art, archaeology,
anthropology, geology, zoology and botany sections, spreading
over ten thousand square feet area
Website: www.indianmuseumkolkata.org
Timings: Tue-Sun 10am - 5pm (Monday closed)
Entrance fee Rs.10 (Rs.150 for foreigner)
Phone: 22861699
Kalighat Temple
The temple is believed to be 350 years old. The earliest mention of
Kalighat is found in 'Ain-i-Akbari' (a historical document written
during the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar) in the 16th century.
Kalighat is the temple of Goddess 'Kali', the deity of power.
The temple was rebuilt in 1809 and renovated in 1971. A black stone
idol of Goddess Kali decorated with gold and silver ornaments is ensconced here.
Marble Palace
Local landlord Rajendra Mullick built this palace in 1855 using
Italian marble.The palace has an interior courtyard, complete with
a throne room. The building has paintings of Rubens, Reynolds.
Location: 46 Muktaram Basu Street (off Chittaranjan Avenue)
Entrance Fee: FREE but you must obtain a permit from West
Bengal Tourism Office.
Timings: 10am-04pm (except Monday and Thursday)
Phone: 22825813
Nakhoda Masjid
This is the largest mosque in Kolkata. The mosque was built in

1926 by a merchant from Kutch named Abdur Rahim. The red
sandstone building with two 46 meter high minarets and a
brightly painted magnificent dome displays Indo-Saracenic
architectural style. The structure was modeled on Akbar's tomb
in Sikandara near Agra.
The mosque is located in Chitpore area and can accommodate 10,000 people.
Nehru Children's Museum
Among other things, this children's museum has displays of
scenes from epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata, made with clay
models. Museum also hosts a doll house with a collection of
dolls from 88 countries.
Website: www.nehrumuseum.org
Location: 94/1, Chowringhee Road (intersection of J L Nehru
Road and AJC Bose Road)
Entrance Fee:
Timings: 12am-06pm (except Monday, call for exact timings)
Phone: 22231551
St. Paul's Cathedral
When first built in 1847 by Bishop Wilson, this was the first
Episcopal Cathedral Church in the eastern world. The Indo-Gothic
style structure was severely damaged in earthquakes and was
redesigned and rebuilt in 1938 replicating Bell Harry Tower of
Canterbury Cathedral. The cathedral has many rare paintings and
antique books. The interior is decorated with mosaic panels, stained
glass windows, beautifully carved wooden pews, intricate artwork
on walls and two marvelous Florentine frescoes. The church is 201 feet high.
Victoria Memorial
Victoria Memorial was built between 1906 and 1921 in the
memory of Queen Victoria. It's foundation stone was laid by Prince
of Wales(George V) on January 4th, 1906, and was inaugurated by
Prince of Wales(King Edward VIII) on 28 December 1921. This
majestic while marble palace is located in southern part of the
Maidan. The area comprises of 64 acres of land with gardens, pool
and walk trails. The building covers 338 feet by 228 feet of land
and the highest point is about 184 feet above the ground with a
black bronze angel holding a bugle in her hand. The statue is about five meters tall, weighs
3,500 kg and rotates when the wind speed is high enough. Currently the memorial building
serves as a museum. The building has galleries with paintings, portraits of eminent
personalities, documents witnessing the city's history during the British period.
Website: http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org
Timings: 5:30am - 7:00pm. The museum: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Tickets: Rs.4 per person for entering into the premises. For the museum or inside the
building Rs.10 per person.
Phone: 22231890
Writers' Building
Also known as 'Mahakaran' in Bengali, this building houses the
State Secretariat and is the official address of the Chief Minister of
West Bengal. The Writers Building got it's name for being the
dwelling place of the junior servants (who were also called as
writers) of the East India Company during the early British era; since
late 19th century the building started hosting the office of the Bengal
Secretariat. The original building was constructed in 1779; the
current red brick style structure was completed during the time of Lt. Governor Ashley Eden
in 1882. The total area consists of 10 acres of land and thirteen four storied buildings. The
building epitomizes the political revolution of Bengal.
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Travel - Transport
Airlines
Bus Routes
Metro
Train
Tram
Map
Street name changes
Tour Operators
Airlines
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport at Dum Dum, is the international and domestic
airport of Calcutta, and is located at around 16 km from the heart of the city. The Dumdum
metro station is about 5 kms from the airport. Recently a new train line connection with a
station adjacent to the airport has been started operating. Taxi-cab is the popular mode of
communicating to and from the city. Check Airlines timing
Train
There are two major train stations in the city: Howrah and Sealdah. Recently, some long
distance trains are starting from Biddhannagar and other stations too. Howrah station is
located on the other side of river Hoogly. Local trains spanning through a network of
around 100 kilometres carry millions of commuters every day to and from the city. See train
routes
METRO (undergound railway)
India's first underground railway connects between southern and northern part of the city
(between Tollygunge and Dumdum ). The track passes through the heart of the city. Some
stations are well decorated with art works based on themes related to local area. Check list
of metro stations.
BUS
The most widely used mode of transportation between suburbs and the main city. Buses
come in different types, like, CSTC (Calcutta State Transport Corporation) Govt. buses,
privately owned bus routes (majority of the buses are privately owned), mini buses,
specials, limited stops, express service etc. Fares start from Rs.4 ( as of 2005 Jan, the fare
changes frequently) . Some special buses' fare start from Rs.5/6 . Most buses have two
doors, some have one. All buses have some seats reserved for ladies and elderly people
(senior citizens). In most of the cases, ticket collector (conductor) collects the ticket after
boarding. Check different local bus routes. Long distance buses are available from
Esplanade and Howrah. Some long distance buses have luxury elements like video displays,
sleep berth etc.
Trams
Though decommissioned in some part of the city, electric trams (runs on track) are still one
of the means of traveling between places within the city. They move slow on the laid tracks
in traffic jammed streets, but they are environment friendly (no emission). Check list of
tram routes
Taxi (cab)
There are plenty of them through out the city. Prepaid taxis are available from Airport and
Howrah train stations. Taxi fares are confusing as the taxis are equipped with different
kinds of meters. Some have old meters where the fare is usually 200-300% on the top of the
metered price. Taxis with new electronic meters have less confusion, but usually 150% of
the amount displayed is payable. Whatever it is, the passenger can ask for a rate conversion
chart which displays the conversion list between metered amount and the payable amount.
Auto Rickshaws
These three wheeled vehicles runs between short distances and are available through out the
city mostly in suburban area. Most of them have designated routes and need a minimum
number of 4 or 5 passengers to start. But they are flexible. Being smaller in size compared
to other vehicles, sometimes they are able to move faster in the crowded city streets.
Rickshaws
Bicycle Pedalled Rickshaw
Three wheeled vehicle with bicycle pedals. Mostly run between short distances in narrow
lanes and streets. Can accommodate two passengers, but usually allow kids.
Manual Pull Ricksaw
T wo wheeled cart pulled by one man. Mostly used for very short distance. Has been
banned in the city. Hard to find these days.
Cycle Van Rickshaw
W idely available in rural and suburbs. Used for carrying goods as well.
Ferry Boats
Very popular among daily commuters who had to cross the river. It is a nice way to avoid
infamous traffic jam on Howrah Bridge. The fare is between Rs. 2.00-5.00 and it takes
around 15-20 minutes.
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Kolkata (Calcutta) :: Religious Sites

Majority of the residents of the city are Hindus (74%) and Muslims (23%) by religion. Sikh,
Christian, Jain, Parsis, Budhhists and others make up the rest of the population. Here is a list
of religious places for different religions:
HINDU
o Kalighat Temple - Kalighat
o Dakshineswar Temple - Dakshineswar
o Birla (RadhaKrishna) Temple - Gariahat Road, Ballygunge
o Thanthania Kalibari - Bidhan Sarani (near Vidyasagar College)
o Phiringi Kalibari - Boubazar
o Belur Math - Howrah Belur
o Chitteswari Kalimandir - Chitpur Gun Foundry Road
o Madanmohan Temple - Bagbazar
o Sovabazar Thakurbari - Sovabazar
MUSLIM
o Tipu Sultan Mosque - Esplanade
o Tipu Sultan Mosque - Tollygunge (Prince Anwar Shah Road)
o Nakhoda Mosque - Chitpur Road (Rabindra Sarani)
o Karbala Mosque - Manicktola
o Niyamatulla Mosque - Nimtala Ghat Street
o Jama Masjid - Razabar (Keshab Chandra Sen Street)
CHIRSTIAN
o St Paul's Cathedral - Cathedral Road (next to Birla Planetorium)
o Armenian Church - Armenian Street (off Brabourne Road), Burrabazar
o St James Church - junction of Park Street and AJC Bose Road
o St Johns Church - Council House Street, BBD Bag
o St Andrews Church - Old Court House Street (next to Writers Building), BBD
Bag
SIKH
o Bhawanipore Gurdwara - Sambhunath Pandir Street (near P G Hospital)
o Gurdwara - Rasbehari Avenue
o Sikh Sangat Gurdwara - Alambazar, B T Road
o Munilal Singh Sangat Gurdwara - Mahatma Gandhi Road, Burrabazar
JAIN
o Pareshnath Temple - Gauribari
o Shree Digambar Jain Parasnath Mandir - Belgachhia
o Shitalnathji Jain Temple - Badridas Temple Road (near Shyambazar)
BUDDHIST
o Mahabodhi Society of India - College Street
o Buddha Dharmankur Sabha - near Indian Airlines office on Central Avenue
o Japanese Buddhist Temple - J L Nehru Road
JEWS
o
Jewish Synagogue - intersection of Canning Street and Brabourne Road
PARSI
o
Parsee Fire Temple - MetCalf Street, Beliaghata
KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : GEOGRAPHY

Country
India
State
West Bengal
Capital City
of the state of West Bengal
Latitude
22 degree 82 minutes North
Longitude
88 degrees 20 minutes East
Altitude
17 feet from sea level
Distance from sea 60 miles from Bay of Bengal

International Time (+ 5 1/2) hours from GMT
Temperature
Winter(12-27C) Summer(24-38C)
Average Rainfall
160cm
Total Population
15.97 million(2001) - including Howrah and suburbs

4.85 million(2004) - under Kolkata Municipality Corp
Population Density 24760 /sq. km. (2001)

Metropolitan Area 1380 sq. km. (1991)
Languages spoken Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English
Maps
City Maps
WEST BENGAL
Area
88752 sq km
Population (2001)
80176197
Population Density
903 per sq. km
Gender Ratio
Male-1000,Female-934
Districts
19
Division
Sub-Division
66
Block
341
Villages
40801
Bordering States/Countries Countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan

States: Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Sikkim
Airports
N S C Bose Airport, Kolkata

Bagdogra Airport, Darjeeling
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Biography Family
Tree Work chronology Gitanjali
Letter to Viceroy
Paintings Photo
Gallery Manuscript
Art Songs(Rabindra
Sangeet)
Poems(Bengali)
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate poet, writer, philosopher was
the ambassador of Indian culture to the rest of the world. He is probably
the most prominent figure in the cultural world of Indian subcontinent
and the first Asian person to be awarded with the Nobel prize. Even
though he is mainly known as a poet, his multifaceted talent showered
upon different branches of art, such as, novels, short stories, dramas,
articles, essays, painting etc. And his songs, popularly known as
Rabindrasangeet, have an eternal appeal and is permanently placed in
the heart of the Bengalis. He was a social reformer, patriot and above
all, a great humanitarian and philosopher. India and Bangladesh - the
national anthems of these two countries are taken from his composition.
Tagore was born on Tuesday, 7th May 1861 in a wealthy family in

Calcutta at the address of 6, Dwarakanath Thakur Lane, Calcutta. He
was the ninth son of Debenadranath and Sarada Devi. His grand father
Dwarakanath Tagore was a rich landlord and social reformer. Even
though he was from a very wealthy family, in those days Jorasanko
house ( Tagore house ) was a center of culture.
He was first admitted into Oriental Seminary School. But he did not like
the conventional education and started home study under several
teachers. Later he went to Normal School, Bengal Academy and St

Xaviers School, but all lasted for brief periods. At the age of 7 he wrote
a rhyme. Went to visit Northern part of India and Himalayas with this
father.
In 1874, his first published poem Abhilaash(Desire) was published
anonymously in a magazine called Tattobodhini. Poet's mother Sarada
Devi expired in 1875 when he was 13 years old. For the first time a
poem with credit to his name was published in Amritabazar Patrika
(weekly). He translated Macbeth into Bengali verse which was later
published in Bharati magazine. Following the style of Vaisnava
Padalvali (verses), he wrote Bhanusingher Padavali under the penname
of Bhanusingha. In the beginning of his literary works, there was impact
of his elder brother Jyotirindranath and his wife Kadambari Devi. Two
magazines, Bharati and Balaka - were used to get published from the
Tagore house and he regularly contributed to those.
His first book of poems, Kabi Kahini ( tale of a poet ) was published in
1878. In the same year, he sailed to England with his brother
Satyandranath. He got admitted into the University College in England
and started studying under Prof Henry Morley. Retuned to India on
1880. Wrote two musical plays - Valmiki Prativa (The Genius of
Valmiki) and Kalmrigaya (The Fatal Hunt ). Acted in these plays too.
Left for England in 1881, but changed his mind and came back from
Madras and went to Mussorie to meet his father. In 1882, he wrote
Sandhya Sangeet ( Evening Songs ) which impressed Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee so much that he conferred his garland on Tagore in a
function. Wrote a famous poem - Nirjharer Swapnabhanga ( The
Fountain Awakened from its Dream ).
Got married to Bhabatarini Devi in 1883 at the age of 22. Later her
name was changed to Mrinalini Devi. In 1884 wrote a collection of
poem - Kori-o-kamal (Sharp and Flats). Continued writing in different
forms. His first child (daughter) Madhurilata was born in 1886. Wrote
musical drama - Mayar Khela. Also wrote dramas - Raja-o-rani ( King
and Queen) and Visarjan (Sacrifice). In 1890 daughter Renuka was
born.
In 1890, Tagore went to Shilaidaha (now in Bangladesh) to look after
the family estate. Here, he was influenced by the natural beauty and
simple but elegant life of rural Bengal. Attended session of Indian
National Congress and sang the song Vandemataram on the opening
day. Wrote famous dance/musical drama - Chitrangada. His youngest
daughter Mira was born in 1892. In 1894 , wrote famous collection
poems - Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat). Son Samindra was born in 1894.
In 1901 he took the editorial charge of the magazine Bangadarshan. Got

involved with freedom fighting movement. Established Bolpur
Bramhacharyaashram at Shantiniketan, a school in the pattern of old
Indian Ashrama. In 1902, his wife Mrinalini died. Composed Smaran (
In Memoriam ), a collection of poems, dedicated to his wife. Within six
months from this incident his daughter Renuka expired. The demise of
father Debendranath happened in 1905. He strongly protested Lord
Curzon's decision to divide Bengal on the basis of religion. Wrote a
number of national songs and attended protest meetings. He introduced
the Rakhibandhan ceremony , symbolizing the underlying unity in
undivided Bengal. Was shocked by the sudden death of son Samindra in
1907. In 1909 started writing Gitanjali from Silaidaha. Composed
Janaganamana in 1911 which later was selected as the national anthem
of India.
In 1912, journeyed to Europe for the second time. On the journey to
London he translated some of his poems/songs from Gitanjali to
English. He met William Rothenstein, a noted British painter, in
London. He was first introduced to Rothenstein in Calcutta in a
gathering at Abanindranath Tagore's house.
Rothenstien was impressed by the poems, made
copies and gave to Yeats and other English poets.
Rothenstien arranged a reading in his house where
Yeats read Tagore's poems in front of a
distinguished audience comprising of Ezra Pound,
May Sinclair, Ernest Rhys etc. Tagore sailed for
America ( for the first time) from England. Reached
New York, came to Urbana, Illinois, gave a lecture
and then went to Chicago. In the mean time, India
Society of London published Gitanjali (song
offerings) containing 103 translated poems of
Tagore. Yeats wrote the introduction for this book
and Rothenstein did a pencil sketch for the cover page. The book created
a sensation in English literary world. Tagore was traveling America
then. Delivered lectures in Rochester, Boston, Harvard University.
Ezra Pound's Poetry Magazine published from Chicago had the honor of
publishing first English poem of Tagore. His six Gitanjali poems
appeared in Poetry in December, 1912 issue. Th epoet returned back to
Calcutta. In 13th November of 1913, Indians came to know that the
Nobel prize for literature has been awarded to Tagore for Gitanjali. On
26th Decemeber, University of Calcutta conferred on him the honorary
degree of "D.Litt.". Received Knighthood in 1915.
Proceeded to Japan in 1916. On the way gave speech at Rangoon,
Singapore, Hongkong. In Sep 1916, got invitation from different
institutions in USA and reached Seattle (Washington). Lectured at

Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Salt Lake City,
Chicago, Iowa, Milwakee, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston. At
Columbia Theatre, New York read translation from his novel Raja.
Returned to Calcutta in 1917. In 1918, his eldest daughter Madhurilata
passed away. In 1919, the poet started a tour to South India. Delivered
lectures on different topics at Bangalore, Mysroe, Ooty, Coimbatore,
Palghat, Salem, Trichy, Sirangapatnam, Kumbakonam, Tanjore and
Madras. At Madras spoke as Chancellor of National University, founded
by Annie Besant and stayed as a guest of Mr. Besant at Adyar.
In 1919, he wrote a historic letter to Lord Chelmsford repudiating his
Knighthood in protest of the massacre at Jalianwalabag, Punjab. In 1920
he went to Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram and visited Ahmedabad, Surat
and Bombay. Call came from Europe again in 1920. Toured different
places in England and Paris, Hague , Brussells. Travelled from Europe
to America. Delivered lectures at New York, Princeton, Chicago and
came back to Europe. His effort to raise fund for Viswabharati was not
very fruitful in America, mostly because he was seen as anti-British and
pro-German. He continued talks at Geneva, Zurich, Humburg,
Copenhaegen, Stockholm, Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Prague and in
other cities.
1n 1921, established Viswabharati University. He gave all his money
from Nobel Prize and royalty money from his books to this University.
Went to Bombay and from there to Poona. Visited and lectured at
Mysore, Bangalore,Coimbatore, Trivandam, Cochin and Colombo. Got
invitation from China and visited Sanghai, Peiking. Visited Japan again
in this tour. Went to South America. Met Argentine poet Madam
Victoria Ocampo at Buenos Ayres. The poet gave her a name ,Vijaya
and wrote Purabi - a collection of poems dedicated to her. On the return
journey visited Italy and lectured in Milan, Venice, Florence. Mahatma
Gandhi visited Santiniketan in poet's birthday. In 1926 visited Dacca,
Moimonsingha, Comilla (all now in Bangladesh). Visited Europe again
and this time went to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Czechslovakia,
Huungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, Greece and Egypt. In 1927 went to
Malayasia, Java, Thailand. In 1929 Canada. In 1930 Russia. In 1932
Iran, Iraq. And in 1934 to SriLanka.
In 1940 Oxford University arranged a special ceremony in Santiniketan
to honor the poet with Doctorate Of Literature. Tagore passed away on
7th August, 1941 in his ancestral home in Calcutta, the house where he
was born.
Select a page
Science
Personalities :: Novelist
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Bose Prafulla Chandra
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
One of the greatest novelists of India who gave the people the sacred
Philospoher
'mantra'- 'Vande Mataram.' The Bengali Novel practically began with
Swami Vivekananda
him. He also wrote philosophical works, which stimulated independent
Literature
thinking.
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born on 27th June 1838 in the village
Rabindranath Tagore
Knathalpara of the 24 Paraganas District of Bengal. He belonged to a
Sarat Chandra
family of Brahmins. The family was well known for the performance of
Chatterjee Michael
yangas (sacrifices). Bankim Chandra's father Yadav Chandra
Madhusudan Dutta
Chattopadhyaya was in government service. In the very year of his son's
Painting
birth he went to Midnapur as Deputy Collector. Bankim Chandra's
Abanindranath Tagore
mother was a pious, good and affectionate lady. The word 'Bankim
Nandalal Bose Jamini
Chandra' means in Bengali 'the moon on the second day of the bright
Roy
fortnight'. The moon in the bright half of the month grows and fills out
day by day. Bankim Chandra's parents probably wished that the honor
of their family should grow from strength to strength through this child,
and therefore called him Bankim Chandra. Bankim Chandra's education
began in Midnapur. Even as a boy he was exceptionally brilliant. He
learnt the entire alphabet in one day. Elders wondered at this marvel.
For a long time Bankim Chandra's intelligence was the talk of the town.
Whenever they came across a very intelligent student, teachers of
Midnapur would exclaim, "Ah, there is another Bankim Chandra in the
making".
Bankim Chandra finished his early education at Midnapur. He joined
the Mahasin College at Hoogly and studied there for six years. Even
there he was known for his brilliance. His teachers were all admiration
for his intelligence. With the greatest ease Bankim Chandra passed his
examinations in the first class and won many prizes. He was not very
enthusiastic about sports. But he was not a student who was glued to his
textbooks. Much of his leisure was spent in reading books other than his
texts. He was very much interested in the study of Sanskrit. He would
read and understand Sanskrit books on his own. He was struck by the
beauty of that language. Bankim Chandra's study of Sanskrit stood him
in good stead. Later when he wrote books in Bengali this background of

Sanskrit was of great help to him. There was no set rule for his study of
books. It was enough that a particular book attracted his attention. He
would pore over it for hours on end in some corner of the college
library. He used to spend most of the academic year in this way, reading
books other than his texts. And as the examinations drew near he would
race through the texts. But it made no difference for, as usual, he would
pass in the first class, and win prizes. And then again he would keep
away from texts.
In 1856 he joined the Presidency College in Calcutta. The next Year, in
1857, soldiers of the Indian army rose in mutiny; the mutiny was bid to
gain freedom. Calcutta was all confusion during this time. But Bankim
Chandra's studies went on as usual. He sat for the B.A. Examination
along with eleven candidates. Both Bankim Chandra and his friend
Yadunath Bose passed. The Lieutenant Governor of Calcutta appointed
Bankim Chandra as Deputy Collector in the same year. We may recall
that his father Yadav Chandra had also rendered service as Deputy
Collector. According to his father's wishes Bankim Chandra accepted
the appointment. He was then twenty years old. Having developed an
interest in the study of Law he got through effortlessly in the B.L.
Degree examination, too.
Bankim Chandra was appointed Deputy Magistrate. He was in
Government service for thirty-two years and retired in 1891. He was a
very conscientious worker. Most of his officers were Englishmen. They
were a proud lot for they were the ruling power of this country. Bankim
Chandra never submitted to their proud, unjust or stubborn behavior. He
worked hard and with integrity. Yet he never got the high position that
he so much deserved! Bankim Chandra would never sacrifice justice or
self-respect. The arrogance of the white men never frightened him.
When he was a Deputy Magistrate there was a superior officer named
Munro, who was the Commissioner (the head of the province). Bankim
Chandra met Munro near Eden Garden once. A British officer in those
days expected any subordinate Indian official to show him respects by
bowing modestly before him. But Bankim Chandra just walked past
Munro. Munro was enraged. He transferred Bankim Chandra to a
different place. There were many such incidents during his service. His
self respecting behavior angered the British officer. As a result he was
often transferred from place to place and much harassed.
His official career was full of such troubles. There were also some
unhappy incidents in his personal life. Bankim Chandra was married
when he was only eleven and his wife was five years old! Within a year
or two of his appointment as a Deputy Collector at Jessore he lost his
wife. Bankim Chandra was only twenty two then. The death of his
young and beautiful wife made him very unhappy. After some time he
married again. His second wife was Rajlakshmi Devi. They had three
daughters but no son. Bankim Chandra's youngest daughter Utpala
kumari is said to have committed suicide. When he was in Jessore,
Bankim Chandra met a person by name Dinabandhu Mitra. He was a
renowned Bengali dramatist of the time. They became close friends.
Bankim Chandra dedicated his 'Anandamath' to the memory of his dead
friend Dinabandhu Mitra.
In due course Bankim Chandra emerged as a great writer in Bengali. He
wrote novels and poems. He wrote articles, which stimulated impartial
thinking. He became well known outside Bengal too. His novels have
been translated into many Indian languages.
Bankim Chandra first wrote poems. Then he wrote a novel in English.
But after this he began to write novels in Bengali. He wrote while still in
service. Because of constant pinpricks he grew weary of service. He felt
that government service curbed his freedom and challenged his self
respect. So he asked for permission to retire, though he was only fifty
three years old. But his superior officers were displeased with him. So
they would not even allow him to retire. When a new Lieutenant
Governor, Charles Eliot by name, was posted, Bankim Chandra
approached him. He told him that he wished to write books and needed
leisure. "I would like to retire. Please allow me to do so," he requested
Eliot. He agreed. At last Bankim Chandra was free. He was retired on a
pension of four hundred rupees a month. When Bankim Chandra retired
he was eager to write many books. But he was not able to devote many
years to writing on a large scale. His health soon declined and he died in
1894 when he was only fifty six.
Bankim Chandra was a very refined person. Rabindranath Tagore, the
world famous poet of India, has related an incident about Bankim
Chandra. There was a gathering. People were talking in groups. One of
them was reading Sanskrit verses composed by him. Bankim was
standing nearby. The subject of the composition was patriotism. As the
poet read, he made a remark making fun of Indians in poverty. When
Bankim heard the remark he covered his face and left the place at once.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, one of the great sons of India, and Bankim
Chandra were acquaintances. The word 'Bankim' also means 'that which
is bent'. Sri Ramakrishna once jokingly asked Bankim Chandra, "What
is it that has bent you?"
"The kick of the Englishman's shoe," Bankim replied.
Sri Ramakrishna was acquainted with Bankim Chandra's historical
novels, too. When Swami Vivekananda was still known as
Narendranath, Sri Ramakrishna had sent him to Bankim Chandra.
Bankim Chandra had founded a journal called 'Vangadarshan'.

'Anandamath' appeared in installments in this monthly journal. In 1882
it appeared in book form. Soon the copies were sold out and the book
was reprinted. During Bankim Chandra's lifetime alone, in ten years
'Anandamatha' was reprinted five times. Readers found reading a
Bankim Chandra's novel an altogether knew kind of experience. The
people of Bengal were fascinated by his novels. When the novels were
translated into other Indian languages they delighted the new readers
too. Bankim is regarded as one of Bengal's treasures; this was because
of his novels. Bankim Chandra had give thought to the question of a
writer's style. A novelist tells a story. How should he write? His
language must be the language of the people - language they can
understand; he must write as they speak, thought Bankim Chandra. He
wrote in that manner. Though his language was close to the spoken form
of his day, it was attractive. The Bengali language acquired a new
dignity because of his writings.
Bankim wrote fifteen novels in all.
'Durgeshanandhini','Kapalkundala,''Mrinalini,' 'Chandrashekar' and
'Rajsingha' are well known for their interesting stories. 'Anandamatha',
'Devi Chowdhurani' and 'Seethararn' are based on the history of our
land. Bankim was a keen observer of the life of the people around him;
and he used to reflect deeply on what was right and what was wrong in
the social life of his day. 'Vishavriksha', 'Indira', 'Yugalanguriya',
'Radharani', 'Rajani', and 'Krishna kanter Will' - these reflect the good
and the bad in society.
Undoubtedly Bankim Chandra's most famous novel is 'Anandamatha.'
But he wrote several other novels which delighted the readers. One of
them is 'Durgeshanandini'. As was said earlier, Bankim wrote novels
about the people around him. One such novel was 'Vishavriksha'. This
was Bankim's first social novel. 'Vishavriksha' means the poisonous
tree. The tree of poison of this novel represents the anger and the desire
for comfort found in every man. This tree grows within anybody. If the
mind is firm the tree cannot grow there. It grows when the mind is
weak. Several of his novels like 'Kapalkundala' and 'Devi Choudhurani'
have been very popular.
Bankim Chandra struck a new path in the realm of novels. Until then a
novel was generally a cock and bull story, full of unbelievable incidents.
'Durgeshanandini' broke this tradition. It began a new trend. The story
by itself was very interesting. At the same time it was about persons like
us - good persons and bad persons, short tempered persons and patient
persons. Moreover what happened to the characters, who prospered and
who suffered was no longer the most important thing to the reader. He
began to ask himself: why did this happen this way? Who was right?
Who was wrong?' People no longer read novels just to kill time. In
addition to entertainment the novels taught people to think objectively.
The other notable contribution by Bankim Chandra is, of course, 'Vande
Mataram.' It became the sacred battle cry of freedom fighters. It became
such a source of inspiration that the British officers were enraged at the
very mention of this. People were sent to prison just because they sung
this song. 'Vande Mataram' has an honored place in independent India.
It keeps bright in the hearts of the people the ideal of dedication to our
country.
Bankim Chandra's novels made him famous. But he has also written
excellent books which are not novels. 'Krishna Charitra', 'Dharmatattva'
(Philosophy of Religion), 'Devatattva' (Principle of Divinity) and a
commentary on 'Srimadbhagavadgeetha' are some of his other books.
He wrote articles on Hinduism both in English and in Bengali. He had
deeply studied choice books in English.
Bankim Chandra worked in the field of journalism too. Those were the
days of few journals. He felt that there was need for a journal offering
variety of reading material. The periodical should, of course, publish
stories and novels, but it should publish articles on modern science; it
should also include articles, which stimulate thinking. So in April 1872
he brought out the first issue of 'Vangadarshan'. In the very first issue of
'Vangadarshan' Bankim wrote: "I have no ill feeling towards either
English or Englishmen........ It is very good to study English as much as
possible (but) pure silver is better than gilt brass. A true Bengali is better
than one who poses as an Englishman ....... Bengal will not progress as
long as educated people and scholars do not express themselves in
Bengali."
Thus one of the aims of Bankim was to interest people in science and in
the problems of the progress of their society and their country. It was a
time when educated Indians spoke only English instead of their own
language. So Bankim Chandra wanted to foster the love of the Bengali
language in the educated Bengalis, and to make them share their
knowledge with others through their language. This was his second aim.
Rabindranath Tagore has said that 'Vangadarshan' was like the first rains
of the month of Ashadhr. This month of the Indian calendar falls in
June-July. Its first rains bring a new liveliness to nature. 'Vangadarshan'
created such a liveliness in Bengal. People eagerly looked forward to its
issues. Besides, 'Vangadarshan' made possible the publication of
numerous stories, poems, novels, plays and articles of criticism; it also
paved the way for later journals.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author - "Enke"

Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Literature
Sarat Chandra Chatterjee

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee was born at Devanandapur, Hooghly in 1876
and received his primary school education at Hooghly Branch school but
he was bred up in his mother's family at Bhagalpur where he received his
school education and college education for two years. The death of his
parents wrecked his home life and for some years he was to lead the life
of a wail in North Bihar. In 1903 he went to Burma and found
employment in Rangoon as a clerk in the Govt office.
On the eve of his departure to Burma, he submitted a short story for a
prize competition in the name of his uncle Surendranath Ganguli. It won
the first prize and was published in 1904. A long story (badadidi) was
published in two installments in his own name in Bharati (1907). He was
the first novelist in India to live in some comfort on the returns of his
output. His instantaneous fame and continued popularity are without a
parallel in our literary history. Some of his stories are very striking for
their obvious sincerity and basic realism. These include Bindur chele
(Bindu's Son, 1913), Ramer Sumati (Ram Returning to Sanity, 1914),
Arakshaniya (The Girl Whose Marriage is Overdue, 1916), etc.
Saratchandra's earliest writings show striking influence of Bankim
Chandra Chatterjee. In Devdas (written in 1901, published 1917),
Parinita (The Married Girl, 1914), Biraj Bau (Mrs. Biraj, 1914) and
Palli Samaj (The Village Commune, 1916), the themes and their
treatment are not very much different from the older Chatterjee's but they
are presented in a modernistic setting and in an easier and more matterof-fact language. He is certainly critical of his own ideas but he never
flouts the accepted moral basis of the Hindu society of any time.
Chatterjee is at his best when he draws from his experience. To name the
more important of such works : Srikanta in four parts
(1917,1918,1927,1933), Charitrahin (Character-less, 1917), Biraj Bau
(1914), Palli Samaj (1916), the first part of Devdasa (his first novel) and
his first published short story Mandir (1904). It may be noted that these
(with the exception of the last two part of Srikanta) belong to the first
phase of Chatterjee's literary career, that is up to 1913 when he had been
just recognized as a powerful writer of fiction. The second phase began
with the conscious attempt to tackle a plot that is akin to Tagore's Gora.
The result was his the biggest novel Grihadaha (Home Burnt, 1919).
The spinning out a thin story is rather wearisome and it was never
received with the usual acclamation. Before he finished Grihadaha,
Chatterjee had reverted to the romantic love story Datta (The Girl Given
Away, serialized 1917-19) and Dena-Paona (debts and demands, 1923)
were written.
The revolutionary movement from Bengal operating in Burma and in Far
East supplied the background of the romance Pather Dabi (The Demand
of the Road, 1926). The novel for no cogent reason was proscribed by
the Government. In Bipradas (1935) Chatterjee returns to the domestic
novel but it scarcely reveals a new approach or a fresh appraisal. His last
complete novel Sesh Prasna (The Final Question, 1931) is an attempt at
the 'intellectual' novel where the meager theme is inflated by high brow
talks on problems of the individual and of the society relating principally
to love and marriage.
Some of the popular tales of Chatterjee were dramatized and performed
on the public stage with considerable success. Chatterjee's works have
been repeatedly translated into all the major Indian languages
Courtesy :
Arghya Chatterjee
Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Literature
Michael Madhusudan Dutta

Born January 25, 1824, Sagardari, Bengal -- died June 29, 1873.
Michael Madhusudan Dutta experimented ceaselessly with diction and
verse forms, and it was he who introduced Amitrakshara, a form of
blank verse with varied caesuras, and many other original lyric styles.
Madhusudan opened a new era in Bengali poetry.
The life of Madhusudan Datta was a turbulent one. He faced poverty,
maltreatment and misunderstanding. Although he was a genius of a high
order, he was an erratic personality. Madhusudan is a typical example of
one of Bengals intellectual elite caught between tradition and
modernity. His early conversion to Christianity is indicative of his crosscultural condition in life.
Madhusudans early schooling was in Bengali and Persian. In 1837 he
entered Hindu College where most of his education was in English. He
remained at Hindu College until age 19 when he converted to
Christianity in spite of the stiffest opposition from family, friends and
community. Madhusudan was one of the most brilliant students of his
class and perhaps the best English scholar of his college. At first
Madhusudans literary career was directed towards English literature.
Later he wrote in Bengali. In 1848 he moved to Madras where he
worked as an English teacher. There he published his best and longest
poem in English, 'The Captive Ladie' along with other English works.
The reception of his English writing was lukewarm.
In 1856 after the death of his father he returned to Calcutta where he
began to write Bengali poetry. He remained in Calcutta until 1862 where
he married a European woman, Henrietta and moved to Europe to
prepare for the Bar. When he returned to Calcutta in 1866 he became a

lawyer.
His principal Bengali works, written mostly between 1858 and 1862,
include a number of dramas written in prose, long narrative poems, and
many lyrics. His most important prose drama, Sharmishtha (1858), is
based on an episode in Sanskrit from the Mahabharata. His poetical
works include the Tilottama-sambhava (1860), a narrative poem on the
story of Sunda and Upasunda; the Meghanada-vadha-kabya (1861), an
epic on the Ramayana theme; Vrajangana (1861), a cycle of lyrics on the
Radha-Krishna theme; and Birangana (1862), a set of 21 epistolary
poems on the model of Ovid's Heroides. Though he was a Christian and
deeply versed in English literature he never severed his link with
Bengali. In particular his poetic genius continued to be deeply impressed
by the Radha-Krishna stories.
Courtesy :
Shukavak N. Dasa
Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Art/Painting
Regarded as the father of India's modern art, Abanindranath was born at
Jorasanko on 7th August, 1871 at the Jorasanko residence of the Tagore
family. He is the youngest son of the late Gunendranath Tagore and
grandson of Girindranath Tagore, the second son of Prince Dwarkanath
Tagore. His eldest brother Gaganendranath was also an artist of repute,
and the next brother is Samarendranath Tagore who is of a studious and
retiring disposition. Girindranath, Abanindranath's grandfather, was
himself a painter of considerable merit and used to paint portraits and
landscapes after the European style.
Abanindranath made use of his father's paint-box to paint rural scenes
with cottages and palm trees. He gradually acquired considerable skill in
drawing similar interesting pictures with his father's red and blue and
other colored pencils. He was then about nine years of age. His beloved
father died when Abanindranath was only ten years of age.
While at the Sanskrit College (1881-1890) Abanindranath took a few
lessons in Art from his class-mate, Anukul Chatterjee of Bhawanipur
whom he still remembers clearly and the beautiful pencil outline
drawings that he used to make. Although he was not very strong in his
English, Abanindranath somehow managed to get promoted to the first
class, being exceptionally well for his age in the Sanskrit language and
literature.
In 1889 he married Srimati Suhasini Devi. At this time he left the
Sanskrit College after nine years of study and studied English as a
special student at St. Xavier's College, which he attended for about a
year and a half. At this institution he greatly enjoyed lectures of Father
Lafont on scientific subjects.
About the year 1897 when Abanindranath was about twenty-five years
of age, he took private lessons from Signor Gilhardi, an Italian artist,
(then Vice-Principal of the Calcutta Government School of Art) on cast
drawing, foliage drawing, pastel and life study. Later he began to attend
the studio of Mr. Charles L. Palmer who had arrived from England. After
undergoing a severe training under Palmer for three or four years
Abanindranath attained such a proficiency in portrait painting in oils that
he could finish a picture within two hours. During this period he painted
many subjects in oils.
Abanindranath devoted his life to painting and he was the Guru to a
number of artists. He was the Vice-Principal of the Government Art
School and was working under E. B. Havell. Havell freed Abanindranath
from European influences. He drew his attention to Moghul and Rajput
styles. The influence of these styles can be seen in his later work. Later
on, Abanindranath learnt about Japanese art from Okakura. Okakura was
a great Japanese artist and art-critic who had come to India with Swami
Vivekananda. Okakura declared that the spirit of a nation expresses itself
in its art. He also said that from the point of view of art, all Asia is one.
After he returned to Japan, Okakura sent to India two other Japanese
artists, Taikoan and Hilsida. Abanindranath studied Japanese art under
their guidance.
Painting and Sculpture are but two of the many attainments of this
versatile genius, Abanindranath Tagore. His manifold and valuable
contributions to literature in some of its important branches would rank
him as one of the greatest litterateurs of the time. Children's literature
specially has received his devoted and affectionate attention. The more
important of his works on juvenile literature are "Raj-Kahini",
"Sakuntala", "Kshirer- Putul", "Bhutapatri", "Nalaka", "Nahush" "BuroAngla" which please the old and the young alike.
Abanindranath's paintings were exhibited in London and Paris in 1913,
followed by another international exhibition in Japan in 1919. His
appreciative audience included Rodin and Rothenstein. The influence of
Abanindranath on modern Indian art is profound and under his guidance
a new generation of painters- Nandalal Bose, Asit Halder, Kshitindranath
Majumder and Jamini Roy - brought about a revival in Indian art. The
largest number of paintings by Abanindranath- over 500 - forms a part of
Rabindra Bharati Society's collection at Jorasanko, Calcutta.
Abanindranath Tagore died in 1951.
Courtesy :
Chitralekha : Mukul Dey's article
FreeIndia.org
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Nandalal Bose
A celebrated painter of modern India. A genius who was admired in

many countries. His was an attractive personality, which combined
boundless learning and a unique genius with unaffected modesty and
gentle humor.
Nandalal's father, Purnachandra Bose, was the manager of the Karagpur
Tahsil of the Raja of Darbhanga. On 3rd December 1883 Nandalal Bose
was born in Kharagpur, in Monghyr District of Bihar Province. His
mother Kshetramani Devi died when he was eight years old. But her
influence on him was strong. Kharagpur was a small village. The beauty
of nature in Kharagpur made a profound impression on the young mind
of Nandalal. The river that divides the village, the blue mountain range
to the south, and all around, the paddy fields that changed colors every
season; river, lake, forest, birds and animals - with this background
naturally Nandalal was attracted to art.
At fifteen, Nandalal went to Calcutta to continue his education. There he
studied at the Central Collegiate School for his Entrance Examination.
Then he joined the General Assembly College to study for the F. A.
examination. His heart was in art. He spent all his time collecting books
and magazines to be able to study the works of great painters. He spent
even the money meant for his school fees on art. Besides, in his house in
Hatibagan he reared a number of pets. After he failed in the F. A.
examination he joined the Metropolitan College. Even there he did not
pass the examination. But his repeated failures did not lessen his interest
in art.
To escape from the noises of the city he would often go to Banupur. At
that time Banupur was undergoing a change and Nandalal noticed it. The
new jute factory had ruined the beauty of the surroundings. Another
factor that disturbed him was the condition of the laborers. He used to
visit them where they lived and he felt sad. In addition to the exploitation
of the poor, there was the British rule and the evils of casteism. Under
such circumstances, naturally, he turned a revolutionary. At this time
Devavrata Bose, who was his friend, relative and also Aurobindo's
follower, had a great influence on Nandalal.
He was married in his 20th year, when he was still a student. His wife
Sudhira Devi was the beautiful daughter of Prakashchandra Pal. Pal was
a rich man; he lived on one bank of the river, Nandalal on the other bank.
After his marriage, his father-in-law took interest in his studies. Nandalal
joined Presidency College. Even here he could not concentrate on his
studies because he was passionately interested in drawing and painting.
Nandalal tried unceasingly to learn to paint. From his cousin Atul Mitra
he learnt model-drawings, still-life and sauce painting. He copied the
paintings of European masters. One such painting was Raphael's
'Madonna'. At this time Nandalal was also enthusiastic about Raja Ravi
Varma's paintings. One of Nandalal's original paintings, 'Mahasveta',
shows the influence of Ravi Varma. When he was yet feeling his way,
Abanindranath's paintings like 'Buddha' and 'Sujata', and 'Bajra-Mukut'
suddenly lit up his path. Nandalal was overjoyed; and he recognized his
Guru (the Master) in Abanindranath Tagore. What Swami Vivekananda
was to Ramakrishna, Nandalal Bose was to Abanindranath Tagore.
One opinion Abanindranath used to express often: The disciple does not
become an artist because of teacher; the disciple has to shape himself
into an artist. But the Guru takes care of the disciple just as the gardener
takes care of the sapling. Under such a Guru, Bose grew into a fine artist.
Abanindranath was not just a teacher, he was a devoted artist. Bose spent
five years as a disciple. He was given a monthly scholarship of Rs. 12.
Nandalal Bose was not only a great painter; he played a leading role in
the renaissance of art. Bose's genius and his original style were
recognized by famous artists and art critics like Gaganendranath Tagore,
Anand Coomaraswamy and O.C.Ganguli; these lovers of art felt that
objective criticism was necessary for the development of painting and
founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art. Nandalal Bose was awarded
a prize of RS. 500 at the first art exhibition organized by this Society.
Rabindranath Tagore was very fond of Nandalal Bose. When Nandalal
Bose took charge of the Art Department at Santiniketan, Rabindranath
Tagore was extremely happy. Tagore honored Nandalal Bose with a
welcome song. When Abanindranath saw Nandalal Bose's 'Swayamvara
of Damayanthi' he said, "I can smell the sweet scent wafted from the
marriage mantapa." (A mantapa is a special structure for an auspicious
occasion.) The Japanese artist Okakura commented on Bose's painting
'Agni' (Fire): "It has every thing, but the only thing it lacked was fire."
Nandalal Bose illustrated many of Rabindranath Tagore's works.
'Chayanika', 'Crescent Moon', 'Gitanjali' and 'The Fruit Gathering' are

some of these works. Tagore wrote a poem about a painting called
'Diksha'. Nandalal used to prepare the stage setting for Tagore's plays. In
1924 Bose traveled with Rabindranath Tagore in China, Japan, Malaya
and Burma. Ten years later the visited Ceylon (Sri Lanka) together.
Nandalal was a great scholar and had keen powers of observation.
During his travels he recognized elements common to Indian music and
painting, and Chinese music and painting.
Gandhiji and Nandalal Bose were great friends. To this day there is a
painting drawn by Nandalal Bose on a wall in Gandhiji's Ashram in
Sevagram. The painting shows Buddha carrying a lamb, which was
chosen to be sacrificed at Bimbasara's yajna, and which he saved.
Nandalal used a variety of subjects and materials for his paintings. His
imagination could deal with material drawn from the Ramayana, the
Mahabharatha, Sanskrit poems, the Puranas, from the lives of Buddha,
Christ and Gandhiji and from Nature, and human life. He used different
kinds of paper, cotton and silk canvasses. He used a 'variety of colors.
Sometimes instead of brush he used rags. His paintings were of various
sizes.
Nandalal Bose was given all the honors, which an artist can get. At the
Allahabad Paintings Exhibition he was awarded a silver medal, and later,
at Lucknow, gold medal. The Lalit Kala Akademi of India honored Bose
by electing him as one of its fellows. Several universities conferred
honorary Doctorates on him. Visvabharati University honored him by
conferring on him the title of 'Deshikottama'. The Government of India
confers awards like 'Padmashri', 'Padmabhushana' and 'Bharatha Ratna'
on those who have rendered meritorious services to the country.
Jawaharlal Nehru requested Nandalal Bose to prepare the emblems for
these awards. In 1954, Bose himself was given the award of
'Padmavibhushana'. Bose wrote an important work on painting called
'Shilpa-Charcha'. The Academy of Fine Arts in Calcutta honored
Nandalal with the Silver Jubilee Medal. The Tagore Birth Centenary
Medal was awarded to Nandalal Bose in 1965 by the Asiatic Society of
Bengal.
Nandalal Bose died on April 16, 1966 at the age of 83.
As the melody lingers in the ear even after the song is over, the fragrance
of Nandalal Bose's personality survives though he has become a part of
history. He has become immortal by the vast treasure of art he created.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org
Author - C.H.Prahalada Rao
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Jamini Roy
Jamini Roy (1887-1972), one of the most celebrated artists of modern
India, is especially admired for his painting that brought solace to the
viewers in a tormented time of history. He gave a novel and daring
direction to the art of colonial India by evolving his idiom of expression
out of Bengal's folk painting, discarding at once both of the dominating
trends of his days, namely, Western academicism, then insipid and
decadent, and Neo-Bengal school, which tended to become cold and
fragile. And as the time marched, his concept of art's agelessness has
gained importance in the context of the present generation artists' new
search for the roots.
Born in a remote village of Bankura in West Bengal, Jamini Roy showed
his inherent interest in representational arts from his boyhood days, when
he loved to spend times among the village potters and emulate their dollmaking. His actual training however began at the age of sixteen in
Calcutta at the Government School of Art and Craft. Though at the time
Abanindranath Tagore was the acting principal of the school, he
preferred to take lessons in Western style and technique. After eight
years, when he came out of the school, he was an accomplished painter
in oils. In fact, in his twenties he earned his living by executing portraits
in academic style. But his spirit of quests led him to many directions,
including those of idyllic paintings of the genre of Abanindranath's
disciples and the landscapes experimenting in the way of the postImpressionists like Cezanne and Van Gogh.
In the beginning of nineteen twenties, when he was in his mid-thirties,
Jamini Roy took the vital decision of discontinuing painting in Western
method. At that time, his yearning to discover an idiom of his own.
"Even today", he said afterwards, "I am least bothered whether my
paintings is good or bad, and I feel that it is no concern of mine. My sole
desire is to make my paintings look different." In his agony to have a
personal identity he realized certain truth that he mentioned later on in
the following words : "It was not possible for me to paint in European
way, nor in Chinese or Tibetan.... because I was not in their milieu."
With the consequent understanding that he could flourish only in the

cultural consciousness of his own tradition, he turned towards the folkpainting of rural Bengal.
To reach the very source of the folk-tradition Jamini Roy went back to
his native place, and there he studied with the patuas their style and
technique. But the task of deriving a personal idiom of modern concept
from a popular expression was an uphill task. He worked hard for about
seven years at his north Calcutta residence to solve problems relating to
shaping his new visual language on certain principles. And ultimately
succeeded in substituting the conventionally pursued 'high art', of
whatever style and school that might be, by pictorial values of a rustic
'popular' art, such as, "level surface, a central focus, and the flatteningout of design-in-depth." Though his penchant for for a 'central focus' on
the canvas may be marked even in his work of the academic days, it was
only through relentless exercises of at least nine successive stages that he
mastered a style of painting conceived entirely on two-dimensional
terms. For his early paintings in new style, many of which echoed the
Kalighat Patas, clearly betray modeling of the voluptuous forms. His
finally achieved style of essential painting, that he evolved by referring
from time to time to Egyptian murals, Byzantine mosaics, Jain
miniatures, and above all the painting of the 'child-mind', represents a
concept of configuration which is, in the terms of art historians,
'primitive', to distinguish it categorically from the parallely running trend
of the 'Classical' style from the days of Greco-Romans through the
Renaissance to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Jamini Roy's debt to the folk-painters was not confined only to style and
technique. In the choice of subjects, too, and therewith the psyche in
which those subjects were to be narrated, he followed their state of mind.
This was on his part a conscious move to outlast the transitoriness of
contemporaneousness. Life-cycles of two avatars, Rama and Krishna
became his main themes, to which later he added the life of Christ. But
possible his most favorite subject was mother-and-child, which recurred
frequently in his brush and almost turned to a motif. In treating such
other subjects as Sri Chaitanya and his devout singing companions, the
Bauls, and even the Santals, singly or in group dances, he similarly
endowed his canvases with the traditionally flowing cultural ethos of
rural Bengal. Decorative motifs and designs with human floral forms,
found on the walls of the tribal huts and the floors of the rural
households during seasonal festivals, inspired him to draw some abstract
designs of immense aesthetic interest.
In their compositional discipline, reminding sometimes the rhythmic as
well as symmetrical arrangements of figures on the panels of late
medieval Bengal terracotta temples; in their lines, defining the contours
of the forms in unfaultered sweeps; in their colors, deep and saturated,

Jamini Roy's paintings thrive in rare vitality. Strength of his paintings is
a vividness of expression born of conceptual clarity, and this quality
made him so enormously popular with the viewers. In assessing his
achievements after a generation one would readily credit him for
successfully bridging the gap that developed in the cultures of the
traditional rural Bengal and the colonial Calcutta. It is Jamini Roy who
provided a broader base to the art of modern India by enriching it with
ethnic substances.
Asok K. Bhattacharya
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Personalities :: Philosopher
Swami Vivekananda
The valiant monk who proclaimed in America the greatness of Hinduism
and of Indian culture at a time when the West regarded India as a land of
barbarians. He dedicated his life to the country and yearned for the
progress of the poor, the helpless and the downtrodden. He was the great
thinker and mighty man of action whose ringing words galvanized the
slumbering Indians. For ages to come he will be a source of inspiration.
Some examples are here:
"Brothers and sisters, the long night is at last drawing to a close.
Miseries and sorrows are disappearing. Ours is a sacred country. She is
gradually waking up, thanks to the fresh breeze all around. Her might no
one can overcome."
"Are you prepared for all sacrifices for the sake of our motherland? If
you are, then you can rid the land of poverty and ignorance. Do you
know that millions of our countrymen are starving and miserable? Do
you feel for them? Do you so much as shed a tear for them?"
"Have you the courage to face any hurdles, however formidable? Have
you the determination to pursue your goal, even if those near and dear to
you oppose you? You can be free men only if you have confidence in
yourselves. You should develop a strong physique. You should shape
your mind through study and mediation. Only then will victory be
yours."
"I loved my motherland dearly before I went to America and England.
After my return, every particle of the dust of this land seems sacred to
me."
Real name Narendra Nath Dutta. His father was Vishwantha Datta and
mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi. Narendra was born on 12th January 1863 in
Calcutta. As a child he was very lively and naughty. When Narendra

stepped into boyhood, his naughtiness grew. Once a landlord threatened
the children saying, "There is a demon in the tree and he swallows
children." Narendra was not impressed by this threat. He settled down on
a branch. The other boys took to their heels. Narendra waited for several
hours, but the demon did not appear. So, he declared that the landlord's
story was a spoof.
Narendra's father was a lawyer. So every day his house used to be
crowded with his clients belonging to different castes. The clients had
breakfast and lunch there. It was the custom to provide the guests with
hukkas (long pipes) for smoke after food. There was a different pipe for
clients of each caste. Narendra wondered what would happen if he
smoked the pipe meant for people of a different caste. Finally he
experimented and nothing strange happened. He concluded that caste
had no meaning.
He was quick and alert in his studies as well. After a single reading he
could remember any lesson. His memory was amazing. Concentration
was the key to his success. By 1880, Narendra passed his Matriculation
and Entrance Examination. He joined a college. Day by day, his thirst for
knowledge increased. He would borrow books from the library which are
not related to the prescribed courses and read them to satisfy his thirst.
He was particularly fascinated by the secrets of God's creation. Apart
from history and science, he was well read in Western philosophy.
As he advanced in his studies, his thinking faculty developed. Doubts
and uncertainties overtook him. He gave up blind beliefs but could not
realize the truth. He placed his doubts before eminent scholars and
sought their guidance. These scholars excelled in debate. But their logic
did not convince Narendra. Their line of thinking was stale. It did not
convince him, for none of them had direct experience of God.
Sri Ramakrishna was a priest in a temple of Goddess Kali. He was not a
scholar. But he was a great devotee. It was being said of him that he had
realized God. Scholars who went to him became his disciples. Once,
Narendra went with his friends to Dakshineswar to see him. Sri
Ramakrishna sat surrounded by his disciples; he was immersed in
discussions about God. Narendra sat in a corner with his friends.
Narendra's attractive figure and shining eyes filled him with wonder.
"Can you sing?" he asked Narendra.
Narendra sang a couple of Bengali songs in a melodious voice. He patted
Narendra on the back and said, "My child, why are you so late? I have
grown weary, waiting for all these days. I wanted to share my
experiences with the right person." And he broke down. Sri
Ramakrishna's behavior puzzled Narendra. He thought the elderly man
was mad. "Will you come again? Promise me you will", pleaded
Ramakrishna. Eager to escape from him, Narendra said, "Yes, but , have
you seen God?" "Of course I have. I have seen him just as I'm looking at
you. I have even talked to him. I can show him to you. But who is
yearning to see God?" replied Ramakrishna. Narendra said to himself,
"Till today no one had told me he had seen God. This man looks
mentally deranged; possibly he is even mad. However, it is not proper to
judge without investigating." A month passed. Narendra went alone to
Dakshineswar. Ramakrishna was resting on a cot in his room. He was
pleased to see Narendra; It did not take a long time for Sri Ramakrishna
to realize the greatness of Narendra. Moreover, he was guided by the
will of Goddess Kali. But young Narendra would not accept
Ramakrishna as his guru without a test. Ramakrishna used to say that, in
order to realize God, one should give up the desire for money. One day
Narendra hid a rupee under his pillow. Sri RamaKrishna, who had gone
out, came into the room and stretched himself on the cot. At once he
jumped up as if bitten by a scorpion. When he shook the mattress, the
rupee coin fell down. Later he came to know that it was the doing of
Narendra.
Narendra was Ramakrishna's favorite disciple. But he would not accept
as gospel truth all that Narendra said. Narendra was highly critical of
people who worshipped idols. He rejected the theory of "Advaita"
(monism). He had no faith in mystic experiences. Advaitic assertions
such as "I am Brahman", "I am Shiva" did not impress Narendra. But Sri
Ramakrishna would always bring him back to the right path by saying,
"There are many roads to reach a destination. No one has the right to say
that the path the other man takes is not the right one. It is improper to
pass judgement on anything that one does not understand." One day Sri
Ramakrishna took Narendra to a secluded place. He said, "I have
attained some powers after a long period of meditation. They will give
whatever a man wants. I have given up all desire, and so I have no use
for these powers. Shall I bestow these powers on you?"
"But will they help me to realize the self?" - asked Narendra.
"No," said Sri Ramakrishna.
"Then I do not want them. More than anything, I want to realize God."
Narendra's reply filled Ramakrishna with joy. The Master had tested
Narendra, and Narendra had passed the test. Gradually Narendra turned
towards renunciation, giving up all worldly desires. The parents came to
know of this. He was then studying for his BA degree examination. In
1884, Narendra passed the BA degree examination. A friend of his
hosted a party. As Narendra was singing at the party, the news of his
father's death came like a bolt from the blue. Poverty hit the family
immediately after the father's death. The moneylenders began to harass
the family. Some of them even went to a court of law. Narendra
wandered far and wide looking for a job. His clothes were tattered and
torn; and it was difficult even to get one meal a day. Many a day he
fasted so that his mother and his brothers and sisters might have
something to eat. He would tell them that he had eaten with a friend.
Sometimes he would faint with hunger and fall down in the street. But in
spite of such overwhelming misfortune he never lost faith in God. Sri
Ramakrishna would console him saying, "You are here to serve mankind
and do mother Kali's work. You should be brave." One day he said to
himself: "God gives whatever my Guru seeks. So it is best to seek my
Guru's help." He went straight to his Guru and said, "On my behalf
kindly pray before the Goddess to rid me of this poverty. She will give
you whatever you wish for, won't she?" The Guru said, "My child, you
have no faith in Her, why then will she listen to my prayer? You
approach Her yourself. Then she will fulfil you need." So in the dead of
night Narendra stood before the idol of Goddess Kali. He lost himself in
deep meditation. He begged the Goddess, "O Mother, bestow on me the
spirit of renunciation. Let me see you, that is all I beg of you." When he
came out, the Guru asked, "Did you submit your prayer to Her? And
what did She say?" Narendra said in dismay, "O! Forgot about it
completely." "Then go back and ask Her," said the Guru. Again he forgot
to speak about his poverty in his prayer to the Goddess. Again the Guru
sent him. Back came Narendra and the same thing happened. The Guru's
joy knew no bounds. "My child, you should not crave for only food and
clothes. They are not the ultimate goals of man. Have faith in God. He
will look after the welfare of your family," said the Guru.
Later Narendra took up the profession of teaching. For some time he
taught in the Vidyasagar School. Now the family had at least enough
food. While he worked as a teacher he continued his study of law. His
Guru's health broke down. Sri Rama krishna developed a tumor in the
throat. Narendra gave up both his job and his studies and devoted all his
time to nursing his Master. Once, while Narendra was in meditation he
shouted, "Where is my body?" Others had to touch his body and
convince him of its existence. When Sri Ramakrishna heard this episode,
he was happy that at last his desire to find a worthy disciple had been
fulfilled.
The disciples nursed the Guru to the best of their ability. But the thought
that the Guru would not recover from the illness agonized them. His end
was drawing near. On the last day he called Narendra to his bedside and
touched him. He invested Narendra with all his spiritual powers. He said,
"Naren, now you are all-powerful. All these are my children. It is your
duty to take care of them." These words filled Narendra's heart with
grief. He went out of the room weeping like a child. After the passing
away of Sri Rama Krishna, the young disciples went to live in a rented
house in Baranagar. Although old, the house was far away from the
noise and bustle of the city; and it was on the banks of the river Ganga. It
was very close to the tomb of Sri Ramakrishna. So, the Mutt (monastery)
was opened there. The young monks had two goals-salvation and the
service of fellow men. Some young men left their homes and became
monks and joined the Mutt. Narendra became a monk and headed the
institution. The young sannyasis were unmindful of lack of food and
clothing. But even when they fasted they did not neglect their studies and
meditation. Narendra taught his brethren Sanskrit and Philosophy. To
visitors he expounded the teachings of the Master. As a sannyasi, one
cannot be tied to a particular place. Even the Mutt is a kind of a prison.
Attachment to a particular place is also wrong.
It was the great good fortune of India that Narendra took to sannyasa and
became ' Vivekananda'. India became his home and its inhabitants his
brothers. The sacred task of wiping the tears of his unfortunate brothers
was dear to his heart. He had to travel all over the country. His assets
were - a saffron robe, 'Kamandalu' (an ascetic's waterpot) and 'danda'
(staff). On his way he visited many holy places. He lodged at huts and
choultries and slept on the bare ground. He satisfied his hunger by
begging for food. He was in the company of sadhus, spending the time in
religious discussions and holy rituals. He traveled on foot or by any
vehicle whose driver was hospitable. Varanasi was the first city that
Vivekanda visited. During his stay there, he met many scholars and
exchanged ideas with them. In philosophical disputations he triumphed
over them. In Ayodhya, his imagination pulsated with the memory of Sri
Rama and Sita. In Agra the Taj Mahal filled him with wonder. On his
way to Brindavan, he smoked a hukka borrowed from a passer-by that
was a fisherman; he drank water in a pariah's house; begged for alms and
accepted food from a cobbler. As he stepped into Brindavan (where Lord
Krishna is believed to have lived); he was in ecstasy.
At Alwar, some Muslims became his disciples. While Swamiji used to
eat in their houses, he became acquainted with Maharaja Mangal Singh.
Initially the Prince had no faith in the Swami. There was a heated debate
between the two. "Swamiji, I have no faith in idol worship," said the
Maharaja. The Swamiji replied, "An idol is only a symbol. It is not
something to sneer at. Every devotee has his own way of realizing God.
It depends on the individual's devotion." The Prince was not satisfied
with Swamiji's explanation. There was a portrait of the Maharaja on the
wall. The Swamiji asked the Diwan (chief minister) by his side, "Whose
picture is that?" "The Maharaja's," replied the Diwan. Vivekananda said,
"Spit on it." The Diwan was taken aback. "Why are you unhappy?"
asked the Swamiji. The Diwan thought this man was certainly mad.
Swamiji explained: "After all, the photograph is just a shadow of your
Maharaja. It is devoid of flesh and blood." "But then it reminds us of the
Maharaja, does it not?" said the Diwan. Wisdom then dawned on the
Maharaja. He apologized to the Swamiji. Later the Swamiji went to
Mount Abu, passing through jaipur and Ajmer. He spent some time in
tapas (prayer and meditation) in a cave. While Swamiji was travelling by
train, in Rajasthan an interesting incident took place. He was resting in a
second class compartment. Two Englishmen were profusely hurling
abuses at him. They were under the impression that the Swamiji did not
know English. When the train reached the station. Swamiji asked an
official, in English, for a glass of water. The Englishmen were surprised;
they asked Swamiji why he was silent though he could understand them.
Swamiji snapped back, "This is not the first time I have met fools." The
Englishmen were enraged, but Swamiji's formidable physique silenced
them. During his travel, Swamiji could travel by train only if somebody
bought him his ticket. Otherwise, he had to travel on foot. He had to
starve most of the time for he had no money. Once it happened that a
merchant travelling with him was helping himself to varieties of
eatables. Swamiji was hungry and tired. But he did not beg for food. The
merchant spoke to him tauntingly and said, "You are an idler. You wear
the saffron clothes only because you do not want to work. Who will ever
feed you? Who cares if you die?" Just then, a sweetmeat seller offered
Swamiji some eatables and said, "I saw you in my dream this morning. "
The haughty merchant was put to shame when he saw all this.
In Mysore, Swamiji got to know Diwan Swashadri Iyer and also the
Maharaja of Mysore. The Swamiji's discourse in Sanskrit at a gathering
of scholars deeply impressed the Maharaja. One day he questioned the
Swamiji as to his future plans. "India is the land of many religions and
schools of philosophy. The Western world has progressed in science.
Human welfare is possible only by a reconciliation of the two. Therefore,
I want to go to America in order to propagate Vedanta," said Swamiji.
The Maharaja said, "Then I shall bear all the expenses of the visit."
Swamiji thanked the Maharaja for his offer and promised him that he
would make use of it when he needed it. Swamiji next visited Ramanad.
Bhaskara Setupati was the ruler of Ramanad at that time. He discussed
with Swamiji the problems that the country was facing. The prince
treated him with great respect. "You should attend the Conference of
World Religions in America. I shall bear all your travel expenses," said
the ruler. Assuring the prince that he would give serious thought to his
suggestion, Swamiji went to Rameshwaram and from there he finally
reached Kanyakumari. He swam to a rock and sat on it. Surrounded there
by the sea, he reflected on the state of affairs in India. The thought of the
poverty of the masses in this country made him miserable. He decided
that unless casteism was rooted out, there could be no salvation for his
countrymen. He concluded that his first task was to go Western countries
and expose the spiritual values of India. He would then return to awaken
his own slumbering land.
It was in Madras that the little lamp that appeared in Bengali Narendra
became the blazing light of all India as Vivekananda. It was there that
pressure mounted on him to go to America. The fame he won in Madras
traveled to Hyderabad. Thousands gathered at the meeting addressed by
him there. It was the first ever-public meeting addressed by Swamiji.
After he returned to Madras from Hyderabad, he started making
preparations for his tour abroad. Contributions towards his travel
expenses poured in from all parts of the country. But he kept with him
only as much money as he needed for the journey. He returned the rest of
the money to the donors.
Swamiji reached the city of Chicago in the middle of July. On his way he
touched at the ports of Colombo, Singapore, Hongkong and Tokyo. He
chose a hotel for his stay. He made inquiry about the opening of the
Conference of World Religions. It was still three months away. How was
he to stay so long in a strange place? The money he had was fast
disappearing. Meanwhile, an international fair was going on. Swamiji
was wandering in the premises of the fair. Just then he spotted a
Maharaja from India. He approached the Maharaja. But the Maharaja
turned away with wry face. Since Chicago was a big city and very
expensive, Swamiji moved to the city of Boston. On the way he met a
lady. She was from Boston. She was amazed at Swamiji's strange attire,
his magnificent physique, and his bright eyes. She decided that he was
no ordinary man. She begged Swamiji to be her guest. He agreed.
Occasionally he addressed meetings at small clubs. The subject of his
talk was Indian Culture and the Hindu Dharma. Gradually many scholars
became his friends. One of them was John Henry. He was greatly
impressed by Swamiji's scholarship. The delegates to the Conference of
World Religions had to submit their letters of introduction to the
organizers. But Swamiji had lost his letter of introduction. Wright
himself wrote the letter of introduction, in which he called Swamiji "A
scholar who surpasses all of us." Swamiji went back to Chicago. When
he reached the city he found that he had lost the addresses of some
people. The people of the city were mostly Germans and could not
understand English. As a consequence, Swamiji could not stir out.
Finding no way out, Swamiji curled himself in an empty box, which was
lying in the railway station. The next morning he wandered about in the
streets. Unable to bear his hunger, he begged for alms at some houses.
He could not get anything. On the contrary he was insulted and
humiliated. He was sitting on the footsteps of a playground. A lady came
out of a house facing the playground and asked him, "Are you a delegate
to the conference of World Religions?" The Swamiji replied, 'Yes'. The
lady said, "Please come to my house. You can bathe and have food. Then
I shall take you to the Conference." Her name was Mrs. George Hails.
The conference started on 11th September 1893. Thousands of delegates
belonging to deferent countries of the world had gathered at the
conference. Vivekananda was the youngest of them all. When it was his
turn to speak, his throat went dry. Besides, he did not have, like the other
delegates, a prepared speech. He requested the President to let him be the
last speaker, His turn did come as the last speaker. He prayed fervently
to Sri Ramakrishna and Mother Sarada Devi, and stood up to speak.
When he began his address in his pleasing voice with the words
"Brothers and Sisters of America," there was a thunderous applause.
When it subsided at last he continued his short speech. He said that
people born in different religions finally reach the same God, as river
born in different places finally reaches the sea. He emphatically declared
that no religion is superior and none is inferior. The delegates, every one
of them, praised his speech. Newspapers carried his photographs and his
speech. In later days people flocked chiefly to listen to his speech. He
became the darling of the crowds. Whenever he rose to speak there was
deafening applause. Even as the conference was in session, many
institutions and associations extended invitations to Swami
Vivekananda. Within a short time he became famous. Wherever he went,
he dwelt at length on the greatness of Indian Culture. He spoke with
spontaneous ease on every topic, be it History, Sociology, Philosophy or
Literature.
"He speaks without a scrap of paper in his hand. We see in him some of
the qualities of Jesus himself. A strange attire, a radiant personality, a
rare elegance, the skill to epitomize Hinduism superbly - with these gifts
he has won the hearts of our people. He is mesmeric. He is unsurpassed
in conversation. His mastery of English is exceptional. A man like him
appears only once in age. We are fortunate that we can see him and hear
him, "- thus the newspapers went into raptures. Till then Americans had
the impression that Indians were superstitious and ignorant. Thanks to
Swamiji's persistent efforts, India was elevated to an honored position
not only in America, but in the entire comity of progressive nations.
Wherever Swamiji went, people flocked to listen to him and waited
patiently. After the speech they would invite him to their houses and
treat him as an honored guest. They would entertain him lavishly. At
such times, Swamiji was constantly and painfully reminded of the
poverty and squalor of India. The opulence around him would become
unbearable. He spent many a sleepless and tearful night.
Meanwhile, he received pressing invitations from England. A rousing
reception awaited him in London when he arrived there. The newspapers
were all praise for the Hindu Yogi's oratory and outlook. Many became
his disciples. Among them was Margaret Nivedita. She came to India
and settled here. Swami Vivekananda returned to India after his foreign
tour lasting four years.
By the time he arrived in India, Swamiji's fame had spread far and wide.
When he landed in Colombo on 15th January 1897, he was accorded a
welcome that befitted an Emperor. When he reached Madras there was

an unprecedented crowd at the railway station. He was carried in
procession in a coach drawn by an admiring crowd. Innumerable
addresses and garlands were presented to him. Thereafter, wherever
Swamiji went, he disseminated the message of his master. To those who
came to him for guidance he taught the importance of spiritual
development. To his fellow monks he explained the importance of
dedicated service. He repeatedly told them that it was mere selfishness to
look for personal salvation. He used to say, "I do not want salvation, as
long as there is a single sorrow-stricken man in India." He had realized
that social service was possible only through the concerted efforts on an
organized mission. That is why he started Sri Ramakrishna Mission in
1897 and formulated its ideology and goal. During the next two years he
bought a site at Belur on the banks of the Ganga, constructed the
buildings and established the Ramakrishna Mutt.
Swamiji's health was constantly eroded owing to tireless work. He
visited many hill resorts in the Himalayas. But even there his missionary
work continued. He visited many cities in North India in response to
public demand. He visited America again at the invitation of his
American disciples. He participated in the Conference of Religions in
Paris and returned home. In spite of the entreaties of his disciples he
would not rest. He became more inward looking. The body grew weak,
but the mind and the soul remained alert and active. On 4th July 1902 he
breathed a deep sigh and went to sleep. Within a short while he attained
eternal bliss. His disciples and fellow-teachers felt orphaned and cried
like children.
Although Swamiji is no longer with us, his words live. His message has
continued to inspire millions of his countrymen. His voice can comfort
the suffering and sanctify their lives. Listen again: "You rejoice that you
belong to the race of the great sages. But until those who belong to the
upper classes help to uplift the downtrodden, and until exploitation ends,
India will only be a grave. May Mother India step forth anew from the
humble dwelling of the peasant! May she appear in the hut of the
fisherman! May she step forth from the cottages of the cobbler and the
sweeper! May she become manifest in godowns and factories! May the
song of New India echo and reverberate amidst mountains and in forests
and valleys! "
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org

Author - D.Javare Gowea
Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Reformer
Rammohan Ray
Raja Rammohan Roy has come to be called the Maker of Modern
India. Without giving up what was good and noble in the past, he laid
the foundations for a great future. He put an end to the horrible custom
of burning the living wife with the dead husband. He was a great scholar
and an independent thinker. He advocated the study of English, Science,
Western Medicine and Technology. He spent his money on a college to
promote these studies.
Rammohan was born in a village named Radhanagar in the district of
Mushidabad in Bengal on the 22nd of May 1772. In his 14th year he was
about to become a monk. But his mother came in his way. Rammohan
had been educated in Sanskrit, Bengali, Arabic and Persian in his own
village. Though his father Ramakanto was very orthodox, he wanted that
his son should have higher education. For this purpose, he sent him to
Patna in his ninth year. The boy was very intelligent. He studied Arabic
and Persian under famous Muslim scholars in Patna. Aristotle and Euclid
were two great thinkers who lived in Greece, hundreds of years ago.
Rammohan read their works in Arabic. By studying their books,
Rammohan developed the ability to think for himself. Many people in
India who believed in God worshipped pictures and idols of God.
Rammohan wondered if God had any form. He was not interested in
idol-worship and in festivals at home. He opposed idol-worship. But his
father, who was a very firm believer in idol-worship, felt he was doing
wrong. Owing to differences between Rammohan and his parents, he left
the house. He joined a group of monks. They wandered about the foot of
the Himalayas, and went to Tibet. The Tibetans were Buddhists. They
used to worship their teacher. Rammohan understood the principles of
Buddhism. He came back to his parents.
The parents lovingly received their son who had gone away. But even
now, the father and son could not agree on many matters. Ramakanto
celebrated his sons marriage, hoping that he would change. But the son
did not change. Rammohan went to Benaras and studied the Vedas, the
Upanishads and Hindu philosophy deeply. When his father died in 1803
he returned to Murshidabad. Rammohan admired this spirit of freedom.

He proclaimed that simple living and high thinking should be a mans
motto in life. And he lived accordingly.
Rammohan joined service in the Revenue Department of the East India
Company. He was an assistant to Mr. John Digby, an English officer,
from 1809-14 at Rangpur. Digby appreciated his efficiency. Though he
held a high post on a handsome salary and had property in his village, he
did not seek a life of luxury. Rammohan began the study of English in
his 22nd year. He used to read books. He also used to read English
newspapers received by Digby from England. Therefore, he knew much
that many Indians knew nothing about. He knew about the French
Revolution (1789 to 1795) which had just then ended. He knew what the
people and the Scholars of Europe felt about the ideals of liberty,
equality and democracy. Digby used to have visitors from several
foreign countries. Rammohan mixed with them freely and learnt how to
converse fluently and how to write good English. He developed an
elegant and forceful English style.
Rammohan loved knowledge. With the help of Jain scholars, he studied
books on Jainism. From Muslim scholars, he learnt Sufism. He was
already well versed in the Vedas. He used to arrange meetings of learned
men in his house and exchange ideas. This widened his knowledge.
Rammohan spent his leisure in learning new subjects and doing social
service. He translated the Upanishads and other sacred books into
English and Bengali and got them printed. He wished to go abroad and
learn more. But his own relatives filed a suit in the court. This came in
the way of his visit to other countries.
The marriage of girls five or six years old. Burning the wife with her
dead husband whether she is willing or not. Meaningless observance of
festivals and worshipping for show. The worship of several gods and
ranking gods as high and low. Rammohan was sick of these practices.
He had a high regard for Hinduism. But he felt that the Hindus had yet to
understand their religion correctly. There should be equality between
men and women. People should give up superstitious beliefs. Many of
Rammohans friends accepted his line of thinking. An association of
such close friends was formed. It was called Aatmiya Sabha (The
Society of Friends). Religious discussion took place there. The members
had to give up idol-worship. They had to spread the Societys views on
religion among the people. Many scholars opposed Rammohan.
Rammohan wrote articles in reply. The people read them and understood
what was said in the sacred books. Some Christian priests were
overjoyed at Rammohans interest in and enthusiasm for Christian
doctrines. They suggested that he should become a Christian. These
priests did not understand the mind of Rammohan, who was a staunch
believer in Hinduism. He had great respect for the Vedas and the
Upanishads, which he had studied deeply. Some men spoke lightly of the
Vedas and the Upanishads. Rammohan gave them a very clear answer:
"There is only one God in the universe. He has no form and qualities
which men can describe. He is full of joy. Every living being has an
element of God. These noble ideas sparkle in the Upanishads. Moreover,
these books encourage people to think for themselves, they strike out
new paths. They do not chain mans intelligence." Just as he condemned
the bad customs of the Hindus he condemned the superstitions of the
followers of other religions.
Rammohan came to Calcutta in 1815. He formed an association of
English and Hindu scholars. He started a college also and arranged for
the teaching of modern subjects like Science, Political Science,
Mathematics, and English. One of the members of the association was
rich and educated man called Radhakanto Dev. He had some followers
from the beginning. He did not like Rammohan. He obstinately said that
he would not help the association, if Rammohan were a member. To
Rammohan, the prosperity of the association was more important than
his status. So, he did not become a member of the association, though he
himself had started it. During 1816-17, Rammohan started an English
College with his own money. Today it is difficult even to believe that he
spent so much money for the spread of education. He understood the
condition of the country; he saw that the students should learn the
English language and scientific subjects. Rammohan criticized the
governments policy of opening only Sanskrit schools. Because of this,
Indians would have no contact with Western civilization. They would lag
behind without studying modern subjects like Mathematics, Geography
and Latin were held in high esteem in Europe. He argued that the
government should examine this point. Government accepted this idea of
Rammohan and implemented it after his death. Rammohan was the first
to give importance to the development of the mother tongue. His
Gaudiya Byakaran in Bengali is the best of his prose works. His
Bengali was terse, simple and elegant. By translating the scriptures of the
Hindus into Bengali he gave Bengali a new dignity. Rabindranath
Tagore and Bankimchandra followed in his footsteps. Rammohan wrote
lyrics also.
Rammohans brother Jagmohan died. His wife Alakamanjari had to
observe Sahamaran (that is, she was to be burnt alive with the dead
body). All arrangements were made for cremation. All the relatives
gathered. Alakamanjari put on a laced-sari and there was Kumkum on
her forehead. (A mark of 'Kumkum or vermilion on the forehead is
considered sacred by a Hindu wife; it is an indication that her husband is
alive.) Her hair was disheveled. Fear was written upon her face. The
corpse was brought to the cremation ground. Rammohan begged his
sister-in-law not to observe Sati. Relatives objected to Rammohans

words. They bound her to the corpse and placed her on the funeral pyre
with the corpse. The pyre was set on fire. Alakamanjari screamed and
cried in fear, but she was not set free. She was burnt to ashes along with
her husband. All the relatives praised her shouting Maha Sati! Maha
Sati! (a great wife) and went back. This heart-rending sight of his sisterin- laws Sati made a deep impression on Rammohans mind. Then and
there he took a vow to put an end to this dreadful custom. Some people
believed that the scriptures said that the wife should die along with her
husband. Rammohan referred to all the sacred books. But, nowhere was
it laid down that the wife should perform Sati. This custom had come
into practice in some age. Some people who knew it was wrong did not
have the courage to condiment. The brave Rammohan took up this
difficult task. But his task was not easy. Lakhs of people had faith in
'Sati' system. Many people opposed Rammohan and abused him. Some
even tried to murder him. But Rammohan did not flinch. Even the people
of the West, who saw all this wondered, when even the government was
afraid to interfere in this matter, Rammohan risked his life and fought
against this evil practice. In the end, he won and the government made
Sati a crime. Along with fight for the abolition of Sati, Rammohan
started a revolution for womens education and womens right to
property. He showed that woman enjoyed equal freedom with man
according to Hinduism. It was Rammohan Roy who first published a
newspaper in an Indian language. Atmiya Sabha used to publish a
weekly called Bengal Gazette. Besides, Rammohan was himself
bringing out a newspaper in Persian called Miratul- Akhbar (the Mirror
of News) and a Bengali weekly called Sambad Kaumudi (the Moon of
Intelligence). In those days, items of news and articles had to be
approved by the government before being published. So, there was no
freedom of the press. Rammohan protested against this control. He
argued that newspapers should be free and that the truth should not be
suppressed simply because the government did not like it. It needed
much courage to speak out like this 150 years ago, when India was under
the British rule. The press secured freedom by the constant efforts of
Rammohan. In his articles in the papers, Rammohan explained his views
and replied to his opponents. He made his words very carefully. He
made his comments with tolerance and without wounding anybodys
feelings. He thus set a good example to later editors of newspapers. In
those days, courts conducted trials by jury. Some persons were invited to
attend the proceedings of the court. At the end, these persons gave the
judges their opinions regarding the case. These men were called the
Jury. Indians were invited only to lower courts. But Englishmen were
invited to higher courts. Rammohan wrote to the government against this
practice; he argued that it was an insult to Indians. Finally, the
government ended this discrimination.
Rammohan and his followers used to attend prayers in the church of a

Christian sect. Chanrashekar Dev, a disciple of Rammohan, and others
wondered why they should not have a prayer hall of their own.
Rammohan approved this idea. They hired a building belonging to a man
called Ram Kamal Basu and opened a Prayer Hall called Brahma
Samaj. The members used to meet every Saturday. Vedic hymns and
hymns from the Upanishads were chanted by scholars. Religious
discussions were held. Rammohan recited the religious poems composed
by him. Christian and Muslim boys sang songs in English and Persian.
Many Hindus and foreigners used to attend these meetings. There is
only one God. None equals Him. He has no end. He is present in all
living beings - this was the faith of the Brahmas. This was the message
of Rammohan. The Brahma Samaj did not recognize differences of
caste, creed, race or nationality. It emphasized the idea of universal
brotherhood.
It is wrong to cross the ocean and go to the other countries! Such a view
appears laughable today. But, a hundred and fifty year ago, it was
believed that it was wrong and irreligious for a Hindus to cross the seas.
Rammohan was one of the first Indians who rejected this idea and went
to England. The allowances granted by the British to the Mughal King of
Delhi, Akbar the Second, was very small. He had to submit a
representation to the King of England to increase it. The Mughal King
decided to send Rammohan to England at his expense. Before he left for
England, the King gave him the title of Raja. The second reason for
Raja Rammohan Roys visit to England was to plead for the abolition of
Sati before the Parliament. Many people objected to Rammohans visit
to England. Some British officers also opposed his going to England. But
his fame had already reached England. When Rammohan landed at
Liverpool, the leading citizens were there to welcome him. The famous
historian William Rathbone who was laid up with paralysis, sent his son.
He fulfilled his last desire by inviting him to his house and by talking to
him. Several associations honored him. He visited France also.
Everywhere scholars appreciated his learning. Though the allowances of
the King was not finally settled, it was decided that he could be given
three lakhs rupees annually. Rammohans efforts for the abolition of
Sati were also successful. On the day when the Bill was passed by the
Parliament, the joy of Rammohan knew no bounds.
Rammohan passed away on 27th of September 1833. A friend of
Rammohan visited England in 1843. He removed the coffin of
Rammohan from Stapleton Grove to Arnos Vale, the commentary on
the outskirts of Bristol, and buried it there. A memorial in Indian style
was raised over his tomb.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author - C.N.Jayalakshmidevi

Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Reformer
Iswarchandra Vidyasagar
Real name Iswarchandra Bandyopadhyaya. The title "Vidyasagar" which
means 'ocean of knowledge', was given to him as an honor of excellence.
But his contribution to the Bengali society is far more than just
scholastic. Vidyasagar picked up the social reform work where
Rammohan left it. He laid the foundation of modern Bengali language.
Vidyasagar was born on 26th September, 1820 in a village named
Birshingha in Midnapore district to father Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay
and mother Bhagavati Devi. He spent his childhood in extreme poverty.
At the age of eight he came to Calcutta with his father where Thakurdas
took book keeping job. The saying is that Vidyasagar learned English
numbers by following the mile stones labels on his way to Calcutta.
In 1829, he got admitted to Sanskrit College. His concentration and quest
for knowledge was so intense that he was used to study on street light as
his family couldn't afford gas lamp at home. In 1839, he passed Hindu
Law Examination and was honored with the title 'Vidyasagar'. Started
his first job as the Chief Pundit in Fort William College, Calcutta in
1841 at the age of 20. Vidyasagar started learning English and Hindi
here. In 1846, he joined Sanskrit College as Assistant Secretary. He
wanted to improve the teaching system in the college and faced
difference in opinion from then secretary Rasomoy Dutta. Vidyasagar
left the job and joined Fort William College. In 1850, he became a
Professor at Sanskrit College with one condition that he should be
allowed to do the redesign of the education system. In 1851, he became
the Principal of this college. None other than the Brahmins were allowed
to study in Sanskrit College. He changed that rule and opened it for
everybody.
Vidysagar realized that there was no place for education of women in the
society. With his tireless effort to uplift the status of women in the
society, he was able to establish some Girl's schools in different places of
Bengal. But there was no good Bengali text book for basic Bengali
education. He wrote Bengali books with basic language construct and
fundamentals, like, "Barnaparichay", "Bodhoday", "Kathamala" etc. and
then easy grammar books like "Upakramonika" and "Byakaron
Kaumudi". He also introduced some basic books for Mathematical logic.
Rabindranath Tagore called him as the father of modern Bengali
language. Vidyasagar translated some masterpieces of Sanskrit and
English literature into Bengali: "betaal panchabingshati"(Sanskrit
Kathasarit sagar, "shakuntala", "bhranti bilaas" , "sitaar banabaas" and
edited books like "raghubangsha", "kumarsambhab" etc.
Vidyasagar proposed the widow remarriage act in 1856. Widows could
not marry again in those days. There was strong protest from the upper
class and orthodox people of the society. He encouraged his son to get
married to a widow. Sometimes, he spent money from himself to get
widows married. He wanted to stop the Hindu men from getting married
to many women. Not withstanding the miserable condition of Hindu
widows, he introduced 'Hindu Family Annuity Fund'.
Vidyasagar opened as many as 1200 schools for women in those early
days of women education. Vidyasagar was one of the founder member of
University of Calcutta which was established in 1857. With help from
some friends, in 1859 he established Calcutta Training School. This
school was later named as Metropolition Institution and later was
converted to a college named after him as Vidyasagar College.
Bold and articulate life style, honesty, strong determination, self respect,
tenacity to fight against all odds - these charateristics made him a
legendary personality in the era of Bengal renaissance. His strength of
character became proverbial. He was also known for his charity and
philanthropy and was called as "Daya-r sagar" - ocean of kindness.
Renowned poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta wrote about him - "The
genius and wisdom of an ancient sage, the energy of an Englishman and
the heart of a Bengali mother". In 29th July, 1891, this great personality
died.
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Science
Personalities :: Leader
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Subhash Chandra Bose
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Known as Netaji (leader), Mr. Bose was a fierce and popular leader in
Bankim Chandra
the political scene in pre-independence India . He was the president of
Chatterjee
the Indian National Congress in 1937 and 1939, and founded a
Rabindranath Tagore nationalist force called the Indian National Army. He was acclaimed as a
Sarat Chandra
semigod, akin to the many mythological heroes like Rama or Krishna,
Chatterjee Michael
and continues as a legend in Indian mind.
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Subhas Chandra was born on January 23rd 1897 in Cuttack as the ninth
Abanindranath Tagore child among fourteen, of Janakinath Bose, an advocate, and Prabhavati
Devi, a pious and God-fearing lady. A brilliant student, he topped the
Roy
matriculation examination of Calcutta province and passed his B.A. in
Philosophy from the Presidency College in Calcutta. He was strongly
influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings and was known for his
patriotic zeal as a student. His parents' wishes kept him away from the
Indian freedom struggle and led him into studies for the Indian Civil
Service in England.
Although he finished those examinations also at the top of his class (4th),
he could not complete his apprenticeship and returned to India, being
deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. He came under the
influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress
(a.k.a. Congress). Gandhiji directed him to work with Deshbandhu
Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali leader whom Bose acknowledged as his
political guru.
Bose was outspoken in his anti-British stance and was jailed 11 (eleven)
times between 1920 and 1941 for periods varying between six months
and three years. He was the leader of the youth wing of the Congress
Party, in the forefront of the trade union movement in India and
organized Service League, another wing of Congress. He was admired
for his great skills in organization development .
The Influence of Bose

Bose advocated complete freedom for India at the earliest, whereas the
Congress Committee wanted it in phases, through a Dominion status.
Other younger leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru supported Bose and
finally at the historic Lahore Congress convention, the Congress had to
adopt Poorna Swaraj (complete freedom) as its motto. Bhagat Singh's
martyrdom and the inability of the Congress leaders to save his life
infuriated Bose and he started a movement opposing the Gandhi-Irvin
Peace Pact. He was imprisoned and expelled from India. But defying the
ban, he came back to India and was imprisoned again! Clouds of World
War II were gathering fast and Bose warned the Indian people and the
British against dragging India into the war and the material losses she
could incur. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress
twice in 1937 and in 1939, the second time defeating Gandhiji's
nominee. He brought a resolution to give the British six months to hand
India over to the Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There
was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post of
president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block
(1939). The second World War broke out in September of 1939, and just
as predicted by Bose, India was declared as a warring state (on behalf of
the British) by the Governor General, without consulting Indian leaders.
The Congress party was in power in seven major states and all state
governments resigned in protest.
Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing
Indian resources and men for the great war. To him, it made no sense to
further bleed poor Indians for the sake of colonial and imperial nations.
There was a tremendous response to his call and the British promptly
imprisoned him . He took to a hunger-strike, and after his health
deteriorated on the 11th day of fasting, he was freed and was placed
under house arrest. The British were afraid of violent reactions in India,
should something happen to Bose in prison.
Bose suddenly disappeared in the beginning of 1941 and it was not until
many days that authorities realized Bose was not inside the house they
were guarding! He traveled by foot, car and train and resurfaced in
Kabul (now in Afghanistan), only to disappear once again. In November
1941, his broadcast from German radio sent shock waves among the
British and electrified the Indian masses who realized that their leader
was working on a master plan to free their motherland. It also gave fresh
confidence to the revolutionaries in India who were challenging the
British in many ways.
The Axis powers (mainly Germany) assured Bose military and other
help to fight the British. Japan by this time had grown into another
strong world power, occupying key colonies of Dutch, French, and

British colonies in Asia. Bose had struck alliance with Germany and
Japan. He rightly felt that his presence in the East would help his
countrymen in freedom struggle and second phase of his saga began. It is
told that he was last seen on land near Keil canal in Germany, in the
beginning of 1943. A most hazardous journey was undertaken by him
under water, covering thousands of miles, crossing enemy territories. He
was in the Atlantic, the Middle East, Madagascar and the Indian ocean.
Battles were being fought over land, in the air and there were mines in
the sea. At one stage he traveled 400 miles in a rubber dingy to reach a
Japanese submarine, which took him to Tokyo. He was warmly received
in Japan and was declared the head of the Indian army, which consisted
of about 40,000 soldiers from Singapore and other eastern regions. Bose
called it the Indian National Army (INA) and a government by the name
"Azad Hind Government" was declared on the 21st of October 1943.
INA freed the Andaman and Nicobar islands from the British and were
renamed as Swaraj and Shaheed islands. The Government started
functioning.
Bose wanted to free India from the Eastern front. He had taken care that
Japanese interference was not present from any angle. Army leadership,
administration and communications were managed by Indians only.
Subhash Brigade, Azad Brigade and Gandhi Brigade were formed. INA
marched through Burma and occupied Coxtown on the Indian Border. A
touching scene ensued when the solders entered their 'free' motherland.
Some lay down and kissed, some placed pieces of mother earth on their
heads, others wept. They were now inside of India and were determined
to drive out the British! Delhi Chalo (Let's march to Delhi) was the war
cry. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the history of
mankind. Japan had to surrender. Bose was in Singapore at that time and
decided to go to Tokyo for his next course of action. Unfortunately, there
was no trace of him from that point. He was just 48 and his death or
disappearance is still a mystery.
The Indian people were so much enamored of Bose's oratory and
leadership qualities, fearlessness and mysterious adventures, that he had
become a legend. They refused to believe that he died in the plane crash.
The famous Red Fort trial wherein Bose's generals and the INA officers
were tried, became landmark events. Initially, the British Government
thought of a court-martial, but there was a countrywide protest against
any kind of punishment. For common Indians, Axis and Allied powers
hardly mattered, but they could not tolerate punishment of fellow
countrymen who were fighting for freedom. The British Government
was in no position to face open rebellion or mutiny and a general
amnesty for INA soldiers was declared.
While Bose's approach to Indian freedom continues to generate heated

debate in the Indian society today, there is no denying of his burning
patriotism, his tireless efforts to free India from inside and outside and
his reckless adventures in trying to reach his goals. His exploits later
became a legend due to the many stories carried by the disbanded INA
soldiers who came from every nook and corner of our great country. Had
he been around, Subhas Chandra Bose could have given a new turn to
Independent India's political history. But he lives on eternally in the
Indian mind.
This article is in courtesy of Dr. Jyotsna Kamat, a historian from
Bangalore.
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Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee
Rabindranath Tagore
Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee Michael
Madhusudan Dutta
Painting
Roy
Personalities :: Scientist
Jagadish Chandra Bose

Physicist turned plant biologist Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on 30
November 1858 in Mymensingh, India (now in Bangladesh) to a well-todo family. His father Bhagabanchandra Bose was a Deputy Magistrate.
A distinguished student, he began attending St. Xaviers College,
Calcutta in 1875 and received the BA degree from Calcutta University in
1877. In 1880 the twenty-two-year old Bose left India for England. For a
year he studied medicine at London University, England, but had to give
it up because of his own ill health. Within a year he moved to Cambridge
to take up a scholarship to study Natural Science at Christ's College
Cambridge. One of his lecturers at Cambridge was Professor Rayleigh,
who clearly had a profound influence on his later work. He graduated
from there in 1884 with a Natural Science Tripos (a special course of
study at Cambridge). That same year Bose also received the BS degree
from London University. Just one year later Bose became a Professor of
Physical Science at Presidency College of Calcutta, where for the next
30 years he taught and conducted research. As a teacher Bose was very
popular and engaged the interest of his students by making extensive use
of scientific demonstrations. Many of his students at the Presidency
College were destined to become famous in their own right - for example
S.N. Bose, later to become well known for the Bose-Einstein statistics.
In 1894, J.C. Bose converted a small enclosure adjoining a bathroom in
the Presidency College into a laboratory. He carried out experiments
involving refraction, diffraction and polarization. To receive the
radiation, he used a variety of different junctions connected to a highly
sensitive galvanometer. He plotted in detail the voltage-current
characteristics of his junctions, noting their non-linear characteristics. He
developed the use of galena crystals for making receivers, both for short
wavelength radio waves and for white and ultraviolet light. Patent rights
for their use in detecting electromagnetic radiation were granted to him
in 1904. In 1954 Pearson and Brattain gave priority to Bose for the use
of a semi-conducting crystal as a detector of radio waves. Sir Neville
Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state
electronics, remarked that "J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his
time" and "In fact, he had anticipated the existence of P-type and N-type
semiconductors." In 1895 Bose gave his first public demonstration of
electromagnetic waves, using them to ring a bell remotely and to explode
some gunpowder. In 1896 the Daily Chronicle of England reported: "The
inventor (J.C. Bose) has transmitted signals to a distance of nearly a mile
and herein lies the first and obvious and exceedingly valuable
application of this new theoretical marvel."
During the years 1894-1900, Bose performed pioneering research on
radio waves and created waves as short as 5 mm. Boses work actually
predates that of Guglielmo Marconi who is most often associated with
the development of radio. Unlike Marconi who sought to commercialize
his work with radio waves, Bose was purely interested in radio waves as
a scientific endeavor. Bose also developed equipment for generating,
transmitting, and receiving radio waves and used it to demonstrate
conclusively the waves properties such as reflection, total reflection,
refraction, double refraction, and polarization. Bose also experimented
with galena to form an early type of semiconductor diode, which may be
used as a detector of electromagnetic waves. Bose's demonstration of
remote wireless signalling has priority over Marconi; he was the first to
use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves, and he invented
various now commonplace microwave components. Outside of India he
is rarely given the deserved recognition. Further work at millimeter
wavelengths was almost nonexistent for nearly 50 years. J.C. Bose was
at least this much ahead of his time. Research into the generation and
detection of millimeter waves, and the properties of substances at these
wavelengths, was being undertaken in some detail one hundred years
ago, by J.C. Bose in Calcutta.
After about 1900, Bose began pursuing another longtime interest
animal and plant physiology. This included studies of the effects of
electromagnetic radiation on plants, a topical field today. His
contributions to this field were pioneering. He introduced many delicate
and sensitive instruments, such as the Chrestograph, which was used for
recording plant growth. It could magnify a small movement as much as a
million times. Another device he developed demonstrated the effects of
electromagnetic waves on living and nonliving matter.
Bose retired in 1915 and was appointed Emeritus Professor, Presidency
College, Calcutta, for a period of 5 years. In 1917 he founded the Bose
Research Institute in Calcutta which was the first scientific research
institute in India. That same year a knighthood was conferred on Bose.
In 1920 he became the first Indian scientist to be elected to Great

Britains prestigious Royal Society.
Bose traveled frequently to Europe and the United States on various
scientific missions and gave lectures on electromagnetic waves, the
effects of electromagnetic waves on living and nonliving matter, and
plant physiology. On a personal level, Bose believed in the free
exchange of scientific knowledge and strongly believed that knowledge
grows by sharing it with fellow scientists. Bose died on 23 November
1937 at the age of 78.
Courtesy :
IEEE
D.T. Emerson
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Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Satyendra Nath Bose
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Once the great scientist, Niels Bohr, was delivering a lecture. Bose
Chatterjee
presided. At one stage the lecturer had some difficulty in explaining a
Rabindranath Tagore
point.
He had been writing on the blackboard; he stopped and, turning to
Sarat Chandra
Bose, said, "Can Professor Bose help me?" All the while Satyendranath
Chatterjee Michael
had
been sitting with his eyes shut. The audience could not help smiling
Madhusudan Dutta
at Professor Bohr's words. But to their great surprise, Bose opened his
Painting
eyes;
in an instant he solved the lecturer's difficulty. Then he sat down
and once again closed his eyes!
Roy
The fame of Satyendranath Bose as a brilliant student of physics and
mathematics has spread the world over. In India, which is still a
developing country, he strove hard for the dissemination of science. In
addition, he did significant work in the fields of education, politics,
music and literature, too. He has come to be popularly known Satyen
Bose (S. N. Bose).
Satyendranath Bose was born on the first of January 1894 in Calcutta.
His father Surendranath was employed in the Engineering Department of
the East India Railway. Satyendranath was the eldest of his seven
children; the rest were all daughters. Though Surendranath Bose lost his
wife at an early age, without losing heart, he brought up all his children
well. It is said that, when Satyen was hardly three years old, a Bengali
astrologer made this prediction: "This child will face many obstacles all
through his life; nevertheless he will overcome them with his exceptional
intelligence and attain great fame." The father, naturally, took a special
interest in his son's progress. Though he had seven children he took care
to see that nothing came in the way of the boy's education.
Yet, it did not appear to him that this youngster was quite serious about
his studies. He often wondered if the astrologer's prediction would

remain a mere dream. As days passed, a thorough change came about in
Satyendranath. By his own effort he stood first throughout his academic
career. Because of his love for and interest in science he did much
research. He earned a name both at home and abroad.
Even in his school days, Satyendranath had come to be recognized as an
intelligent student. As a student of the Hindu High School in Calcutta he
established a new record, scoring 110 marks for a maximum of 100 in
mathematics. He had solved some problems in mathematics by more
than one method. That was why his teacher gave him more marks than
the maximum. Zeal for work and eagerness to learn new things had taken
root in him even in his childhood. Young Satyen loved to improvise
apparatus for his experiments. At school, in collaboration with his fellow
students, he constructed a telescope and other scientific instruments.
Satyendranath joined Presidency College of Calcutta for higher studies.
The period of his stay in Presidency College may be called a Golden
Age. The company of good friends and classmates and the guidance of
ideal teachers shaped his future life. Some of the most renowned
scientists - Meghnad Saha, Nikhilranjan Bose, J. C. Ghosh, J. N.
Mukherjee and Girijapathi Bhattacharya - were his classmates. He came
to be acquainted with freedom fighter Netaji Subashchandra Bose also.
Saratchandra Bose was his contemporary. These youths were fortunate
in their teachers. Eminent scientists like Jagadishchandra Bose,
Prafullachandra Ray, S. N. Maitra were their professors. J. C. Bose
taught them physics while P. C. Ray taught chemistry. These great
scientists were also great patriots. They inspired their students to
understand the real values of life and to set definite goals before
themselves. Bose was thus able to mould his career and later shine in
life.
In Bengal, the Swadeshi movement started when Bose was yet a student.
And Bose who was a teenager grew with it. This movement made a great
impression on his young mind. All the greater was this impression on
him because of his close contact with his teachers P.C. Ray and J. C.
Bose. At the age of nineteen, Bose became a graduate. On the 5th of
May 1914, at the age of twenty, he married Usha Devi. The next year, he
completed his post graduation, getting the M.Sc. degree. In all the
examinations - the Intermediate, the B.Sc. and the M.Sc. examinations he annexed the first rank. In 1915, several young men who had secured
the Master's Degree pressed for the opening of the post graduate courses
in Modern Physics and Modern Mathematics in Calcutta University.
Among them were Meghnad Saha, Jnanachandra Ghosh, and
Satyendranath Bose. In 1916, the University started M.Sc. classes in
Modern Mathematics and Modern Physics. M. N. Saha, J. C. Ghosh and
S. N. Bose were all appointed as lecturers.

Thus, Bose started his career in 1916 as a Lecturer in Physics in Calcutta
University. He served this University for five years from 1916 to 1921.
During this time, his friends and colleagues recognized his exceptional
talent. But when he won worldwide fame he was no longer in this
University. He joined Dacca University in 1921 as a reader in Physics.
While serving in this post he wrote a short article of just six pages in
English. It was an article relating to physics, on "Max Planck's Law" and
"Light Quantum Hypothesis". This article was sent to Albert Einstein.
This little article brought about a great change in the life of
Satyendranath. Einstein appreciated it so much that he himself translated
it into German and sent it for publication to a famous periodical in
Germany - 'Zeitschrift fur Physik'. He also explained at length the
significance of the subject matter of the article and the great possibilities
the article indicated. Now Dacca University opened its eyes and
recognized the worth of Bose. At that time he had only a Master's
Degree in Science and had no higher academic qualification. Yet the
University readily gave him the money for a tour of Europe.
Bose first visited Paris in 1924. He stayed there for a year. He conducted
research in the Madame Curie Laboratory, which had special facilities.
Here he became acquainted with several physicists. The next year, he left
Paris for Berlin to join Einstein and work with him. There he came into
close contact with noted scientists like Schroedinger and Heisenberg. He
participated in all the meetings and discussions held there. While Bose
was in Berlin, the post of a professor fell vacant in Dacca University. J.
C. Ghosh and other friends persuaded him to apply for the post. Bose
had not yet got his doctorate. It was, therefore, difficult for him to secure
the professorship. A recommendation from Albert Einstein to select him
would have made things easy for him. So, with great hesitation, Bose
approached Einstein. Einstein was surprised. He said, "You are so
proficient in youre subject; is their need for any other certificate or
recommendation?" He wrote a letter to the authorities of Dacca
University in which he said, "Can you find another scientist as proficient
as Satyendranath? He is quite fit for the post." It had the desired effect.
In 1926, Satyendranath Bose was appointed Professor and Head of the
Department of Physics.
Bose served in Dacca University nearly twenty-five years as Professor
teacher he was admired by his students was friendly and helpful to his
colleagues. They held him in high esteem. In 1944, when he was the
Head of the Science Section in Dacca University, Bose was chosen as
the General President of the thirty-first session of the Science Congress.
In 1945, he was appointed as Khaira Professor of Physics in Calcutta
University. He retired from Calcutta University in 1956. The University

honored him on his retirement by appointing him as Emeritus Professor.
Later he became the Vice Chancellor of the Viswabharati University. In
1958, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, London. This was
indeed, a very great honor. On being appointed a National Professor in
1958, he left the Viswabharati University. He represented India on many
international committees. The scope of his research was vast and varied.
His main field of work was mathematical physics.
His first article on theoretical physics was on 'Equation of State based
on research conducted and published jointly with Meghnad Saha.
Incorporating the Theory of Relativity propounded by Albert Einstein,
this equation explained many aspects of the pressure, cubic measure and
temperature of gases. This article was published in the 'Philosophical
Magazine' in 1918. Scientists now refer to it as the 'Saha-Bose Equation'.
The article entitled 'Stress Equation of Equilibrium' was published in
1919 in the popular Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society.
Another article with the title 'Herpolhode' was published in the same
periodical in 1920. His other article on Rydberg's Principle was also
published in the Philosophical Magazine. He enunciated many new
theorems in Geometry. Mention has already been made of a brief paper
written by Bose in 1923 which was translated into German by Einstein
him. This article, as a matter of fact, had been sent first for publication in
the Philosophical Magazine of London but was returned to him
unpublished as the editor could not understand the subject matter of the
article. Subsequently it was sent to Albert Einstein. Bose's original
approach struck Einstein. Later Einstein systematically adapted Bose's
approach in his own work. That is why the particular field of Bose's
research has come to be known as 'Bose-Einstein Statistics'. Of late it has
come to be known merely as 'Bose Statistics'. Several scientists
published papers based on Bose's brief article. Discussions were also
held. Bose sent another article in 1926 to Einstein relating to the same
topic. Einstein translated this article into German but also expressed
some doubts and points of disagreement. Satyendranath Bose, therefore,
got an opportunity to meet Einstein and substantiate his argument. For
about six months he stayed in Berlin holding discussions with great
scientists and convincing them of his point of view.
Quantum Statistics, a well-known branch of science today, was yet to see
the light of day. Bose's theoretical exposition developed this branch.
Quantum Statistics has enabled scientists to solve several problems
scientifically and by cogent reasoning. Bose sent another paper to Albert
Einstein. The distinguished scientist was at a loss to understand how the
solution offered by Bose could be used in physics. He published an
article giving expression to his doubts. Bose felt it would be more
appropriate to meet the great scientist Einstein and discuss the paper with
him than to correspond with him. While he was still planning a visit the
news of the sudden death of Einstein stunned him.
Bose had taken Einstein as his 'Guru' (the master). He had specially
prepared a paper for his meeting with Einstein. He had decided to
dedicate this article to him. It was a bitter disappointment to him that his
Guru was not alive to accept his offering. In a burst of grief he tore into
pieces the article itself. The able guidance of the mighty and celebrated
scientist Albert Einstein had enabled Bose to explore fresh fields of
research. In all the correspondence with him he addressed him so.
Einstein, in turn had responded with affection. Every time Bose took a
problem to him, Einstein would help solve it, as a teacher solves his
students' problems.
In those days when there was little encouragement for scientific research,
Bose successfully carried on research in physics and discovered Boson
and Bose Gas. Preparing some photo chemicals himself and with the
help of X-ray he started the study of the structure of crystals. In 1954, a
conference on crystallography was held in Paris. Several students of
Bose had done significant research in this field. At this conference Bose
arranged an exhibition relating to their work. It is true that all his great
research was in Mathematical Physics. But he was interested in many
other subjects, too.
He had made a serious and deep study of several other branches of
science chemistry, geology, zoology, anthropology, engineering and
others. In biochemistry also, he had attained high proficiency. His
interest ranged from the manufacture of artificial manure to the
manufacture of scents from roses. India attained independence in 1947.
But the country was split into two and Pakistan was created. Bengal,
Bose's home state, was cut into two. This greatly pained him. From his
boyhood, Bose had loved Bengal deeply. He had traveled throughout the
length and breadth of Bengal. He was fascinated with its history and
literature. He liked the works of Madhusudan Dutt. No less was his
attachment to Rabindranath Tagore's stories and poems. The art and
music of Bengal were dear to him. He had high hopes about the political
and economic future of Bengal. But the partition of Bengal dealt a severe
blow and shattered all his hopes and aspirations. An image of Free India
was engraved on his heart. But that image was dimmed. He came to feel
that the partition of the country had diminished the fruits of freedom. He
was afraid that the partition would seriously harm the cause of science.
But, fortunately, the partition did not in any way adversely affect
scientific work in India. Social science was a living ideal in the life of
Bose.
Without running after wealth, he offered his all to the cause of science
and in the service of students and the poor and the needy. He set a
glorious example to others by dedicating his life to the service of the
country. It was his heart's desire that his countrymen should set right the
shortcomings of their society. He did not merely talk about this but
worked actively. Distinctions of caste and creed, the feeling that one
caste was superior and another inferior these he hated. He was convinced
that hypocrisy had done great harm to society, and he hated it. He
welcomed with open arms all that was good in our ancient history.
Whenever he had leisure he read books in Bengali, English and other
languages. Buddhism made a deep appeal to him. He had on several
occasions openly said, "Of all the persons that have walked on this earth,
I have the greatest regard for Gautama Buddha." He used to say often
that every one was endowed with some talent or the other and that one
should find it out and by dint of hard work and constant practice develop
it. He was himself a shining example of what he preached. Bose had
great faith in the importance of science. It was his firm belief that the
progress of society was bound up with the progress of science and that
the progress of mankind had been brought about by the revolution that
science had brought about.
Though Bose was primarily a scientist, he was a many-faceted
personality. His interests lay not in one sphere or two but in many. He
was much interested in literature. The study of literature and the practice
of art and music were his hobbies. He could read and enjoy poems in
Sanskrit, Bengali, English, French and Italian. Bose had made a deep
study of several works in Bengali and English literatures. Besides, he
had a good knowledge of French and German literatures. He also
translated some French stories. He had participated in several literary
discussions. When he was working with Madame Curie in 1926 his
conversations and discussions with her were all in French. He could play
well on a Bengali musical instrument, 'Esraj', which is similar to the
violin. Himself a gifted musician and critic of music, he had composed
some new ragas (tunes).
At a time when English had glamour for the majority of educated people.
Bose understood the importance of Indian languages. He was of the
opinion that if science is to be understood by the layman, it has to be
taught in his mother tongue. A science association named 'Bangiya
Biggyan Parishad' was founded by him in Bengal in 1948. All its
correspondence was carried on in Bengali language. Right from its
inception, it has been bringing out a periodical - entitled 'Jnan o'
Biggyan'. Bose spared no pains in developing this institution. He was
one of those champions who fought for the introduction of the mother
tongue as the medium of instruction. He wrote some books in Bengali
for this purpose. As Khaira Professor in Calcutta University in 1945, he
taught physics to the postgraduate students in Bengali. His effort was
ultimately successful and Calcutta University at last got the approval of

the Government to impart instruction in the mother tongue. Bose had
believed that with the advent of freedom everything would run smooth.
But to his surprise he found that the people themselves were not willing
to learn in their mother tongue. It was not easy to win them over. Many
people complained that he was ruining the teaching of science. He had to
face stiff opposition. But he did not lose heart. He tried his best to carry
out his purpose. He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1952. He
utilized this opportunity to work for the benefit of both science and
society. His fight in the political arena was of immense benefit to science
and society. He worked untiringly in the political field from 1952 to
1958.
Once, when he was the Head of the Department of Science in Dacca
University, some postgraduate students came to him. They prayed for the
postponement of the examinations. Bose did not agree to this.
"Examinations cannot be postponed without valid reasons", he said. The
students threatened that they would not work and go on a hunger strike if
their demand was not conceded. Bose said, "I am prepared to resign; but,
I am not prepared to postpone the examinations without valid reasons".
The students were not prepared for this reply. They did not wish to lose
such a good teacher. So they quietly accepted his decision and went
back. It was impossible for Bose to put up with injustice done to the
students. Once Asutosh Mukherjee set the same problem for the M.Sc.
Examination consecutively for three years. And in those three years, no
one attempted to solve the problem. Placing this matter before the
examiners, Mukherjee thundered, "Do you not teach the subject
properly?" No one else had the courage to answer. But Bose was not
afraid of speaking the truth. He stood up and said, "If the problem itself
is wrong, how can the candidates solve it?" Many of his friends felt that
Bose was indiscreet in having given such a reply. But Asutosh realized
his mistake and commended Bose.
In India scientists of the calibre of Satyendranath Bose are rare. His
exceptional intelligence solved fresh problems and he kept widening the
field of his interest. So he won worldwide fame. In Oxford University he
was considered as a very great personality. He was the President of the
National Institute of Sciences. The Government of India conferred the
'Padma Bibhushan' award on him in 1954. In 1964, Delhi University
honored him with the award of the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.).
Many other universities conferred doctorates on him. He became a
scientist revered by one and all. Bose is the author of 'Light Quanta
Statistics', 'Affine Connection Co-effcients' and other works of science.
He wrote 'Albert Einstein' and several other books in Bengali. Along
with Meghnad Saha, Bose has translated from German into English
Einstein's book on the Theory of Relativity. He was the President of the
Indian Science Congress in 1944.

'Indians are incapable of achieving anything great in science. At best,
they are experts in subjects like philosophy' - this was the impression
people of the West had about us. Bose dispelled that impression.
Devoting all his life to the service of the motherland, he did yeoman
service in the fields of science, education, politics and social reform. At
the age of 80, Bose suffered an unexpected and a severe heart attack. He
lay ill for some time and breathed his last on the fourth of February
1974. The death of Bose was a great loss not only to India but also to the
whole world and especially to the world of science.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author: M.R.Shanbhag.

Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Prafulla Chandra Roy
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
An Indian scientist who won fame in many countries. Eighty years ago
Literature
he began the manufacture of medicines in India. A great teacher, great
Bankim Chandra
man and a true patriot. A Professor of Chemistry, a pioneer in the field
Chatterjee
of pharmaceutical industry in India who started making chemicals at
Rabindranath Tagore home A scientist who won international acclaim. His dwelling - a simple
Sarat Chandra
room on the first floor of the college in which he was teaching; his
Chatterjee Michael
household -students who could not afford to stay elsewhere. His salary Madhusudan Dutta
donation to the department of Chemistry.
Painting
Abanindranath Tagore Prafulla Chandra was born on 2nd August 1861 in Raruli-Katipara, a
Nandalal Bose Jamini village in the District of Khulna (now in Bangladesh). His father - Harish
Roy
Chandra Ray - a landlord with liberal views, belonged to a wealthy
cultured family. In 1870 Harish Chandra moved his family to Calcutta so
that his sons could have higher education. Here, Prafulla Chandra was
admitted to the Hare School. He took a great interest in books and read a
vast number of them. But a severe attack of dysentery forced him to
leave the school. The disease was slowly overcome, but it permanently
injured his health; he became a life-long sufferer from chronic
indigestion and sleeplessness. When barely ten years old, he learnt Latin
and Greek. He also studied the histories of England, Rome and Spain.
Two years later, Prafulla Chandra resumed his studies and in 1874 joined
the Albert School. But Prafulla Chandra suddenly left for his village,
without sitting for the examinations. In the village he mixed with the
simple villagers and shared their joys and sorrows. He helped them in
many ways.
Prafulla Chandra, however, returned to Calcutta in 1876 and resumed his
studies at the Albert School. In 1879 he passed the Entrance
Examination and joined the Metropolitan Institute (now called
Vidyasagar College). Harish Chandra's financial situation grew worse
and worse. He was forced to sell the ancestral property, to pay his
creditors. At the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra came under the
influence of great teachers like Surendranath Banerjee and

Prasannakumar Lahiri. They instilled in him a burning desire to achieve
the freedom of India and to improve the condition of the people. While
pursuing his studies in the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra used
to attend lectures by Alexander Pedlar on Chemistry, in the Presidency
College. Pedlar was an inspiring teacher and a skilful experimentalist.
His lectures influenced Prafulla Chandra to take up Chemistry for his
higher studies in B.A., although his first love was literature. However, he
continued to take interest in literature, and taught himself Latin and
French at home. Sanskrit was compulsory in the college. Thus, he learnt
several languages very well.
The London University used to conduct competitive examinations in
those days for the Gilchrist Prize Scholarship. The successful candidate
could go abroad for higher studies. Prafulla Chandra got the scholarship
and in 1882 Prafulla Chandra left for Britain. Prafulla Chandra joined the
B.Sc. Class in the University at Ediburg. He was very much influenced
by the Professor of Chemistry, Mr. Crum Brown, at the University.
Chemistry became his first love. Prafulla Chandra completed B.Sc. in
1885 and started research work to receive D.Sc. in 1887. He was 27
years old at the time. He received the Hope Prize Scholarship of the
University, which enabled him to continue his work in the University for
another year.
In 1888 Prafulla Chandra returned to India. He had obtained letters of
introduction from his Principal and Professors. It was his hope that with
their aid he would be able to get a good position in the education
department. But in those days all the high places in this department were
reserved for Englishmen. Though Prafulla Chandra had a Doctorate in
Science, it became difficult for him to receive recognition in his own
country. For about a year he spent his time working with his famous
friend Jagadish Chandra Bose in his laboratory.
In 1889 Prafulla Chandra was appointed as Assistant Professor of
Chemistry in the Presidency College at Calcutta. He soon earned a great
reputation as a successful and inspiring teacher. His lectures glowed with
humor and wit. He would recite poems of Rabindranath Tagore and
quote slokas from 'Rasa Ratnakara', a book written by the ancient Indian
Chemist Nagarjuna. To demonstrate that, on burning, a bone becomes
pure Calcium Phosphate, free from all animal matter, he would put a
pinch of the ashes into his mouth! Prafulla Chandra was never tired of
saying that the progress of India could be achieved only by
industrialization. He advocated the use of the native language as the
medium of instruction in schools. For this, he began to write science
texts-books in Bengali. He used to tell the story of the famous Russian
Chemist Mendeleef, who is famous for his Periodic Law. He first
published the results of his work in the Russian language. This

compelled the scientists of other nations to learn Russian in order to
know his important discovery. If we develop new knowledge, people of
other countries will be forced to learn our languages.
Eighty-five years ago Prafulla Chandra came to realize that the progress
of India was linked with industrialization. Without this there could be no
salvation. Even drugs for Indian patients had to come from foreign
countries at that time. This put money into the pockets of the merchants
of those countries. This had to be stopped. Drugs had to be manufactured
in India. Prafulla Chandra wanted a beginning to be made at once.
Prafulla Chandra was not rich. He prepared some chemicals at home. His
work grew so fast that a separate company had to be formed. But he
needed capital - a capital of only eight hundred rupees. But it became
difficult to raise even this small amount. In spite of all these difficulties
he founded 'The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works'.
In 1894 his father died. This was a great blow to Prafulla Chandra. The
father was still in debts and thousands of rupees were needed. Only a
small part of the property remained. Even this was sold, so that the debts
could be repaid. Prafulla Chandra bravely continued to run the new
factory. At first it was difficult to sell the chemicals made there. They
could not compete with the imported materials. But some friends, chiefly
Dr. Amulya Charan Bose, supported his venture. Dr. Bose was a leading
medical practitioner and he enlisted the support of many other doctors.
They, too, started using the chemicals made by the new Indian firm.
Many graduates in Chemistry joined the staff of the factory and worked
hard for its improvement. Bengal Chemical became a famous factory.
Prafulla Chandra's contribution to Indian industry was even greater.
Directly or indirectly he helped to start many other factories. Textile
mills, soap factories, sugar factories, chemical industries, ceramic
factories and publishing houses were set up at the time with his active
co-operation. He was the driving force behind the industrialization of the
country, which began at that time. During all these years, he was also
actively engaged in research in his laboratory at Presidency College. His
publications on Mercurous Nitrite and its derivatives brought him
recognition from all over the world. He guided many students in their
research in his laboratory. Even famous scientific journals abroad began
to publish their scientific papers. There was much that thought that
Indians were backward in scientific knowledge and had received it only
recently from the West. But Prafulla Chandra said that Indians knew
little about there past history. They did not know much about the
devotion and industry with which our ancestors developed knowledge.
Prafulla Chandra was from the beginning interested in the work of the
early Hindu chemists. After reading the famous book 'Greek Alchemy'
by the great French scientist Berthelot his interest in Hindu Chemistry

grew into a passion. He started reading many ancient books in Sanskrit,
Pali, Bengali, and other languages, which contained information on the
subject. He wrote an article about a famous Sanskrit treatise
'Rasendrasara Sangraha' and sent it to Berthelot. The French scientist
published it with an introduction praising it as an extremely interesting
article. He wrote to Prafulla Chandra asking him to continue his research
into the ancient texts and to publish a whole book on Hindu Chemistry,
After several years of study, Prafulla Chandra published his famous
book, - 'The History of Hindu Chemistry' which received great praise
from scientists all over the world. In this book he has given a very
interesting account to show that Hindu scientists knew about the
manufacture of steel, about distillation, salts, mercury sulfides etc., from
very early times.
In 1901 Prafulla Chandra met Mahatma Gandhi for the first time in the
house of a mutual friend, Gopala Krishna Gokhale. Gandhiji had just
then returned from South Africa. Prafulla Chandra developed great
reverence for Gandhiji at this very first meeting. Gandhiji's simplicity,
patriotism and devotion to duty appealed to him very much. He learnt
that it was easy to talk about truth but that it is far nobler to practice it in
one's life. Gandhiji also had great regard for Prafulla Chandra. He knew
how hard he worked to help the poor and the needy. When floods caused
great suffering and destruction, Prafulla Chandra worked very hard to
bring relief to the victims. This made Gandhiji call him a 'Doctor of
Floods'!
In 1904 Prafulla Chandra proceeded to Europe on a study tour and
visited many famous chemical laboratories. In England, Germany,
France and other European countries, he was welcomed by scientists at
universities and research institutions. He had useful discussions with
them. They praised his famous work on Mercurous Nitrite, Ammonium
Nitrite etc. Some universities conferred honorary Doctorates on him. He
made the acquaintance of famous scientists like William Ramsay, James
Dewar, Perkin, Van't Hoff and Berthelot. In 1912 Prafulla Chandra
visited London again to represent the University of Calcutta at the
Congress of the Universities of the British Empire. He delivered
speeches at the Congress and later before the Chemical Society. Sir
William Ramsay congratulated him on his fine work. Prafulla Chandra
said on one occasion that when the people of Europe did not know how
to make clothes, and were still wearing animal skins and wandering in
forests, Indian scientists were manufacturing wonderful chemicals.
This is something we should be proud of. But Prafulla Chandra also
knew that it is not enough to be proud of our past. We should follow the
example of our ancestors and seek knowledge and progress in science.
Prafulla Chandra did not rest content with giving such advice. He
worked hard to practice it. In 1916 he retired from the Presidency

College. Sir Asuthosh Mukherjee, the vice-chancellor of Calcutta
University, appointed him as professor of Chemistry at the University
Science College. Here Prafulla Chandra trained many talented students
and with them made famous discoveries. The University Science College
had been started just then. Facilities for experiments were very meager.
Hence it became difficult to do advanced work. According to the rules of
the college, all the Professors had to be Indians. Perhaps because of this
the British Government did not make adequate grants to the college.
However, Prafulla Chandra and his students used whatever facilities
were available and did remarkable work. And soon the college became
very famous. Prafulla Chandra worked in this college for twenty years.
He remained a bachelor all his life. All these twenty years he lived in a
simple room on the first floor of the college. Some of his students who
were poor and could not live anywhere else shared his room. In 1936,
when he was 75 years old, he retired from the Professorship.
In 1921 when Prafulla Chandra reached 60 years he donated, in advance,
all his salary for the rest of his service in the University to the
development of the Department of Chemistry and to the creation of two
research fellowships. In addition, he gave ten thousand rupees for an
annual research prize in Chemistry named after the great Indian Chemist
Nagarjuna and another ten thousand for a research prize in Biology
named after Sir Asuthosh Mukherjee. In recognition of Prafulla
Chandra's great work he was elected President of Indian Science
Congress and Indian Chemical Society more than once. Many Indian and
Western Universities conferred honorary doctorates on him. Prafulla
Chandra was a great scientist. But he had several other interests also, in
which he shone equally well. He had an abiding interest in literature. He
knew by heart many passages from Shakespeare's plays and the poems of
Tagore and of Madhusudan Dutt. He was well read in English literature.
In 1932 he wrote his autobiography in English and named it 'The Life
and Experience of a Bengali Chemist'. It was praised every where. Later,
he himself translated it into Bengali. The book was called 'Atma Charita'.
In recognition of his service to Bengali literature he was twice elected
President of the Bengali Literary Conference.
Prafulla Chandra was the President of the National Council of Education.
He believed that it was not enough for students to acquire degrees like
Bachelor of Science or Master of Science; they should endeavor to
acquire real knowledge. In his opinion, to take degrees just to get
government jobs was a waste. The students should rather get technical
education and start their own business. Young men should enter trade
and industries by themselves.
Prafulla Chandra was very affectionate towards his students. He was
overjoyed when they received awards of honors. He used to repeat the

Sanskrit saying, 'A man may desire victory always but he should
welcome defeat at the hands of his own disciples'. Famous Indian
scientists like Meghnad Saha and Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar were
among his students. Prafulla Chandra followed a regular timetable. He
had strict control over his diet and habits, and was regular in his
exercises, He would not waste time. He always wore clean Khadi
clothes. But they were often not passed. He would not allow others to
serve him. He himself washed his clothes and polished his shoes.
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray passed away on the 16th of June 1944; he
died in the same room he had occupied for twenty-five years. He was 83
years old at the time.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author:Y.S.Lewis.

Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Prafulla Chandra Roy
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
An Indian scientist who won fame in many countries. Eighty years ago
Literature
he began the manufacture of medicines in India. A great teacher, great
Bankim Chandra
man and a true patriot. A Professor of Chemistry, a pioneer in the field
Chatterjee
of pharmaceutical industry in India who started making chemicals at
Rabindranath Tagore home A scientist who won international acclaim. His dwelling - a simple
Sarat Chandra
room on the first floor of the college in which he was teaching; his
Chatterjee Michael
household -students who could not afford to stay elsewhere. His salary Madhusudan Dutta
donation to the department of Chemistry.
Painting
Abanindranath Tagore Prafulla Chandra was born on 2nd August 1861 in Raruli-Katipara, a
Nandalal Bose Jamini village in the District of Khulna (now in Bangladesh). His father - Harish
Roy
Chandra Ray - a landlord with liberal views, belonged to a wealthy
cultured family. In 1870 Harish Chandra moved his family to Calcutta so
that his sons could have higher education. Here, Prafulla Chandra was
admitted to the Hare School. He took a great interest in books and read a
vast number of them. But a severe attack of dysentery forced him to
leave the school. The disease was slowly overcome, but it permanently
injured his health; he became a life-long sufferer from chronic
indigestion and sleeplessness. When barely ten years old, he learnt Latin
and Greek. He also studied the histories of England, Rome and Spain.
Two years later, Prafulla Chandra resumed his studies and in 1874 joined
the Albert School. But Prafulla Chandra suddenly left for his village,
without sitting for the examinations. In the village he mixed with the
simple villagers and shared their joys and sorrows. He helped them in
many ways.
Prafulla Chandra, however, returned to Calcutta in 1876 and resumed his
studies at the Albert School. In 1879 he passed the Entrance
Examination and joined the Metropolitan Institute (now called
Vidyasagar College). Harish Chandra's financial situation grew worse
and worse. He was forced to sell the ancestral property, to pay his
creditors. At the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra came under the
influence of great teachers like Surendranath Banerjee and

Prasannakumar Lahiri. They instilled in him a burning desire to achieve
the freedom of India and to improve the condition of the people. While
pursuing his studies in the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra used
to attend lectures by Alexander Pedlar on Chemistry, in the Presidency
College. Pedlar was an inspiring teacher and a skilful experimentalist.
His lectures influenced Prafulla Chandra to take up Chemistry for his
higher studies in B.A., although his first love was literature. However, he
continued to take interest in literature, and taught himself Latin and
French at home. Sanskrit was compulsory in the college. Thus, he learnt
several languages very well.
The London University used to conduct competitive examinations in
those days for the Gilchrist Prize Scholarship. The successful candidate
could go abroad for higher studies. Prafulla Chandra got the scholarship
and in 1882 Prafulla Chandra left for Britain. Prafulla Chandra joined the
B.Sc. Class in the University at Ediburg. He was very much influenced
by the Professor of Chemistry, Mr. Crum Brown, at the University.
Chemistry became his first love. Prafulla Chandra completed B.Sc. in
1885 and started research work to receive D.Sc. in 1887. He was 27
years old at the time. He received the Hope Prize Scholarship of the
University, which enabled him to continue his work in the University for
another year.
In 1888 Prafulla Chandra returned to India. He had obtained letters of
introduction from his Principal and Professors. It was his hope that with
their aid he would be able to get a good position in the education
department. But in those days all the high places in this department were
reserved for Englishmen. Though Prafulla Chandra had a Doctorate in
Science, it became difficult for him to receive recognition in his own
country. For about a year he spent his time working with his famous
friend Jagadish Chandra Bose in his laboratory.
In 1889 Prafulla Chandra was appointed as Assistant Professor of
Chemistry in the Presidency College at Calcutta. He soon earned a great
reputation as a successful and inspiring teacher. His lectures glowed with
humor and wit. He would recite poems of Rabindranath Tagore and
quote slokas from 'Rasa Ratnakara', a book written by the ancient Indian
Chemist Nagarjuna. To demonstrate that, on burning, a bone becomes
pure Calcium Phosphate, free from all animal matter, he would put a
pinch of the ashes into his mouth! Prafulla Chandra was never tired of
saying that the progress of India could be achieved only by
industrialization. He advocated the use of the native language as the
medium of instruction in schools. For this, he began to write science
texts-books in Bengali. He used to tell the story of the famous Russian
Chemist Mendeleef, who is famous for his Periodic Law. He first
published the results of his work in the Russian language. This

compelled the scientists of other nations to learn Russian in order to
know his important discovery. If we develop new knowledge, people of
other countries will be forced to learn our languages.
Eighty-five years ago Prafulla Chandra came to realize that the progress
of India was linked with industrialization. Without this there could be no
salvation. Even drugs for Indian patients had to come from foreign
countries at that time. This put money into the pockets of the merchants
of those countries. This had to be stopped. Drugs had to be manufactured
in India. Prafulla Chandra wanted a beginning to be made at once.
Prafulla Chandra was not rich. He prepared some chemicals at home. His
work grew so fast that a separate company had to be formed. But he
needed capital - a capital of only eight hundred rupees. But it became
difficult to raise even this small amount. In spite of all these difficulties
he founded 'The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works'.
In 1894 his father died. This was a great blow to Prafulla Chandra. The
father was still in debts and thousands of rupees were needed. Only a
small part of the property remained. Even this was sold, so that the debts
could be repaid. Prafulla Chandra bravely continued to run the new
factory. At first it was difficult to sell the chemicals made there. They
could not compete with the imported materials. But some friends, chiefly
Dr. Amulya Charan Bose, supported his venture. Dr. Bose was a leading
medical practitioner and he enlisted the support of many other doctors.
They, too, started using the chemicals made by the new Indian firm.
Many graduates in Chemistry joined the staff of the factory and worked
hard for its improvement. Bengal Chemical became a famous factory.
Prafulla Chandra's contribution to Indian industry was even greater.
Directly or indirectly he helped to start many other factories. Textile
mills, soap factories, sugar factories, chemical industries, ceramic
factories and publishing houses were set up at the time with his active
co-operation. He was the driving force behind the industrialization of the
country, which began at that time. During all these years, he was also
actively engaged in research in his laboratory at Presidency College. His
publications on Mercurous Nitrite and its derivatives brought him
recognition from all over the world. He guided many students in their
research in his laboratory. Even famous scientific journals abroad began
to publish their scientific papers. There was much that thought that
Indians were backward in scientific knowledge and had received it only
recently from the West. But Prafulla Chandra said that Indians knew
little about there past history. They did not know much about the
devotion and industry with which our ancestors developed knowledge.
Prafulla Chandra was from the beginning interested in the work of the
early Hindu chemists. After reading the famous book 'Greek Alchemy'
by the great French scientist Berthelot his interest in Hindu Chemistry

grew into a passion. He started reading many ancient books in Sanskrit,
Pali, Bengali, and other languages, which contained information on the
subject. He wrote an article about a famous Sanskrit treatise
'Rasendrasara Sangraha' and sent it to Berthelot. The French scientist
published it with an introduction praising it as an extremely interesting
article. He wrote to Prafulla Chandra asking him to continue his research
into the ancient texts and to publish a whole book on Hindu Chemistry,
After several years of study, Prafulla Chandra published his famous
book, - 'The History of Hindu Chemistry' which received great praise
from scientists all over the world. In this book he has given a very
interesting account to show that Hindu scientists knew about the
manufacture of steel, about distillation, salts, mercury sulfides etc., from
very early times.
In 1901 Prafulla Chandra met Mahatma Gandhi for the first time in the
house of a mutual friend, Gopala Krishna Gokhale. Gandhiji had just
then returned from South Africa. Prafulla Chandra developed great
reverence for Gandhiji at this very first meeting. Gandhiji's simplicity,
patriotism and devotion to duty appealed to him very much. He learnt
that it was easy to talk about truth but that it is far nobler to practice it in
one's life. Gandhiji also had great regard for Prafulla Chandra. He knew
how hard he worked to help the poor and the needy. When floods caused
great suffering and destruction, Prafulla Chandra worked very hard to
bring relief to the victims. This made Gandhiji call him a 'Doctor of
Floods'!
In 1904 Prafulla Chandra proceeded to Europe on a study tour and
visited many famous chemical laboratories. In England, Germany,
France and other European countries, he was welcomed by scientists at
universities and research institutions. He had useful discussions with
them. They praised his famous work on Mercurous Nitrite, Ammonium
Nitrite etc. Some universities conferred honorary Doctorates on him. He
made the acquaintance of famous scientists like William Ramsay, James
Dewar, Perkin, Van't Hoff and Berthelot. In 1912 Prafulla Chandra
visited London again to represent the University of Calcutta at the
Congress of the Universities of the British Empire. He delivered
speeches at the Congress and later before the Chemical Society. Sir
William Ramsay congratulated him on his fine work. Prafulla Chandra
said on one occasion that when the people of Europe did not know how
to make clothes, and were still wearing animal skins and wandering in
forests, Indian scientists were manufacturing wonderful chemicals.
This is something we should be proud of. But Prafulla Chandra also
knew that it is not enough to be proud of our past. We should follow the
example of our ancestors and seek knowledge and progress in science.
Prafulla Chandra did not rest content with giving such advice. He
worked hard to practice it. In 1916 he retired from the Presidency

College. Sir Asuthosh Mukherjee, the vice-chancellor of Calcutta
University, appointed him as professor of Chemistry at the University
Science College. Here Prafulla Chandra trained many talented students
and with them made famous discoveries. The University Science College
had been started just then. Facilities for experiments were very meager.
Hence it became difficult to do advanced work. According to the rules of
the college, all the Professors had to be Indians. Perhaps because of this
the British Government did not make adequate grants to the college.
However, Prafulla Chandra and his students used whatever facilities
were available and did remarkable work. And soon the college became
very famous. Prafulla Chandra worked in this college for twenty years.
He remained a bachelor all his life. All these twenty years he lived in a
simple room on the first floor of the college. Some of his students who
were poor and could not live anywhere else shared his room. In 1936,
when he was 75 years old, he retired from the Professorship.
In 1921 when Prafulla Chandra reached 60 years he donated, in advance,
all his salary for the rest of his service in the University to the
development of the Department of Chemistry and to the creation of two
research fellowships. In addition, he gave ten thousand rupees for an
annual research prize in Chemistry named after the great Indian Chemist
Nagarjuna and another ten thousand for a research prize in Biology
named after Sir Asuthosh Mukherjee. In recognition of Prafulla
Chandra's great work he was elected President of Indian Science
Congress and Indian Chemical Society more than once. Many Indian and
Western Universities conferred honorary doctorates on him. Prafulla
Chandra was a great scientist. But he had several other interests also, in
which he shone equally well. He had an abiding interest in literature. He
knew by heart many passages from Shakespeare's plays and the poems of
Tagore and of Madhusudan Dutt. He was well read in English literature.
In 1932 he wrote his autobiography in English and named it 'The Life
and Experience of a Bengali Chemist'. It was praised every where. Later,
he himself translated it into Bengali. The book was called 'Atma Charita'.
In recognition of his service to Bengali literature he was twice elected
President of the Bengali Literary Conference.
Prafulla Chandra was the President of the National Council of Education.
He believed that it was not enough for students to acquire degrees like
Bachelor of Science or Master of Science; they should endeavor to
acquire real knowledge. In his opinion, to take degrees just to get
government jobs was a waste. The students should rather get technical
education and start their own business. Young men should enter trade
and industries by themselves.
Prafulla Chandra was very affectionate towards his students. He was
overjoyed when they received awards of honors. He used to repeat the

Sanskrit saying, 'A man may desire victory always but he should
welcome defeat at the hands of his own disciples'. Famous Indian
scientists like Meghnad Saha and Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar were
among his students. Prafulla Chandra followed a regular timetable. He
had strict control over his diet and habits, and was regular in his
exercises, He would not waste time. He always wore clean Khadi
clothes. But they were often not passed. He would not allow others to
serve him. He himself washed his clothes and polished his shoes.
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray passed away on the 16th of June 1944; he
died in the same room he had occupied for twenty-five years. He was 83
years old at the time.
This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author:Y.S.Lewis.

Select a page
Science
Jagadish Chandra
Bose Satyendra Nath
Roy Meghnad Saha P
C Mahalanbis
Reformer
Rammohan Roy
Vidyasagar
Leader
Subhas Chandra Bose
Philospoher
Swami Vivekananda
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanbis
Literature
Bankim Chandra
Prasantha Chandra Mahalanobis was born in Calcutta, India on June 29,
Chatterjee
1893. As a young boy, Mahalanobis received his education at the
Rabindranath Tagore
Brahmo Boys School in Calcutta. He then went on to the presidency
Sarat Chandra
College in Calcutta where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chatterjee Michael
the field of physics. He then went to England, where he originally
Madhusudan Dutta
intended to study in London, but became so impressed with Cambridge
Painting
that he decided to join Cambridge University. There he studied
Abanindranath Tagore mathematics and physics. Because of World War I, his departure was
delayed, leading to the meeting that began Mahalanobis' interest in
Roy
statistics. Mahalanobis was looking around the library at King's College
when he was approached by a fellow named Macaulay for his opinion on
some volumes of Biometrica, edited by Karl Pearson. Mahalanobis'
interest was peaked so much that he bought the entire set of Biometrica
that was then published and brought them along with him to India. This
was the beginning of a wonderful interest in statistics.
The short vacation Mahalanobis thought he was taking in India turned
into a permanent stay. He was offered a position to teach at the
Presidency College which he could not turn down since it allowed him to
pursue his increasing interest in statistical problems. Statistics ended up
overtaking his first love of physics, and so, even though he continued to
teach physics until 1948, he was devoting his free time and career studies
to statistics.
Mahalanobis was the founder of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in
1931, which was actually started in a room of the Baker Laboratory of
the physics department at the Presidency College. He also started a new
journal in statistics called Sankhya. He established a division within the
ISI called the National Sample Survey (NSS). The NSS grew quickly
into an agency noted for its use of continuing sample surveys for the
collection of socioeconomic and demographic data that covered the

whole country. This division, along with Mahalanobis, played such an
incredibly vital role in the creation of the second five-year economic
plan in India that the government took over NSS and now it functions as
a necessary part of the Ministry of Planning.
Mahalanobis' contributions to statistics are quite numerous. His work
could always be associated with some field of application. The
Mahalanobis distance, called the D statistic, which is used extensively in
classification problems, rose out of his work on anthropometrical
problems. The Mahalanobis distance is used not to find the physical
distance from one object to another, but to find the distance in terms of
related characteristics and likelihood of occurrence of the two objects.
The Mahalanobis in multivariate analysis, along with the interpenetrating
network of samples (IPNS) in sample surveys and fractile graphical
analysis have now become part of standard statistical methodology.
Other areas where he made contributions are meteorological statistics,
operations research, and errors in field experimentation. In fact,
Mahalanobis' work in field experimentation brought him into contact
with R.A. Fisher and led to a close professional and personal friendship
that lasted until Fisher's death in 1962. Mahalanobis received many
awards for his work in India and his work on statistics, but some say that
his most prized awards would be the Fellowship of the Royal Society
and one of the highest civilian awards in India, the Padma Vibhushan.
Mahalanobis was always a very active man and he held many positions
of importance throughout his life, many of them simultaneously. Yet he
never grew tired of his work.
Mahalanobis had many other interests besides statistics and physical
science. He enjoyed studying ancient Indian philosophy and he loved to
read Bengali literature. Professor Mahalanobis had over 200 published
scientific articles along with many non-technical articles in Bengali and
English. P.C. Mahalanobis died on June 28, 1972, on the eve of his
seventy-ninth birthday.
This article is in courtesy of Engin A. Sungur Univ. of Minnesota.
Select a page
BENGALI MUSIC
Bengali Version
Historically, it is not easy to trace the root of Bengali music back to very old times,
but it has experienced a wide variation. Like music from any part of the world,
Bengali music can be classified into different categories. Here is an effort :
o
o
o
Folks Songs
o Baul - songs sung by specific groups of traveling musicians known as
Bauls. Bauls represent a sect of Bengali culture since the
seventeenth century. They have a distinctive appearance with
dhotis, saffron color robes and turbans. Usually Baul songs carry a
deep spiritual meaning through very casual lyrics.
Prominent Baul song singers: Purna Das Baul, Prahlad Bramhachari.
o Bhatiali - Mostly the songs of the boatmen of eastern part of Bengal
(now Bangladesh). The songs are composed with wonderful tunes
around philosophical words. Sachin Dev Burman did some
experiment with these tunes and used them in popular modern
songs.
o Kabigaan : Usually composed on the fly by poets in a debate like
situation. Kabigaan was very popular in ancinet days as it requires
talent on both lyrics, tune and voice.
o Kirtan - Religious songs usually sung in chorus. Most of the songs
are some kind of group prayer to Shri Chaitanya and Shri Kirshna.
Prominent Kirtan singer: Chhabi Bandyopadhyay, Ramkumar
Chattopadhyay
Singers
o Other Folk Songs - There are all different kinds of country songs
with different anonymous origins. Some of the prominent folk song
singers of recent times are: Nirmalendu Choudhury, Angsuman Roy,
Antara Choudhury
Runa Laila, Abbasuddin, Amar Pal, Swapan Bose
Arundhuti Hom Choudhury
Majlishi Classical Songs - thungri, toppa .
Ramkumar Chattopadhyay, Nidhiram Gupta, Chandidas Maal
Asha Bhosle
Classical Music
Babul Supriyo
o Vocal - Kheyal, different ragas.
Dwijen Mukherjee
Ajay Chakrabarty, Gnanprakash Ghosh, Chinmay Lahiri, Prasun
Geeta Dutt
Banerjee, Girija Devi, Shyamal Lahiri, Rashid Khan, Ahsish Khan
Haimanti Shukla
o Instrumental - Sitar, Sarod, Flute, Tabla
Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Monilal Nag Hemanta Mukherjee
Devotional Songs - Ramprasadi, ShyamaSangeet, Bhaktigeeti
Indrani Sen
o
o
Pannalal Bhattacharya
Indranil Sen
Rabindra Sangeet - songs written and tuned by Rabindranath Tagore
Kanika Bandopadhyay
Kanika Banerjee, Suchitra Mitra, Debabrata Biswas, Arghya Sen, Asoktaru Kishore Kumar Ganguly
Banerjee, Ritu Guha,Chinmoy Chatterjee, Dwijen Mukherjee, Pankaj Kumar
Madhuri Chatterjee
Mallick, Purabi Dutta, Sailajananda Majumdar, Rajeswari Dutta, Rezwana
Banya Choudhury, Sanjeeda Khatun, Purba Dam, Bani Thakur, Sumitra Sen, Manna Dey
Runa Laila
Hemanta Mukherjee, Sagar Sen, Nilima Sen, Subinoy Roy
Sabita Chaudhury
Najrul Geeti - songs written by Kazi Nazrul Islam
Firoza Begum, Krishna Chatterjee, Anjali Mukherjee, Dhiren Bose,
Saikat Mitra
Manabendra Mukherjee, Anup Ghosal, Satinath Mukherjee, Tarun
Sandhya Mukherjee
Banerjee, Dhananjoy Bhattacharya
Shibaji Chatterjee
Atulprasadi, Dwijendrageeti, Rajanikanta Sen - patriotic, devotional and
Shyamal Mitra
modern songs
Srikanto Acharya
Krishna Chatterjee, Anjali Mukherjee
Subir Sen
Modern Bengali Songs: Film and non-film songs
Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shyamal Mitra, Arati Usha Uthup
Mukherjee, Kishore Kumar, Sachin Dev Burman, Asha Bhosle, Lata
Mangeshkar, Satinath Mukherjee, Jaganmoy Mitra
Ganasangeet : generally sung in chorus carrying some social message
Rabindra Sangeet
Ajit Pandey, Hemanga Biswas, Ruma Guha Thakurata
Jeebanmukhi Gaan : 90's modern bengali songs
Suman Chatterjee, Anjan Dutta, Nachiketa Chakrabarty, Mousumi
Pramita Mallick
Bhowmick, Lopamudra Mitra
Band : Bengali rock style group.
Rezwana Banya Chaudhury
Cactus, Paraspathar, Chandrabindoo, Bhumi, Moheener Ghoraguli.
Subinoy Roy
Suchitra Mitra
Listen to Songs (Real Player required)
Classical: Vocal/Instrumental
Rabindra Sangeet (Tagore Songs)

Najrul Geeti ( songs written by Kazi Najrul Islaam )
Atulprasad, Rajanikanta, Dwijendralal
Folk Songs
Patriotic Songs
Devotional Songs
Classical Songs
Children Songs
Instrumental tunes
Hemanta Mukherjee
Manna Dey
Shaymal Mitra
Sandhya Mukherjee
Arati Mukherjee
Kishore Kumar
Lata Mangeshkar
Asha Bhosle
Ajoy Chakraborty
Budhaditya Mukherjee
Jayanta Banerjee
Manilal Nag
Nikhil Banerjee
Ravi Shankar
Sipra Bose
Tarun Bhattacharya
Composers
Mixed - Modern Songs : various artists

Jeebanmukhi
Band
Links to pages where Bengali songs can be heard
Music India Online Big collection of different kind of Bengali songs. May feel
disturbed by too many ad banners.
Banglasangeet.com Good collection of Bengali songs. Server little slow but
Bengali songs in MP3 format.
Hemanta Mukherjee Wonderful collection of around 140 Hemanta songs in
real audio format.
Manna Dey Great collection of Bengali songs of Manna Dey.
Kamal Dasgupta
Rahul Deb Burman
Sachin Deb Burman
Salil Choudhury
Select a page
Bengali
Cinema
Bengali Cinema
In 1897, films were shown for the first time in Calcutta. In 1898, the
Home Cine
multinational Warwick Trading Co. commissioned 'Panorama of Calcutta'
News Reviews newsreel. Couple of years later, Hiralal Sen from north Calcutta started
in Bengali
making films at the Classic Theatres. In 1901, Hiralal Sen set up Royal
Movie clips
Bioscope, produced scenes and dance sequences from popular Bengali
Songs clips
plays. At Calcutta's Star Theatre, Amritlal Bose screened a package of
'actualities' and 'fakes' along with plays and variety shows. Back in those
Director
days bioscope was added as extra attraction to popular theatres. In 1917,
Raja Harishchandra, the first feature film in India, was made by
Satyajit Ray
Dadasaheb Phalke. Two years later, in 1919, the first Bengali movie
Ritwik Ghatak
"Billwamangal" was made. This was a silent movie. Several works of
Mrinal Sen
popular Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee were adapted into
Tapan Sinha
films, such as, Durgeshnandini, Krishnakanter Will etc. The first popular
Budhhadeb
star in Bengali film was probably Pramathesh Barua, who was a director
Dasgupta
Rajen Tarafdar himself too. Debaki Bose, Pramathesh Barua contributed quite a lot to
Gautam Ghosh Indian cinema. Debaki Bose directed Chandidas in 1932; this film was
noted for it's breakthrough in sound recording. Sound recordist Mukul
Aparna Sen
Bose found out a solution to the problem of spacing out dialogue and
Utpalendu
frequency modulation.
Chakrabarty
Rituparno
Ghosh Sandip
Ray Raja Sen
Actor
Uttam Kumar
Saumitra
Chatterjee
Utpal Dutta
Chhabi Biswas
P.C. Barua
Bikash Roy
Ranjit Mallick
Prasenjit
Chatterjee
A scene from Dena Paona, 1931 - first Bengali talkie
Directed by Premankur Atarthi and produced by New Theatres, the first
Tapas Pal
Bengali talkie Dena Paona was released in 1931; Renowned musician Rai
Chand Boral composed music for this movie. In 1935, P.C. Barua directed
Actress
and acted in Saratchandra Chatterjee's popular novel Devdas and this
film became a phenomenon in the industry. Bimal Roy directed the Hindi
Suchitra Sen
version of the same in 1955. Kanan Devi was the first star actress in the
Sabitri
domain of Bengali cinema. The movie Rajat Jayanti, a popular Bengali
Chatterjee
comedy was probably the first of its kind. This film was directed by P.C.
Supriya
Barua starring himself and Pahari Sanyal. Another historical film was
Choudhuri
'Biyallis(42)'
based on the Quit India movement of 1942. The film was
Madhabi
banned for political reason. Bikash Roy's performance in this movie was
Mukherjee
memorable. Bengali cinema was glorified with the presence of a group of
Kanan Devi
Debasree Roy talented actors such as Chhabi Biswas, Bikash Roy, Pahari Sanyal, Basanta
Choudhury. And, there never was any shortage of good stories, as Bengali
Rituparna
literature in the 21st century was rich with elements all the time. This
Sengupta
Indrani Halder was accompanied by the musical talents of Bengal. Songs from Bengali
films became extremely popular and was used to get aired in radio
Film Festival
programs. Bengal film industry was blossomed with successful film
directors; a few to mention is Devaki Basu, Nitin Basu, Ajay Kar, Rajen
2002
Tarafdar, Bimal Roy, Tapan Sinha, Saroj Dey, Tarun Mazumder - all of
whom at times produced fine movies. Some of them moved to
Buy DVD/VCDs
Mumbai(Bombay) and made remarkable contribution to Hindi films.
A scene from Seeta (Dir: Sisir Bhaduri), 1933. Sisir Bhaduri, Amalendu Lahiri.
The real stardom in Bengali films started when films starring Uttamkumar
and Suchitra Sen gained extreme popularity. This romantic combination
brought golden age of commercial Bengali cinema and the duo acted in a
series of box office successes like, Sare Chuattor, Saptapadi, Sapmochan,
Harano Sur, Pathe Holo Deri etc. Uttamkumar acted with many other
actresses such as Supriya, Sabitri, Madhabi, Aparna and others. Suchitra
Sen received the best actress award in Moscow Film Festival for her role
in Saat Paake Badha co-starring Saumitra Chatterjee.
Satyajit Ray at shooting
There was a group of directors in parallel cinema (art film) who kept on
experimenting with this medium of art. The biggest event in Indian
cinema was the release of Pather Panchali in 1955, a film directed by
Satyajit Ray with his own script based on a novel of Bibhutibhusan
Banerjee. This film connected Indian film to the rest of the world. The
movie was acclaimed throughout the world, specially in the Western
world as a symbol of humanity. Ray made a series of three movies
starting with Pather Panchali based on the complete novel of Banerjee,
the other two being - Aparajito and Apur Sansar. The three movies are
together well known as Apu-Trilogy. Apart from Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik
Ghatak directed internationally acclaimed films followed by a group
consisting of Budhhadeb Dasgupta, Gautam Ghosh, Utpalendu
Chakrabarti, Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh etc.
An introduction to Bengali cinema can not be completed without
mentioning one of it's finest actor, Soumitra Chatterjee. His place in the
mind of Bengali movie lovers is established by his performance in the role
of Apu and Felu-da in Ray's movies. Also, Bengali cinema was enriched by
the presence of actresses such as, Arundhuti Devi, Supriya Choudhury,

Sabitri Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Sharmila Thakur, Aparna Sen,
Debasree Roy; and, in the recent years - Rituparna Sengupta, Indrani
Halder.
Ranjit Mallick, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Tapas Pal, Chiranjit Chakrabarty - are
few of the contemporary actors who perform in leading roles in Bengali
films. Quite a number of actors created long lasting impression by
appearing in character roles; Utpal Dutta, Tulsi Chakrabarty, Gangapada
Bose, Rabi Ghosh, Anil Chatterjee, Victor Banerjee, Anup Kumar, Bhanu
Bandyopadhyay, Chhaya Devi, Manju Dey, Dipankar Dey, Biplab
Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Anjan Dutta, Mamatshankar,
Haradhan Mukherjee are a few to mention from them.
A number of film and acting talents moved to Mumbai(Bombay) film
world(popularly known as Bollywood) and became successful. Here are
few of them to mention: Pradipkumar, Sharmila Tagore, Biswajit
Chatterjee, Rakhi Biswas(Gulzar), Jaya Bhaduri(Bachchan), Mousumi
Chatterjee, Mithun Chakrabarty.

Kolkata

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KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : HISTORY

At the end of the fifteenth century, a

Old Court House Street

the two great centres of trade were

Calcutta High Court

Great Eastern Hotel

Standard Chartered Bank

The Statesman Office

The Botanical Garden

1854 First Railway line in India was

shield final and created national

youths and creating enormous tension

Ajoy Mukherjee (01.MAR.1967

How did the city get the name Calcutta ?

Kalikata is derived from the Bengali

KOLKATA : Places to Visit

This is the largest mosque in Kolkata. The mosque was built in

Kolkata (Calcutta) :: Religious Sites

Jewish Synagogue - intersection of Canning Street and Brabourne Road

Parsee Fire Temple - MetCalf Street, Beliaghata

KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : GEOGRAPHY

of the state of West Bengal

22 degree 82 minutes North

88 degrees 20 minutes East

17 feet from sea level

Distance from sea 60 miles from Bay of Bengal

15.97 million(2001) - including Howrah and suburbs

Population Density 24760 /sq. km. (2001)

903 per sq. km

Bordering States/Countries Countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan

N S C Bose Airport, Kolkata

Tagore was born on Tuesday, 7th May 1861 in a wealthy family in

teachers. Later he went to Normal School, Bengal Academy and St

In 1901 he took the editorial charge of the magazine Bangadarshan. Got

institutions in USA and reached Seattle (Washington). Lectured at

in good stead. Later when he wrote books in Bengali this background of

Bankim Chandra had founded a journal called 'Vangadarshan'.

This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author - "Enke"

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee

Michael Madhusudan Dutta

prepare for the Bar. When he returned to Calcutta in 1866 he became a

A celebrated painter of modern India. A genius who was admired in

'Chayanika', 'Crescent Moon', 'Gitanjali' and 'The Fruit Gathering' are

With the consequent understanding that he could flourish only in the

of the forms in unfaultered sweeps; in their colors, deep and saturated,

Calcutta. As a child he was very lively and naughty. When Narendra

welcome that befitted an Emperor. When he reached Madras there was

This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org

he returned to Murshidabad. Rammohan admired this spirit of freedom.

sister-in-law not to observe Sati. Relatives objected to Rammohans

Rammohan and his followers used to attend prayers in the church of a

This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author - C.N.Jayalakshmidevi

The Influence of Bose

strong world power, occupying key colonies of Dutch, French, and

While Bose's approach to Indian freedom continues to generate heated

Jagadish Chandra Bose

In 1920 he became the first Indian scientist to be elected to Great

his studies. He often wondered if the astrologer's prediction would

S. N. Bose were all appointed as lecturers.

University. He retired from Calcutta University in 1956. The University

ultimately successful and Calcutta University at last got the approval of

Indian Science Congress in 1944.

This article is in courtesy of FreeIndia.org Author: M.R.Shanbhag.