Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. He was awarded

Rabindra Puraskar The Rabindra Puraskar (also Rabindra Smriti Puraskar) is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is named after the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and is administered by the Government of W ...

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Award,

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

. He was nominited for

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1971.

Biography

Bandyopadhyay was born at his ancestral home at

Labhpur Labhpur is a census town in Labpur CD block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is known to the outside world as the native place of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay and one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. Ge ...

village in

Birbhum district Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...

, Bengal Province,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now West Bengal, India) to Haridas Bandyopadhyay and Prabhabati Devi. House_of_Tarashankar

He passed the Matriculation examination from Labhpur Jadablal H. E. School in 1916 and was later admitted first to St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and then to South Suburban College (now

Asutosh College Asutosh College ( Bengali: আশুতোষ কলেজ) is a college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, situated in Southern Kolkata, close to the Jatin Das Park Metro Station, gate No. 2. It was established in 1916 as the South Subu ...

). While studying in intermediate at St. Xavier's College, he joined the non-co-operation movement. He could not complete his university course due to ill health and political activism. During these college years, he was also associated with a radical militant youth group and was arrested and interned in his village. He was arrested in 1930 for actively supporting the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...

, but released later that year. After that he decided to devote himself to literature. In 1932, he met

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by hi ...

for the first time. His first novel ''Chaitali Ghurni'' was published on the same year. In 1940, he rented a house at

Bagbazar Bagbazar (also spelt Baghbazar) is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar, the citadel o ...

and brought his family to Calcutta. In 1941, he moved to

Baranagar ("City of hogs") , settlement_type = City , image_seal = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = India West Bengal#India3#Asia , pushpin_label_ ...

. In 1942, he presided over the Birbhum District Literature Conference and became the president of the Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists Association in Bengal. In 1944, he presided over the Kanpur Bengali Literature Conference arranged by the non-resident Bengalis living there. In 1947, he inaugurated Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan held in Calcutta; presided over the Silver Jubilee Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan in Bombay; and received Sarat Memorial Medal from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

. In 1948, he moved to his own house at Tala Park, Calcutta. In 1952, he was nominated to be a member of the legislative assembly. He was a member of the West Bengal Vidhan Parishad between 1952–60. In 1954, he took

Diksha Diksha ( Sanskrit: दीक्षा) also spelled diksa, deeksha or deeksa in common usage, translated as a "preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony", is giving of a mantra or an initiation by the guru (in Guru–shishya tradition) ...

from his mother. In 1955, he was awarded the

by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

. In 1956, he received the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

. In 1957 he visited

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to join the preparatory committee of the Afro-Asian Writers' Association and later went to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

at an invitation from the Chinese Government as the leader of the Indian Writers delegation at the Afro-Asian Writers' Association. In 1959, he received the Jagattarini Gold Medal from the University of Calcutta, and presided over All India Writer's Conference in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. In 1960, he retired from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly but was nominated to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

. He was a member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

between 1960–66. In 1962, he received

; but the death of his son-in-law broke his heart and to keep himself diverted he took to painting and making wooden toys. In 1963, he received Sisirkumar Award. In 1966, he retired from the Parliament and presided over Nagpur Bengali Literature Conference. In 1966, he won the

and in 1969, he received

and was honoured with the title of Doctor of Literature by the University of Calcutta and the

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University is a public state university located in Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1905 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into Jadavpur University in 1955. In 2022, it was ranked fourth am ...

. In 1969, he was given the fellowship of

, in 1970 became the president of

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali a ...

Vangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...

. In 1971, he gave the Nripendrachandra Memorial Lecture at

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

and D. L. Roy Memorial Lecture at the University of Calcutta. Bandyopadhyay died at his Calcutta residence early in the morning on 14 September 1971. His last rites were performed at the Nimtala Cremation Ground, North Calcutta. In 2021, Bandhopadhyay's ancestral home in Labhpur was converted into a museum in his memory by local residents as well as his family. It archives several personal artifacts, and photographs.

Family members and relatives

Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay was married to Umashashi Devi in 1916. Their eldest son Sanatkumar Bandyopadhyay was born in 1918; the youngest son Saritkumar Bandyopadhyay was born in 1922; the eldest daughter Ganga was born in 1924; the second daughter Bulu was born in 1926 but died in 1932; the youngest daughter Bani was born in 1932.

Awards

* 1955 -

for his novel ''

Arogya Niketan ''Arogya Niketan'' is a 1953 Indian Bengali novel written by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay. In 1955 for this novel, Bandyopadhyay received Rabindra Puraskar and in 1956 he received Sahitya Akademi Award (Bengali). In 1967, this novel was picturised by ...

'' * 1956 -

* 1966 -

for his novel '' Ganadebata''. * 1962 -

* 1969 -

* ---- - ''Sharat Smriti Puraskar'' * ---- - ''Jagattarini Gold Medal'' from the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Tripatra'' (1926)

Novels

Short story collections

Drama

Farce

*''Chakmaki'' (1945)

Discography

List of all songs for which Lyrics were composed by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar 1898 births 1971 deaths Indian novelists Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian essayists Indian autobiographers Indian memoirists Indian travel writers Indian composers Indian lyricists Indian poets Indian short story writers Indian male novelists Indian male short story writers Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male essayists Indian male composers Indian male poets Indian male writers Indian male film score composers Asutosh College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis Bengali novelists Bengali-language writers Bengali poets Bengali-language lyricists People from Birbhum district Recipients of the Rabindra Puraskar Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Indian composers Poets from West Bengal Novelists from West Bengal Dramatists and playwrights from West Bengal Writers from Kolkata People from West Bengal