Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor ( bn, ভারতচন্দ্র রায় গুণাকর; 1712–1760) was an 18th-century

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Sakta Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all ...

court poet and song composer. He is mostly known for his poetic work, '' Annadamangal'' or ''Annapurnamangal''.Sen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.II, , Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, , pp.424-32Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976/1998), ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, , p 377, He is often referred to simply as Bharatchandra. Maharaja Krishnachandra of Nadia conferred him with the title Gunakor, after which he became famous as Ray Gunakor Bharatchandra.Chakraborty, Shree Natabar (publisher), (1905/1906), ''Bharatchandrer Granthabali'', , p 19

Early years

Bharatchandra was born to Narendranarayan Ray and Bhavani Devi in Penro-Bhurshut village (in the present-day

Howrah district Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. The urbanised sectors gradually increase the slum populations. Howrah is the third smallest distric ...

) which is currently near Amta, Howrah area. He was youngest of the four children. His father entered a property dispute with the Raja of Bardhaman, and in the process disrespected Raja Kirti Chandra Ray's mother Rani Bishnukumari. As a result, they took away all his lands. A penniless Narendranarayan fled away, while Bharatchandra was taken to his maternal uncle's home in Naoapara. While staying there he learned Sanskrit at the nearby village of Tajpur. When he was 14 he mastered the language and married the daughter of Narottam Acharya of nearby Sarada village. On returning home his elder brothers mocked him for learning

as they thought the language would be of no use for them. Bharatchandra felt bad and left home for West Debanandpur, a village in Bashberia area of

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...

. There, while living in Ramchandra Munshi's house, he mastered Persian. After his education, he worked as a Mokhtar to facilitate his paternal household's property management. He had to leave his ancestral home because of property disputes and marriage of his own choice. He roamed from place to place. He passed some time in

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

, Orissa in the domain of the Maratha power. Later he went back to Bengal.Chakraborty, Shree Natabar (publisher), (1905/1906), ''Bharatchandrer Granthabali'', , p 10 - 15

Court poet of Maharaja Krishnachandra

When Bharatchandra was residing in the house of Indranarayan Chaudhury, the Diwan of the French government at

Chandernagore Chandannagar french: Chandernagor ), also known by its former name Chandernagore and French name Chandernagor, is a city in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is headquarter of the Chandannagore subdivision and is part ...

, his talent was noticed by Maharaja Krishnachandra of

Krishnanagar Krishna Nagar or Krishnanagar may refer to: Places India * Krishna Nagar, Delhi ** Krishna Nagar metro station (Delhi) ** Krishna Nagar (Delhi Assembly constituency) * Krishna Nagar, Hyderabad * Krishna Nagar, Lucknow ** Krishna Nagar metro s ...

and Bharatchandra became his court poet. He was bestowed with the title ''Raygunakar'' and received huge amount of land in Mulajore from Krishnachandra. He was the first poet 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 ...

to be identified as a people's poet, and lent a new grace and beauty to the language.

Works

The most notable work of Bharatchandra is '' Annadamangal'' or ''Annapurnamangal''. This work, completed in 1752, is divided into three parts. The first part, which eulogises the goddess

Annapurna Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the diffic ...

is known as ''Annadamangal''. The second part, which narrates the story of Vidya and Sundar is known as ''Kalikamangal'' and the third and the final part, which narrates the story of

Man Singh I Man Singh I, popularly known as Mirza Raja Man Singh (21 December 1550 – 6 July 1614) was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput Raja of Amer, later known as Jaipur state, in Rajputana. He was the most powerful and trusted general of the Mughal em ...

and Bhavananda Majumdar is known as ''Annapurnamangal''. His another work, ''Rasamanjari'' is a Bengali-language adaptation of a Maithili work of the same name written by Bhanudatta. ''Nagashtaka'', a bi-lingual poetic work in Sanskrit and Bengali, shows his mastery over Sanskrit metres. His other notable works include: ''Gangashtaka'' in Sanskrit, ''Satyanarayan Panchali'' and an incomplete work, ''Chandi Natak''.

Translations

Gerasim Lebedev Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (russian: Гера́сим Степа́нович Ле́бедев; 1749 – July 27, 1817), also spelled Herasim Steppanovich Lebedeff ( bn, হেরাসিম স্তেপানোভিচ লেবেদ� ...

translated a portion of Bharatchandra's ''Annadamangal'' into Russian. He also borrowed from the lyrics composed by Bharatchandra for the musical composition of the two translated plays he stage in Kolkata.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Bharatchandra 1712 births 1760 deaths 18th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Bengali-language poets Bengali male poets 18th-century Bengali poets Bengali Hindus Bengali-language writers 18th-century Indian writers Indian male writers Hindu poets Bhakti movement Shaktas People from Howrah district Scholars from West Bengal