Banga Darpan

GenX makes Dada duck and drive

2011-02-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Sourav Ganguly padded up on Wednesday against a pace battery from Jadavpur University, Presidency and Calcutta University. Only, the bowlers had questions to hurl, not a shining leather ball. The students posed to the former skipper uncomfortable questions that rose from a good length and slower ones that confirmed they weren’t in a friendly. The Prince of Calcutta edged some, let go of some and drove some through the off, bringing lusty cheers from (alas!) the Town Hall and not the Eden. A selection of questions at the show organised by a Bengali news channel

Student 1: The CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) has failed as the Eden custodian, losing the right to host the India-England tie. Isn’t this the time for you to step in?

SOURAV: I don’t believe in taking advantage of a situation when someone is down on the mat. You should only lend a helping hand at such times. I do plan to get into cricket administration but this is not the time for it.

Student 2: Were you ignored for IPL because there were too many Aussie coaches?

SOURAV: I don’t know if that’s the way to put it. The team owners, too, take decisions. But ‘Aussie coach’ is one theory I hear. The other theory is that I am 38. But there is Shane Warne, who is 41, and Adam Gilchrist, who is 40, and they are playing.

Student 3: Do you think you should have played county cricket or more of Ranji Trophy to prove your match fitness? Would they have treated you better then?

SOURAV: Who would have treated me better?

Student 3: The IPL people…

SOURAV: I have at least played some cricket. Warne, Gilchrist and Mathew Hayden played nothing.

Student 4: The IPL starts right after the World Cup. Will you play the IPL if you are picked as a replacement for an injured player?

SOURAV: Oh yes, of course! (Loud cheers)

Student 5: What if Kochi picks you and the Eden stops cheering for KKR. How would you feel?

SOURAV: How would I get a chance to feel anything? I would be in the middle, playing.

Student 6: Do you judge Dhoni when you see India play and ponder how you would have done things?

SOURAV: No, I don’t. I will never in this life be where Dhoni is and I am aware of that.

Student 7: You had skipped the Nagpur Test (against Australia in 2004)…. Was it because the wicket had grass?

SOURAV: Ghasher mathe ghash-i thake (A field will always have grass).
(The Telegraph Calcutta 10th Feb 2011)

AK-47 seized on leads given by Maoists held in Trinamool camp

2011-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

KOLKATA: The police claimed to have recovered on Thursday a sophisticated firearm and several rounds of ammunition and explosives from Kanyabali village in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district based on information provided by two suspected Maoists, who were arrested from a Trinamool Congress-run relief camp in Midnapore town on Monday.

Additional Director-General (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha said one AK-47 rifle, 50 rounds of 8-mm cartridges and 61 gelatine sticks were recovered from an abandoned house. The AK-47 rifle reportedly has ‘PLGA' (the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) and ‘EER' (Eastern Frontier Rifles) written on it, making the police suspect that it could be one of the firearms looted by Maoists from the Silda armoury after they massacred 24 EFR jawans on February 15, 2010.

“The arms and ammunitions were found when the security forces raided various places at Kanyabali and Lakhanpur villages on the basis of information revealed during the interrogation of Asim Mahato and Amiyo Mahato. Investigations are still on to examine if the duo was involved in the Silda incident,” Mr. Kar Purakayastha said here.

Both were produced before Midnapore's Chief Judicial Magistrate during the day and remanded to police custody for five days. Murder charges had been slapped on them.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/04/stories/2011020465690100.htm

‘Major’ protest threat from Morcha - Agitation to start on February 8 - ‘Indecisive’ tag on Trinamul chief and Morcha president

2011-02-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has threatened to start a “major” agitation across north Bengal from February 8 even as the Centre indicated that the draft of the interim authority might be soon presented to the party.

However, starting tomorrow, the party will scale down its existing programmes till February 6.

Union home minister P. Chidambaram, while presenting his ministry’s report card for January, said: “Next steps are being actively considered.” While laying emphasis on “actively”, Chidambaram indicated that the meeting with the Morcha last week was positive. In the same breath, he urged the Morcha to call off its agitation and cooperate in maintaining law and order. Chidambaram said he was happy to note that the bandh had been lifted by the Morcha. The minister was referring to the 27-day strike called by the Morcha in the hills to pressure the Centre to clear its stand on Gorkhaland.

The party is yet to react to Chidambaram’s statement.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “An emergency meeting of the party’s central committee was held in Darjeeling today where we decided to start a major agitation in the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars from February 8 onwards. We are, however, not immediately announcing the programme but are trying to convey a message to the general public to be ready for this agitation.”

Another round of the Morcha’s central committee meeting will be held on February 7. Till then the party has decided not to push hard for the Bimal Gurung-led “long march for Gorkhaland” to the Dooars. The march has been stopped by the administration at Kumani More on the edge of the Dooars where the security forces have set up a barricade.

“The march is being suspended till February 6. Between February 1 and 3, no demonstrations will be organised in front of police stations. The demonstrations will resume on February 4. The relay hunger strike will continue as usual,” said Giri. A proposed padayatra from Darjeeling to the Terai, which had been lined up for February 2, has also been postponed.

The Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha will, however, go ahead with its “black flag” rally in the hills tomorrow. The rally is being organised to condemn the alleged lathicharge on Morcha supporters at Sibchu in Jalpaiguri district yesterday.

Asked about the sudden change in programme, Giri said it was “a party strategy”.

“We are fighting against the atrocities of the Bengal government, and the Centre, too, seems to be a silent spectator,” he said, an indication that the Morcha probably wants Delhi to end the Dooars stalemate.

For the past 14 days, the Morcha has been trying to enter the Dooars through the Kumani area but the Jalpaiguri district administration has stopped the marchers and imposed Section 144 on the Dooars. Nearly 600 marchers have been camping in Kumani.

For the past one year, the hills had been breathing easy as the Morcha, the state government and the Centre had agreed in principle to accept the interim set-up.

But the recent Morcha decision to reject the interim set-up is largely because of the delay in solving the contentious issues regarding the new arrangement for the hills. “The overwhelming majority in the Morcha’s central committee now feels that the set-up has been delayed for long and that the party will no longer benefit as the Bengal government is not sincere about devolving powers to the new authority. The party now firmly believes that it should strongly go ahead with the Gorkhaland agitation as this was the slogan that catapulted the hill party to a force to reckon with in the region,” said a Morcha source.

Probe plea granted

The court of the chief judicial magistrate in Darjeeling has accepted a prayer of the CBI to reinvestigate the murder of ABGL leader Madan Tamang and the alleged escape of the prime accused in the case, Nickole Tamang, from CID custody.

“The prayer for reinvestigation was made by the CBI on January 29 and the court today accepted the prayer,” said a court source.

All records related to these cases including the chargesheet will be handed over to the CBI.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110201/jsp/siliguri/story_13517915.jsp

Railways to recruit around 3 lakh people: Mamata Banerjee

2011-02-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

HALDIA(WEST BENGAL)IANS: The Indian Railways will recruit 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh people in the next six months across the country, union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said here Friday.

"We will take 2.5 lakh - 3 lakh people all over the country. But I am sure we will get over three crore job applications," Banerjee said at a railway programme in this industrial town.

"The written tests will be held throughout the country over several days and the entire process will take over six months," she added.

The railways minister laid the foundation of a diesel multiple unit here, a wagon component factory to be set up in nearby Jellingham and the second Haldia dock complex of Kolkata port at the function.

The diesel unit project was shifted here from Howrah district's Sankrail following anti-land acquisition protests.

"Only one percent of people instigated by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) were opposing the project at Sankrail. Ninety nine percent people wanted it there. And I know if I had waited, things would have been sorted out," the minister said.

The diesel multiple unit factory will be set up on 42.5 acres of railway land and produce 96 coaches per year in phase 1 and 500 coaches in phase 2.

At Jellingham, the Steel Authority of India, railway and central public sector unit Burn Standard and Braithwaite will join hands to set up the wagon component factory.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/railways-to-recruit-around-3-lakh-people-mamata-banerjee/articleshow/7427914.cms

State violence ‘history’

2011-02-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

New Delhi, Feb 4: Chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi today said the poll panel’s proactive approach in Bengal had been prompted by the state’s “history of violence” and “bitter political rivalry”.

“The Bengal elections are a huge challenge for us. The state has a history of violence, which is a matter of concern for us,” he said at an interactive session of the Indian Women’s Press Corps in Delhi.

He said that like the other three poll-bound states, Bengal too had “issues specific to it”. Quraishi said the commission was in the process of “vulnerability mapping” at the booth level in Bengal.

Asked about the importance of the observer team — led by Bihar chief electoral officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh and including five IPS officers — that was sent to Bengal last month, Quraishi said: “The committee has submitted its report. But we receive inputs from various sources, including our observers.”

He chief said another observer team would be sent to the state as the “Left has complained that we had left out certain areas from our survey”. He said the commission wanted “the truth, the reality, and we will take all steps to get it”.

Quraishi laughed away suggestions that political considerations prompt the commission to be “slightly more proactive” in states where Opposition parties (not the Congress and its allies at the Centre) are in power.

He said that in Bengal, the commission’s challenges were the “intense political rivalry” and “armed struggle”.

Quraishi said the commission’s “worries” in Assam were the border issue and militancy while in Tamil Nadu the concerns were intense political rivalry and money power. He said that in Kerala, the poll panel’s concern was how to get the state’s substantial NRI population to exercise their voting rights.

Elaborating on the panel’s plan to ensure peaceful and fair polling in the Maoist-affected regions of Bengal, Quraishi said the commission would relocate booths to safer areas, reduce voting hours to allow poll personnel to shift to safer places before sundown and ensure that booths are set up in clusters. He said the commission would ensure that security was tight and also gather intelligence on candidates. He said choppers could be pressed into service if forces needed to be mobilised.

He said the commission had found out that in Bengal, “fathers don’t get their daughters enrolled as voters as it would reveal their true ages” and hamper their marriage prospects.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110205/jsp/bengal/story_13539595.jsp

Bengal declares cancer a notifiable disease

2011-01-05T08:52:00.001-08:00

Kolkata, Jan 5 (IANS) The West Bengal government has declared cancer as a notifiable disease making it mandatory for hospitals and doctors to report every case of the disease that comes to their notice, an official said Wednesday.

The direction is aimed at maintaining a proper database and better surveillance.

The order issued by the state health department has made its mandatory for all medical establishments to report the number of cancer patients at their hospitals or centres to the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI).

'Cancer is now a notifiable disease in Bengal. The order has been issued on Dec 28. All the medical establishments have to report the number of cancer patients at their establishment to CNCI,' said Jaydip Biswas, director, CNCI.

'It will enable us to have a complete database of cancer and better surveillance of the disease. It will also help us to locate the areas where the number of cancer patients are high,' said Biswas.

Biswas added that all medical establishments in the state would get the order by the first week of January.

Maoist activities adversely affect West Bengal tourism

2011-01-05T08:50:00.001-08:00

Rising Maoist activities in West Bengal's Bankura district have badly affected the tourism industry in the region.

The recent incidents of violence have deterred tourists from visiting the State, particularly due to fear of shutdowns.

"There are some apprehensions among the people who are coming from other parts of the state. There are frequent shutdown in these areas. People got some apprehensions about coming into this area that if they are coming, and there is a shutdown, then there is no point in coming there," said Mohammad Ghulam Ali Ansari, District Magistrate, Bankura.

Meanwhile, a tourist complex owner blamed the media for spreading fear of Maoists.

"There is no fear of Maoists in this area. Their activities and presence is almost 100 kilometers away from here. But some mediapersons are propagating that there is fear of Maoists. That's why tourists are afraid to come here," said Tapas Mondal, owner of a tourist complex.

"We have informed the local administration and they are taking necessary steps and we have a also informed the police administration and trade associations about the same," he added.(ANI)

Maoist terror in West Bengal

2011-01-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

Fakir Mohan Pradhan

Counter-insurgency operations have yielded significant results but it has been a terrible year with West Bengal topping the list of Red terror-hit States

Replying to a question in the State Assembly on December 23, 2010, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claimed, “Because of sustained joint operations (against Maoists) by 35 companies of Central Reserve Police Force, six companies of Nagaland Police and 51 companies of State Police, the situation ... has greatly improved... The situation has changed in the past three months. Some of the blocks (in Jangalmahal) are terror free... (But) till the situation improves in Jharkhand and Odisha, it would be difficult to keep West Bengal unaffected. Till such time, the paramilitary forces should be there.”

Earlier, in an interview to a TV Channel in Kolkata on November 13, the Chief Minister asserted, “The Maoist leadership is now divided. They are now cornered.” Ironically, on December 17, cadre of the CPI(Maoist) had shot dead seven workers of the All-India Forward Block, a party belonging to the ruling Left Front, in Purulia district.

In fact, West Bengal has witnessed a dramatic spurt in Maoist-related fatalities in 2010. According to available data, 425 people, including 328 civilians, 36 security forces personnel and 61 Maoists, including cadre of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, were killed in West Bengal in 2010 till December 26, as against 158 people, including 134 civilians, 15 security forces personnel and nine Maoists killed in the State in 2009.

With this, West Bengal has now earned the dubious distinction of recording the highest Maoist-related fatalities in 2010, dislodging Chhattisgarh which had topped the list since 2006. The intervening years have seen an extraordinary rise in Maoist-related fatalities in West Bengal, from just six in 2005, through 24 in 2008, and up to 158 and 418 people, respectively, in 2009 and 2010.

Significantly, the civilian casualty figure of 328, which includes 148 fatalities in the Gyaneswari Express derailment of May 28, is by far the highest among the Maoist affected States for any past years, followed distantly by Chhattisgarh in 2006 with 189 civilian fatalities. In 2010, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand each recorded 71 civilian fatalities. Civilian fatalities in West Bengal have recorded a 145 per cent increase over the elevated base level of 134 for 2009.

The principal cause for this dramatic escalation is the rapid expansion of the Maoists in the State and their focussed infiltration of the tribal movement in Lalgarh, as a result of which they have taken control of wide areas despite mounting pressure from the security forces. The movement in Lalgarh snowballed after a failed assassination attempt targeting the Chief Minister and then Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan at nearby Salboni on November 2, 2008, and the clumsy police responses that followed.

Unlike other States, the expanding Maoist sway is confronted by the organised (and often armed) cadre of the ruling CPI(M) in West Bengal. In order to hold the area under their control, the Maoists have neutralised the CPI(M) cadre base and terrorised the masses — tactics that explain the large number of Marxists and ‘sympathisers’ among the civilian fatalities in the State. Indeed, of the 328 civilians killed in 2010, CPI(M) leaders and cadre account for as many as 116.

Security forces fatalities have also risen to 36 in 2010, from 15 in 2009, even as 61 Maoists were killed, as against nine in 2009, reflecting increasing direct confrontation between the forces and the Maoists.The State witnessed 14 major incidents (involving three or more casualties) through 2010. The Maoists were also involved in at least 25 cases of landmine explosions, 18 incidents of arson, and two incidents of abduction (an overwhelming majority of abduction cases go unreported because of fear of the Maoists). The Maoists also executed seven ‘swarming attacks’ involving a large number of their armed cadre in 2010, as against eight such attacks in 2009.

There were, however, major successes scored by the security forces in 2010, including the killing of six Maoists, along with Sidhu Soren, the founding ‘commander-in-chief’ of Sidhu Kanu Gana Militia, in an encounter on July 26; the Ranja forest encounter of June 16 in which at least 12 Maoists were killed; and, the Hathilot forest encounter of March 25 in which Maoist Politburo member Koteswar Rao alias Kishanji was injured. Most significantly, the PCPA founder-president, Lalmohan Tudu, was killed by the forces on February 22, along with at least two other PCPA cadre.

These operational successes were compounded by key arrests. Four members of the Maoists’ West Bengal State Committee, including ‘State secretary’ Sudip Chongdar alias Kanchan alias Batas, Anil Ghosh alias Ajoyda, Barun Sur alias Bidyut, and Kalpana Maity, wife of Ashim Mondal alias Akash, were arrested from Kolkata on December 3 and 4. A day after these arrests, Asim Mondal alias Akash, a senior member of the State Committee, admitted that “The arrest is unfortunate and no doubt it is a jolt for our organisation.”

Earlier, on March 2, 2010, Venkateswar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, another State Committee member, was arrested near Kolkata. Dipak was the suspected mastermind of the February 15 attack on the EFR camp at Sildah. Indeed, there seems to be an abrupt leadership vacuum among the Maoists in West Bengal with seven of the 11 State Committee members either behind bars or killed.

Further, Bapi Mahato, a prime accused in the Gyaneswari Express derailment as well as a senior member of the Maoist-backed PCPA, was arrested by a joint team of the West Bengal and Jharkhand Police from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand on June 20. At least 245 arrests have been made in 2010 in connection with Maoist activities. On June 18, however, State Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen claimed that security forces operating in the Jangalmahal area, which includes Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts, had arrested “about 400 to 500 Maoists”. Nevertheless, the mastermind behind almost all the Maoist attacks in the region, Koteswar Rao alias Kishanji, CPI(Maoist) Politburo member in charge of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, remains elusive.

Expecting that the pressure mounted by the security forces would induce some Maoists to lay down arms, the State Government announced its new surrender policy on June 15. The ‘package’ followed the Union Government guidelines, with a one-off payment of Rs 1,50,000, vocational training for three months, and Rs 2,000 in a monthly stipend for each surrendering cadre. If arms were also surrendered, they would receive, in addition, Rs 15,000 for an AK-47 rifle, Rs 25,000 for a machine gun, and Rs 3,000 for a pistol or revolver. On June 17, West Bengal Director-General of Police Bhupinder Singh said, “We have received feelers that a number of people are willing to surrender.” By December 26, however, only five Maoists had surrendered after the announcement of the ‘package’.

Despite these successes, however, there is little reason for any great optimism. The Chief Minister’s claim that “the situation has changed in the past three months”, while not altogether incorrect, nevertheless glosses over the reality of continuing killings in the Jangalmahal area.

The writer is associated with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Management. Visual shows CPI-M’s anti-Maoist posters.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/307761/Maoist-terror-in-West-Bengal.html

A crore votes at stake, Trinamool, CPI-M, Congress, BJP share dais

2010-12-31T08:24:00.000-08:00

Kolkata, Dec 28 (IANS) The compulsions of vote bank politics presented a rare sight here Tuesday when leaders of West Bengal's arch-rivals Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Trinamool Congress, as also of the Congress and the BJP, shared the dais at a rally organised by a group of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.

This, when the main opposition Trinamool has been boycotting, since last year's Lok Sabha polls, government functions where CPI-M ministers and leaders were in attendance.

The union ministers from Trinamool had even in the past left the venue of government functions midway to avoid been seen with CPI-M functionaries.

However, with the All India Matua Mahasangha group, said to wield influence over more than one crore voters mostly in the state's southern districts, political parties made a beeline for the rally in the heart of Kolkata.

Among those at the rally were state Housing Minister and CPI-M state secretariat member Gautam Deb and Trinamool top gun and union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy - the latter having come with two other party leaders - besides state Congress chief Manas Bhunia and BJP's Tathagata Roy, apart from leaders of other partners of the ruling Left Front.

'This is historic. It is great that Trinamool leaders are also here, besides leaders of other parties,' said Deb in his address.

'It is a difficult task to bring all political parties in our state together for a cause, but the Matua Mahasangha has successfully done this,' said Deb expressing his thanks to Barama - Binapani Debi, who heads the group of SCs and OBCs comprising mostly immigrants from Bangaldesh.

Deb also urged all political parties, mainly the Trinamool leaders, to keep aside the political differences and come together to launch the movement on development issues and noble causes.

'All the 42 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal and the MPs in Rajya Sabha irrespective of their political affiliations should come together and place the demands of the Matua Mahasangha in parliament,' said Deb.

Roy and other Trinamool leaders sat on the dais but did not speak. Echoing Deb, Bhunia said his party will support whole heartedly if all the parties come together on the issues raised by the Matua Mahasangha.

'A Congress delegation, including me, will place the demands of the Matua before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in January,' said Bhunia.

The Matua Sangha, founded by Binapani Devi's husband's great grandfather Harichand Thakur, a Brahmin, at Gopalganj in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh), held the rally demanding changes in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003 to give citizenship, voting rights and proper rehabilitation to refuges staying in India over decades.

A team of delegates of the Matua Mahasangha also submitted a deputation before Governor M. K. Naranayan and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. (Sify News, 28th Dec 2010)

Divisive Politics of West Bengal

2010-12-04T23:06:00.001-08:00

Shikha Mukerjee: The Pioneer

Regime change in West Bengal is turning out to be a bitter political battle in which the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress are evenly matched. In the process, the State is rapidly descending into a spiral of violence.

Clean and effective Government seems to be what voters want. Voter satisfaction, it would appear, can be gained by providing the minimum that citizenship entitles the citizen to, if not uniformly and of a very high order, but nevertheless tangible and sustained, if the Pundits have correctly read the verdict in Bihar.

The attributes of clean and effective are difficult to identify, because expectations in India about what constitutes clean are probably based on a totally distorted idea of the requirements for probity in public life. The same is true of what constitutes effectiveness. One feature of what constitutes effectiveness, extrapolating from the Bihar verdict, appears to be basic law and order measured in terms of greater mobility of women and school going girls on bicycles.

Therefore, clean and effective boils down to a serious scaling down of the routines of bribery and corruption that public officials have engaged in historically in order to live beyond their official means and a stable law and order regime that allows people to feel reasonably secure, though not entirely risk free. In other words, some semblance of the rule of law has been re-established in the badlands of Bihar.

In contrast, the frequency of violent episodes and the spiralling death count in West Bengal indicates that the effectiveness of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front Government to deliver minimum law and order to its citizens has been seriously impaired. The death count provided by the CPI(M) of its own members and supporters in the Maoist infested areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia is over 280. Not a week goes by without a minimum of one more dead in either Binpur or Shalboni or Jhargram and now again Khejuri made famous during the confrontations over identifying Nandigram as a possible location for establishing a Special Economic Zone. Not a week goes by without some attack, even burning down of a political party’s office somewhere in the State. This is lawlessness.

The deliberate disruption of the normal is appalling. It is a shame that politics has grown so undemocratic in West Bengal, so violent and vicious that refugees of political violence returning home to Kamardah village in Khejuri block of West Midnapore district after months of a precarious existence in camps were attacked once again. The fate of the returning residents of Kamardah is to be forever victims of a political rivalry that is ugly and inhuman. Trapped between the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress, the villagers are pawns to be moved around to serve the political purpose of ‘recapture’ or ‘sanitisation;’ if the CPI(M) stands accused of ‘recapture’ then the Trinamool Congress stands accused of ‘sanitising’ Kamardah and Khejuri of supporters of the CPI(M).

If the CPI(M) is accused of using armed cadres to cover the return of the political refugees, then so should the Trinamool Congress be accused of mobilising overwhelming counter force to prevent the return of the refugees. When political conflict between parliamentary parties reaches a point where force and counter force are the norm rather than the exception, then the one value that becomes debased is the minimum tolerance required in a democratic polity, When law and order is not delivered to the citizen as the minimum condition then no political party ought to be allowed to escape from the responsibility of vitiating the normal to the point that the abnormal becomes routine.

The clash of politics in West Bengal in the last 10 years has resulted in hundreds of deaths. It is incidental that the CPI(M) counts the number of its dead since May 2008 and estimates that about 280 have been victims of Maoist violence. Before 2008 there were political clashes. Ordinary people died. Of that 14 died in the police action in Nandigram. The remaining dead were victims of political clashes. In Nanoor in Birbhum 11 landless peasants died in 2000. In July 2010, Ananda Das, an ex-legislator died. In May Sanjay Ghosh and Al Amin Sheikh were killed.

The clash of politics in West Bengal in the last 10 years has resulted in hundreds of dwellings, be they so humble as mud huts, being burnt and trashed. The escalating numbers in the past five years of destruction and damage of private property reveals the deterioration of law and order. No political party can avoid being blamed for what has happened, because people whose homes were destroyed or damaged were supporters of different political parties. As the dominant political force in West Bengal, the CPI(M)’s share of the blame is greater. But the Opposition is not blameless.

The violence and destruction as a resultant of political conflict has meant a loss of the sense of security that is the fundamental right of every citizen in West Bengal. With fear as a factor, the quality of political life in the State has declined. The decline is not limited to the areas where the Maoists are active in spreading their particularly potent brew of barbarous beheadings, kangaroo courts, night raids and day-time cordons around villages and fields. The decline includes places where political intolerance is rampant, with territories being marked off as belonging to one party or the other.

However divisive the politics in West Bengal is, that does not constitute a reason for the absence of law and order and the fundamental right to a secure life for every citizen. Regime change in West Bengal is turning out to be a war, in which the Government side and the Opposition are evenly matched. History may compare the period after 2006 to West Bengal’s worst period of political turmoil, the period after 1968, when terror stalked the streets of Kolkata and nothing and nobody was safe.

West Bengal signals death of communism

2010-11-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

By Mahendra Ved

THE road to the dictatorship of the proletariat, Vladimir Lenin once said, lay from Moscow to Beijing to Calcutta.

In 1890, Swami Vivekananda wrote in Adwaita Ashram Journal about the “beginning of a new era either in Russia or China”. He made no reference to India. India’s communists claim that Vivekananda’s views are similar to those of Karl Marx.

While Moscow demolished Lenin’s statues after seven decades of experiment, Beijing, though formally communist, has turned pragmatic, even capitalist, courting multinational corporations.

Indians are not given to breaking statues. Lenin’s statue, which adorns the main square of Calcutta, now Kolkata, may remain untouched. But the city from where the British once ruled large parts of Asia has just witnessed a political shocker that is a red signal for the Reds.

This month’s civic elections show that the communists, ruling West Bengal for a record 34 years, are in trouble. A series of setbacks for the comrades — from the village panchayat polls in 2008 through last year’s parliamentary elections — underscore the deep popular disenchantment with them.

Come the state assembly polls a year away, there is every chance that the Left Front might be defeated.

Squabbling communists also rule in Kerala. Going by the trend of power being won and lost every five years, it is their turn to lose.

Satyajit Ray

2010-04-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Satyajit Ray (Bengali: সত্যজিত রায় or সত্যজিৎ রায় Shottojit Rae (help·info); 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema.[1] Ray was born in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and letters. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing the Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves during a visit to London.
Ray directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer and film critic. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Document at the Cannes film festival. Alongside Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959), the three films form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, cinematography, art direction, editing and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life and background
2 The Apu Years (1950–1959)
3 From Devi to Charulata (1959–1964)
4 New directions (1965–1982)
5 The last phase (1983–1992)
6 Film craft
7 Literary works
8 Critical and popular response
9 Legacy
10 Awards, honours and recognitions
11 Notes
12 See also
13 References
14 External links
[edit]Early life and background

Satyajit Ray, 1932
Satyajit Ray's ancestry can be traced back for at least ten generations.[2] Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son, was a pioneering Bengali writer of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Kolkata. Sukumar Ray died when Satyajit was barely three, and the family survived on Suprabha Ray's meager income. Ray studied at Ballygunge Government High School, Calcutta, and then completed his B.A. (Hons.) in economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in fine arts. In 1940, his mother insisted that he study at the Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore. Ray was reluctant due to his love of Kolkata, and due to the generally low opinion of the intellectual life at Santiniketan.[3] His mother's persuasion and his respect for Tagore finally convinced him to try this route. In Santiniketan, Ray came to appreciate oriental art. He later admitted that he learnt much from the famous painters Nandalal Bose[4] and Benode Behari Mukherjee on whom Ray later produced a documentary film, "The Inner Eye". With visits to Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta, Ray developed an admiration for Indian art.[5]
He joined as a "junior visualiser", earning just eighty rupees a month. Although on the one hand, visual design was something close to Ray's heart and, for the most part, he was treated well, there was palpable tension between the British and Indian employees of the firm (the former were much better paid), and Ray felt that "the clients were generally stupid".[6] Around 1943, Ray became involved with Signet Press, a new publishing house started up by D. K. Gupta. Gupta asked Ray to create cover designs for books published from Signet Press and gave him complete artistic freedom. Ray designed covers for many books, including Jim Corbett's Maneaters of Kumaon, and Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India. He also worked on a children's version of Pather Panchali, a classic Bengali novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, renamed as Am Antir Bhepu (The mango-seed whistle). Ray was deeply influenced by the work, which became the subject of his first film. In addition to designing the cover, he illustrated the book; many of his illustrations ultimately found their place as shots in his groundbreaking film.[7]
Along with Chidananda Dasgupta and others, Ray founded the Calcutta Film Society in 1947, through which he was exposed to many foreign films. Throughout this time, Ray continued to watch and study films seriously. He befriended the American GIs stationed in Kolkata during World War II, who would inform him of the latest American films showing in the city. He came to know a RAF employee, Norman Clare, who shared Ray's passion of films, chess and western classical music.[8]
In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das, his first cousin and longtime sweetheart.[9] The couple had a son, Sandip, who is now a film director. In the same year, Jean Renoir came to Kolkata to shoot his film The River. Ray helped him to find locations in the countryside. It was then that Ray told Renoir about his idea of filming Pather Panchali, which had been on his mind for some time, and Renoir encouraged him to proceed.[10] In 1950, Ray was sent to London by D.J. Keymer to work at its head office. During his three months in London, he watched 99 films. Among these was the neorealist film Ladri di biciclette Bicycle Thieves (1948) by Vittorio De Sica which had a profound impact on him. Ray later said that he came out of the theater determined to become a filmmaker.[11]
[edit]The Apu Years (1950–1959)

See also: The Apu Trilogy and Filmography of Satyajit Ray

Ray during his years at Santiniketan.
Ray had now decided that Pather Panchali, the classic bildungsroman of Bengali literature, published in 1928 by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, would be the subject matter for his first film. This semi-autobiographical novel describes the growing up of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village.
Ray gathered an inexperienced crew, although both his cameraman Subrata Mitra and art director Bansi Chandragupta went on to achieve great acclaim. The cast consisted of mostly amateur artists. Shooting started in late 1952, using Ray's personal savings. He had hoped once the initial shots had been completed, he would be able to obtain funds to support the project; however, such funding was not forthcoming.[12] Pather Panchali was shot over the unusually long period of three years, because shooting was possible only from time to time, when Ray or production manager Anil Chowdhury could arrange further money.[12] With a loan from the West Bengal government, the film was finally completed and released in 1955 to great critical and popular success, sweeping up numerous prizes and having long runs in both India and abroad. During the making of the film, Ray refused funding from sources who demanded a change in script or the supervision of the producer, and ignored advice from the government (which finally funded the film anyway) to incorporate a happy ending in having Apu's family join a "development project".[13] Even greater help than Renoir's encouragement occurred when Ray showed a sequence to John Huston who was in India scouting locations for The Man Who Would Be King. The sequence is the remarkable vision Apu and his sister have of the train running through the countryside. It was the only sequence Ray had filmed due to his small budget. Huston notified Monroe Wheeler at the New York Museum of Modern Art that a major talent was on the horizon.

Wide open eyes, a continual motif in The Apu Trilogy
In India, the reaction to the film was enthusiastic, The Times of India wrote that "It is absurd to compare it with any other Indian cinema [...] Pather Panchali is pure cinema".[14] In the United Kingdom, Lindsay Anderson wrote a glowing review of the film.[14] However, the reaction was not uniformly positive. After watching the movie, François Truffaut is reported to have said, "I don’t want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands."[15] Bosley Crowther, then the most influential critic of The New York Times, wrote a scathing review of the film that its distributor Ed Harrison thought would kill off the film when it got released in the United States, but instead it enjoyed an exceptionally long run.
Ray's international career started in earnest after the success of his next film, Aparajito (The Unvanquished).[16] This film shows the eternal struggle between the ambitions of a young man, Apu, and the mother who loves him.[16] Many critics, notably Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, rank it even higher than the first film.[16] Aparajito won the Golden Lion in Venice. Before the completion of The Apu Trilogy, Ray completed two other films. The first is the comic Parash Pathar (The Philosopher's Stone), which was followed by Jalsaghar (The Music Room), a film about the decadence of the Zamindars, considered one of his most important works.[17]
Ray had not thought about a trilogy while making Aparajito, and it occurred to him only after being asked about the idea in Venice.[18] The final installation of the series, Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) was made in 1959. Just like the two previous films, a number of critics find this to be the supreme achievement of the trilogy (Robin Wood, Aparna Sen). Ray introduced two of his favourite actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore in this film. The film finds Apu living in a nondescript Kolkata house in near-poverty. He becomes involved in an unusual marriage with Aparna, the scenes of their life together forming "one of the cinema's classic affirmative depiction of married life",[19] but tragedy ensues. After Apur Sansar was harshly criticised by a Bengali critic, Ray wrote an article defending it—a rare event in Ray's film making career (the other major instance involved the film Charulata, Ray's personal favourite).[20] His success had little influence on his personal life in the years to come. Ray continued to live with his mother, uncle and other members of his extended family in a rented house.[21]
[edit]From Devi to Charulata (1959–1964)

Reversal of the gaze, Charulata looking at Amal
During this period, Ray composed films on the British Raj period (such as Devi), a documentary on Tagore, a comic film (Mahapurush) and his first film from an original screenplay (Kanchenjungha). He also made a series of films that, taken together, are considered by critics among the most deeply felt portrayal of Indian women on screen.[22]
Ray followed Apur Sansar with Devi (The Goddess), a film in which are studied the superstitions in the Hindu society. Sharmila Tagore starred as Doyamoyee, a young wife who is deified by her father-in-law. Ray was worried that the censor board might block his film, or at least make him re-cut it, but Devi was spared. In 1961, on the insistence of Prime-minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ray was commissioned to make a documentary on Rabindranath Tagore, on the occasion of the poet's birth centennial, a tribute to the person who probably influenced Ray most. Due to limited real footage of Tagore available, Ray faced the challenge of making a film out of mainly static material, and he remarked that it took as much work as three feature films.[23] In the same year, together with Subhas Mukhopadhyay and others, Ray was able to revive Sandesh, the children's magazine his grandfather once published. Ray had been saving money for some years now to make this possible.[24] A duality in the name (Sandesh means both "news" in Bengali and also a sweet desert popular in Bengal) set the tone of the magazine (both educational and entertaining), and Ray soon found himself illustrating the magazine, and writing stories and essays for children. Writing became his major source of income in the years to come.
In 1962, Ray directed Kanchenjungha, which was his first original screenplay and colour film. The film tells the story of an upper-class family spending an afternoon in Darjeeling, a picturesque hill town in West Bengal, where the family tries to engage their youngest daughter to a highly-paid engineer educated in London. The film was first conceived to take place in a large mansion, but Ray later decided to film it in the famous hill town, using the many shades of light and mist to reflect the tension in the drama. An amused Ray noted that while his script allowed shooting to be possible under any lighting conditions, a commercial film contingent present at the same time in Darjeeling failed to shoot a single shot as they only wanted to do so in sunshine.[25]
In the sixties, Ray visited Japan and took particular pleasure in meeting filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, for whom he had very high regard. While at home, he would take an occasional break from the hectic city life by going to places like Darjeeling or Puri to complete a script in isolation.
In 1964 Ray made Charulata (The Lonely Wife), the culmination of this period of work, and regarded by many critics as his most accomplished film.[26] Based on Nastanirh, a short story of Tagore, the film tells the tale of a lonely wife, Charu, in 19th century Bengal, and her growing feelings for her brother in law, Amal. Often referred to as Ray's Mozartian masterpiece, Ray himself famously said the film contained least flaws among his work, and his only work, that given a chance, he would make exactly the same way.[27] Madhabi Mukherjee's performance as Charu, and the work of both Subrata Mitra and Bansi Chandragupta in the film have been highly praised. Other films in this period include Mahanagar (The Big City), Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), Abhijan (The Expedition) and Kapurush o Mahapurush (The Coward and the Holy Man).
[edit]New directions (1965–1982)

In the post-Charulata period, Ray took on projects of increasing variety, ranging from fantasy to science fiction to detective films to historical drama. Ray also made considerable formal experimentation during this period, and also took closer notice to the contemporary issues of Indian life, responding to a perceived lack of these issues in his films. The first major film in this period is Nayak (The Hero), the story of a screen hero traveling in a train where he meets a young sympathetic female journalist. Starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, the film explores, in the twenty-four hours of the journey, the inner conflict of the apparently highly successful matinée idol. In spite of receiving a Critics prize in Berlin, the reaction to this film was generally muted.[28]
In 1967, Ray wrote a script for a film to be called The Alien, based on his short story Bankubabur Bandhu ("Banku Babu's Friend") which he wrote in 1962 for Sandesh, the Ray family magazine. The Alien had Columbia Pictures as producer for this planned U.S.-India co-production, and Peter Sellers and Marlon Brando as the leading actors. However, Ray was surprised to find that the script he had written had already been copyrighted and the fee appropriated by Mike Wilson. Wilson had initially approached Ray as an acquaintance of a mutual friend, Arthur C. Clarke, to represent him in Hollywood. The script Wilson had copyrighted was credited as Mike Wilson & Satyajit Ray, despite the fact that he only contributed a single word in it. Ray later stated that he never received a penny for the script.[29] Brando later dropped out of the project, and though an attempt was made to replace him with James Coburn, Ray became disillusioned and returned to Kolkata.[29][30] Columbia expressed interest in reviving the project several times in the 1970s and 1980s, but nothing came of it. When E.T. was released in 1982, Clarke and Ray saw similarities in the film to the earlier Alien script—Ray discussed the collapse of the project in a 1980 Sight & Sound feature, with further details revealed by Ray's biographer Andrew Robinson (in The Inner Eye, 1989). Ray believed that Spielberg's film would not have been possible without his script of The Alien being available throughout America in mimeographed copies (a charge Spielberg denies).[31] Besides The Alien, two other unrealized projects Ray intended to direct were theatrical adaptations of the ancient Indian epic, the Mahābhārata, and E. M. Forster's 1924 novel A Passage to India.[32]
In 1969, Ray made what would be commercially the most successful of his films. Based on a children's story written by his grandfather, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha) is a musical fantasy. Goopy the singer and Bagha the drummer, equipped by three boons allowed by the King of Ghosts, set out on a fantastic journey in which they try to stop an impending war between two neighbouring kingdoms. Among his most expensive enterprises, it turned out to be very hard to finance; Ray abandoned his desire to shoot it in colour, turning down an offer that would have forced him to cast a certain Bollywood actor as the lead.[33] Ray next made a film from a novel by the young poet and writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay. Featuring a musical structure acclaimed as even more complex than Charulata,[34] Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest) traces four urban young men going to the forests for a vacation, trying to leave their petty urban existence behind. All but one of them get engaged into revealing encounters with women, which critics consider a revealing study of the Indian middle class. Ray cast Bombay-based actress Simi Garewal as a tribal woman, who was pleasantly surprised to find that Ray could envision someone as urban as her in that role.
After Aranyer, Ray made a foray into contemporary Bengali reality, which was then in state of continuous flux due to the leftist Naxalite movement. He completed the so-called Calcutta trilogy: Pratidwandi (1970), Seemabaddha (1971), and Jana Aranya (1975), three films which were conceived separately, but whose thematic connections form a loose trilogy.[35] Pratidwandi (The Adversary) is about an idealist young graduate; if disillusioned, still uncorrupted at the end of film, Jana Aranya (The Middleman) about how a young man gives in to the culture of corruption to make a living, and Seemabaddha (Company Limited) about an already successful man giving up morals for further gains. Of these, the first, Pratidwandi, uses an elliptical narrative style previously unseen in Ray films, such as scenes in negative, dream sequences and abrupt flashbacks.[35] In the 1970s, Ray also adapted two of his popular stories as detective films. Though mainly targeted towards children and young adults, both Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress) and Joy Baba Felunath (The Elephant God) found some critical following.[36]
Ray considered making a film on the Bangladesh Liberation War but later abandoned the idea, commenting that as a filmmaker he was more interested in the travails and journeys of the refugees and not politics.[37] In 1977, Ray completed Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players), an Urdu film based on a story by Munshi Premchand, set in Lucknow in the state of Oudh, a year before the Indian rebellion of 1857. A commentary on the circumstances that led to the colonization of India by the British, this was Ray's first feature film in a language other than Bengali. This is also his most expensive and star-studded film, featuring likes of Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Amjad Khan, Shabana Azmi, Victor Bannerjee and Richard Attenborough. Ray made a sequel to Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne in 1980, a somewhat overtly political Hirak Rajar Deshe (Kingdom of Diamonds) — where the kingdom of the evil Diamond King or Hirok Raj is an allusion to India during Indira Gandhi's emergency period.[38] Along with his acclaimed short film Pikoo (Pikoo's Day) and hour long Hindi film Sadgati this was the culmination of his work in this period.
[edit]The last phase (1983–1992)

Sukumar Ray, on whom Ray made a documentary in 1987
In 1983, while working on Ghare Baire (Home and the World), Ray suffered a heart attack that would severely limit his output in the remaining 9 years of his life. Ghare Baire was completed in 1984 with the help of Ray's son (who would operate the camera from then on) because of his health condition. He wanted to film this Tagore novel on the dangers of fervent nationalism for a long time, and even wrote a (weak, by his own admission) script for it in the 1940s.[39] In spite of rough patches due to his illness, the film did receive some critical acclaim, and it contained the first full-blown kiss in Ray's films. In 1987, he made a documentary on his father, Sukumar Ray.
Ray's last three films, made after his recovery and with medical strictures in place, were shot mostly indoors, have a distinctive style. They are more verbose than his earlier films and are often regarded as inferior to his earlier body of work.[40] The first, Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People) is an adaptation of the famous Ibsen play, and considered the weakest of the three.[41] Ray recovered some of his form in his 1990 film Shakha Proshakha (Branches of the Tree).[42] In it, an old man, who has lived a life of honesty, comes to learn of the corruption three of his sons indulge in with the final scene shows him finding solace only in the companionship of the fourth, uncorrupted but mentally ill son. After Shakha Prashakha, Ray's swan song Agantuk (The Stranger) is lighter in mood, but not in theme. A long lost uncle's sudden visit to his niece's house in Kolkata raises suspicion as to his motive and far-ranging questions about civilization.[43]
In 1992, Ray's health deteriorated due to heart complications. He was admitted to a hospital, and would never recover. An honorary Oscar was awarded to him weeks before his death, which he received in a gravely ill condition. He died on 23 April 1992.
[edit]Film craft

Satyajit Ray considered script-writing to be an integral part of direction. This is one reason why he initially refused to make a film in any language other than Bengali. In his two non-Bengali feature films, he wrote the script in English, which translators then interpreted in Hindi or Urdu under Ray's supervision. Ray's own eye for detail was matched by that of his art director Bansi Chandragupta, whose influence on the early Ray films were so important that Ray would always write scripts in English before creating a Bengali version, so that the non-Bengali Chandragupta would be able to read it. Camera work in Ray's early films garnered high regard for the craft of Subrata Mitra, whose (bitter) departure from Ray's crew, according to a number of critics, lowered the quality of cinematography in his films.[28] Though Ray openly praised Mitra, his single-mindedness made him take over operation of the camera since Charulata, causing Mitra to stop working for Ray after 1966. Pioneering works of Subrata Mitra included development of "bounce lighting", a technique of bouncing light off cloth to create a diffused realistic light even on a set. Ray also acknowledged debt to Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut of the French New Wave for introducing new technical and cinematic innovations.[44]
Though Ray had a regular editor in Dulal Datta, he usually dictated the editing while Datta did the actual work. In fact, because of financial reasons and Ray's meticulous planning, his films were mostly cut "on the camera" (apart from Pather Panchali). At the beginning of his career, Ray worked with Indian classical musicians, including Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan and Ali Akbar Khan. However, the experience was painful for him as he found that their first loyalty was to musical traditions, and not to his film; also, his greater grasp of western classical forms, which he regarded as essential, especially for his films set in an urban milieu, stood in the way.[45] This led him to compose his own scores starting from Teen Kanya. Ray used actors of diverse backgrounds, from famous film stars to people who have never seen a film (such as in Aparajito).[46] Robin Wood and others have lauded him as the best director of children, pointing out memorable performances including Apu and Durga (Pather Panchali), Ratan (Postmaster) and Mukul (Sonar Kella). Depending on the talent or experience of the actor Ray's direction would vary from virtually nothing (actors like Utpal Dutt) to using the actor as "a puppet"[47] (Subir Banerjee as young Apu or Sharmila Tagore as Aparna). According to actors working for Ray, his customary trust in the actors would occasionally be tempered by his ability to treat incompetence with "total contempt".[48]
[edit]Literary works

Main article: Literary creations of Satyajit Ray

Cover of a collection of Satyajit Ray's short stories
Ray created two very popular characters in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth, and Professor Shonku, a scientist. He was a prominent writer of science fiction in Bengali or any Indian language for that matter. He also wrote short stories which were published as volumes of 12 stories, always with names playing on the word twelve (for example Aker pitthe dui, or literally "Two on top of one"). Ray's interest in puzzles and puns is reflected in his stories, Feluda often has to solve a puzzle to get to the bottom of a case. The Feluda stories are narrated by Topshe, his cousin, something of a Watson to Feluda's Holmes. The science fictions of Shonku are presented as a diary discovered after the scientist himself had mysteriously disappeared. Ray's short stories give full reign to his interest in the macabre, in suspense and other aspects that he avoided in film, making for an interesting psychological study.[49] Most of his writings have now been translated into English, and are finding a new group of readers.
Most of his screenplays have also been published in Bengali in the literary journal Eksan. Ray wrote his autobiography encompassing his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982) and essays on film: Our Films, Their Films (1976), along with Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), Ekei Bole Shooting (1979). During the mid-1990s, Ray's film essays and an anthology of short stories were also published in the West. Our Films, Their Films is an anthology of film criticism by Ray. The book contains articles and personal journal excerpts. The book is presented in two sections—Ray first discusses Indian film, before turning his attention towards Hollywood and specific international filmmakers (Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa) and movements like Italian neorealism. His book Bishoy Chalachchitra was translated in 2006 as Speaking of Films, and contains a compact description of his philosophy of different aspects of the cinema. Ray also wrote a collection of nonsense verse named Today Bandha Ghorar Dim, which includes a translation of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky". He also authored a collection of humorous stories of Mullah Nasiruddin in Bengali.
Satyajit Ray designed four typefaces for roman script named Ray Roman, Ray Bizarre, Daphnis, and Holiday Script, apart from numerous Bengali ones for the Sandesh magazine.[50][51] Ray Roman and Ray Biazarre won an international competition in 1971.[52] In certain circles of Kolkata, Ray continued to be known as an eminent graphic designer, well into his film career. Ray illustrated all his books and designed covers for them, as well as creating all publicity material for his films. He also designed covers of several books by other authors.[53]
[edit]Critical and popular response

Ray's work has been described as reverberating with humanism and universality, and of deceptive simplicity with deep underlying complexity.[54][55] Praise has often been heaped on his work by many, including Akira Kurosawa, who declared, "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."[56] But his detractors find his films glacially slow, moving like a "majestic snail."[26] Some find his humanism simple-minded, and his work anti-modern and claim that they lack new modes of expression or experimentation found in works of Ray's contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard.[57] As Stanley Kauffman wrote, some critics believe that Ray "assumes [viewers] can be interested in a film that simply dwells in its characters, rather than one that imposes dramatic patterns on their lives."[58] Ray himself commented that this slowness is something he can do nothing about. Kurosawa defended him by saying that Ray's films were not slow at all, "His work can be described as flowing composedly, like a big river".[59]
Critics have often compared Ray to artists in the cinema and other media, such as Anton Chekhov, Renoir, De Sica, Howard Hawks or Mozart. Shakespeare has also been invoked,[19][60] for example by the writer V. S. Naipaul, who compared a scene in Shatranj Ki Khiladi to a Shakespearian play, as "only three hundred words are spoken but goodness! – terrific things happen."[61] It is generally acknowledged, even by those who were not impressed by the aesthetics of Ray's films, that he was virtually peerless in that his films encompass a whole culture with all its nuances, a sentiment expressed in Ray's obituary in The Independent, which exclaimed, "Who else can compete?"[62]
Early in 1980, Ray was openly criticized by an Indian M.P. and former actress Nargis Dutt, who accused Ray of "exporting poverty," demanding he make films to represent "Modern India."[63] On the other hand, a common accusation levelled against him by advocates of socialism across India was that he was not "committed" to the cause of the nation's downtrodden classes, with some commentators accusing Ray of glorifying poverty in Pather Panchali and Asani Sanket through lyricism and aesthetics. They also accused him of providing no solution to conflicts in the stories, and being unable to overcome his bourgeoisie background. Agitations during the naxalite movements in the 1970s once came close to causing physical harm to his son, Sandip.[64] In a public debate during the 1960s, Ray and the openly Marxist filmmaker Mrinal Sen engaged in an argument. Sen criticized him for casting a matinée idol like Uttam Kumar, which he considered a compromise,[65] while Ray shot back by saying that Sen only attacks "easy targets", i.e. the Bengali middle-classes. His private life was never a subject of media scrutiny.
[edit]Legacy

Ray with his Academy Award just days before his death.
Satyajit Ray is a cultural icon in India and in Bengali communities worldwide.[66] Following his death, the city of Kolkata came to a virtual standstill, as hundreds of thousands of people gathered around his house to pay him their last respects.[67] Satyajit Ray's influence has been widespread and deep in Bengali cinema; a number of Bengali directors including Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh and Gautam Ghose in India, Tareq Masud and Tanvir Mokammel in Bangladesh, and Aneel Ahmad in England, have been influenced by his film craft. Across the spectrum, filmmakers such as Budhdhadeb Dasgupta, Mrinal Sen[68] and Adoor Gopalakrishnan have acknowledged his seminal contribution to Indian cinema. Beyond India, filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese,[69][70] James Ivory,[71] Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut,[72] Carlos Saura,[73] Isao Takahata[74] and Danny Boyle[75] have been influenced by his cinematic style, with many others such as Akira Kurosawa praising his work.[56] Ira Sachs's 2005 work Forty Shades of Blue was a loose remake of Charulata, and in Gregory Nava's 1995 film My Family, the final scene is duplicated from the final scene of Apur Sansar. Similar references to Ray films are found, for example, in recent works such as Sacred Evil,[76] the Elements trilogy of Deepa Mehta and even in films of Jean-Luc Godard.[77] According to Michael Sragow of The Atlantic Monthly, the "youthful coming-of-age dramas that have flooded art houses since the mid-fifties owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy".[78]
The character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the American animated television series The Simpsons was named in homage to Ray's popular character from The Apu Trilogy. Ray along with Madhabi Mukherjee, was the first Indian film personality to feature in a foreign stamp (Dominica). Many literary works include references to Ray or his work, including Saul Bellow's Herzog and J. M. Coetzee's Youth. Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories contains fish characters named Goopy and Bagha, a tribute to Ray's fantasy film. In 1993, UC Santa Cruz established the Satyajit Ray Film and Study collection, and in 1995, the Government of India set up Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute for studies related to film. In 2007, British Broadcasting Corporation declared that two Feluda stories would be made into radio programs.[79] During the London Film Festival, a regular "Satyajit Ray Award" is given to first-time feature director whose film best captures "the artistry, compassion and humanity of Ray's vision". Wes Anderson has claimed Ray as an influence on his work; his most recent live-action film, The Darjeeling Limited, set in India, is dedicated to Ray.
[edit]Awards, honours and recognitions

Further information: List of awards conferred on Satyajit Ray
Numerous awards were bestowed on Ray throughout his lifetime, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India, in addition to awards at international film festivals. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three filmmakers to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once[80] and holds the record for the most number of Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, where he had previously won a Golden Lion for Aparajito (1956), he was awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982.[81] That same year, he received an honorary "Hommage à Satyajit Ray" award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.[82]
Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford University.[83] He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and the Legion of Honor by the President of France in 1987.[84] The Government of India awarded him the highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna shortly before his death.[84] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Ray an honorary Oscar in 1992 for Lifetime Achievement. It was one of his favourite actresses, Audrey Hepburn, who represented the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on that day in Calcutta. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival; it was accepted on his behalf by actress Sharmila Tagore.[85]
In 1992, the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll ranked Ray at #7 in its list of "Top 10 Directors" of all time, making him the highest-ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll.[86] In 2002, the Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll ranked Ray at #22 in its list of all-time greatest directors,[87] thus making him the fourth highest-ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll.[87] In 1996, Entertainment Weekly magazine ranked Ray at #25 in its "50 Greatest Directors" list.[88] In 2007, Total Film magazine included Ray in its "100 Greatest Film Directors Ever" list.[89]
[edit]Notes

^ Santas 2002, p. 18
^ Seton 1971, p. 36
^ Robinson 2003, p. 46
^ Seton 1971, p. 70
^ Seton 1971, pp. 71–72
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 56–58
^ Robinson 2005, p. 38
^ Robinson 2005, pp. 40–43
^ "Satyajit Ray had an unconventional marriage. He married Bijoya (born 1917), youngest daughter of his eldest maternal uncle, Charuchandra Das, in 1948 in a secret ceremony in Bombay after a long romantic relationship that had begun around the time he left college in 1940. The marriage was reconfirmed in Calcutta the next year at a traditional religious ceremony.", "Ties that Bind" by Arup Kr De, The Statesman, Kolkata, 27th.April.2008
^ Robinson 2005, pp. 42–44
^ Robinson 2005, p. 48
^ a b Robinson 2003, pp. 74–90
^ Seton 1971, p. 95
^ a b Seton 1971, pp. 112–15
^ "Filmi Funda Pather Panchali (1955)". The Telegraph. 2005-04-20. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
^ a b c Robinson 2003, pp. 91–106
^ Malcolm D. "Satyajit Ray: The Music Room". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
^ Wood 1972, p. 61
^ a b Wood 1972
^ Ray mentions this in Ray 1993, p. 13
^ Robinson 2003, p. 5
^ Palopoli S. "Ghost 'World'". metroactive.com. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
^ Robinson 2003, p. 277
^ Seton 1971, p. 189
^ Robinson 2003, p. 142
^ a b Robinson 2003, p. 157
^ Antani J. "Charulata". Slant magazine. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
^ a b Dasgupta 1996, p. 91
^ a b Ray, Satyajit. "Ordeals of the Alien". The Unmade Ray. Satyajit Ray Society. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
^ Neumann P. "Biography for Satyajit Ray". Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
^ Newman J (2001-09-17). "Satyajit Ray Collection receives Packard grant and lecture endowment". UC Santa Cruz Currents online. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
^ C. J. Wallia (1996). "IndiaStar book review: Satyajit Ray by Surabhi Banerjee". Retrieved 2009-05-31.
^ Seton 1971, pp. 291–297
^ Wood 1972, p. 13
^ a b Robinson 2003, pp. 200–220
^ Rushdie 1992
^ Robinson 2003, p. 206
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 188–189
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 66–67
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 339–364
^ Dasgupta 1996, p. 134
^ Robinson 2003, p. 353
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 353–364
^ Sen A. "Western Influences on Satyajit Ray". Parabaas. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 315–318
^ Ray 1994, p. 100
^ Robinson 2003, p. 78
^ Robinson 2003, p. 307
^ Nandy 1995
^ Datta, Sudipta (19 January 2008). "The Ray show goes on". The Financial Express (Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd). Retrieved 2008-04-10.
^ "Ray Typography". Retrieved 2008-07-07.
^ Robinson 2003, p. 57
^ Robinson 2003, p. 57–59
^ Malcolm D. "The universe in his backyard". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
^ Swagrow M. "An Art Wedded to Truth". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
^ a b Robinson 2003, p. 96
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 306–318
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 352–353
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 314–315
^ Ebert R. "The Music Room (1958)". suntimes.com. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
^ Robinson 2003, p. 246
^ Robinson 2005, pp. 13–14
^ Robinson 2003, pp. 327–328
^ Robinson 2003, p. 205
^ Robinson 2003, p. 177
^ Tankha, Madhur (1 December 2007). "Returning to the classics of Ray". The Hindu. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
^ Amitav Ghosh. "Satyajit Ray". Doom Online. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
^ Mrinal Sen. "Our lives, their lives". Little Magazine. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
^ Chris Ingui. "Martin Scorsese hits DC, hangs with the Hachet". Hatchet. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
^ Jay Antani (2004). "Raging Bull: A film review". Filmcritic.com. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
^ Sheldon Hall. "Ivory, James (1928-)". Screen Online. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
^ Dave Kehr (5 May 1995). "THE 'WORLD' OF SATYAJIT RAY: LEGACY OF INDIA'S PREMIER FILM MAKER ON DISPLAY". Daily News. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
^ Suchetana Ray (11 March 2008). "Satyajit Ray is this Spanish director's inspiration". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
^ Daniel Thomas (20 January 2003). "Film Reviews: Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)". Retrieved 2009-05-30.
^ Alkarim Jivani (February 2009). "Mumbai rising". Sight & Sound. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
^ SK Jha. "Sacred Ray". Telegraph India. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
^ André Habib. "Before and After: Origins and Death in the Work of Jean-Luc Godard". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
^ Sragow, Michael (1994), "An Art Wedded to Truth", The Atlantic Monthly (University of California, Santa Cruz), retrieved 2009-05-11
^ Datta S. "Feluda goes global, via radio". Financial Express. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
^ "Silver Bear winners (directors)". listal. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
^ "Awards for Satyajit Ray". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
^ "Personal Awards". Satyajit Ray official site. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
^ Robinson 2003, p. 1
^ a b "Personal Awards". Awards. satyajitray.org. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
^ "Awards and Tributes: Satyajit Ray". San Francisco International Film Festival: The First to Fifty. San Francisco Film Society. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
^ "Sight and Sound Poll 1992: Critics". California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
^ a b Kevin Lee (2002-09-05). "A Slanted Canon". Asian American Film Commentary. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^ "Greatest Film Directors and Their Best Films". Filmsite.org. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
^ "The Greatest Directors Ever by Total Film Magazine". Filmsite.org. Retrieved 2009-04-19.

Siliguri

2010-03-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Siliguri pronunciation (Bengali: শিলিগুড়ি) is a Metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck — a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north eastern states. It is also the transit point for air, road and rail traffic to the neighboring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The town hosts over 500,000 domestic and 15,000 foreign visitors annually. It is the commercial nerve center of North Bengal.
Siliguri is situated in Darjeeling district, and though it is the district's largest city, the district headquarters is located at Darjeeling. Siliguri is a unique city as 15 out of 47 wards of Siliguri Municipal Corporation falls in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district. The Indian army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Shashatra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam Rifles have bases around the city. The Bagdogra Airport is located within the Indian Air Force (IAF) cantonment area. Siliguri has an Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) oil depot near the southern edge of the town. Siliguri is the second largest city of West Bengal after Kolkata and second largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata.

Geography
Siliguri is situated at the base of the Himalaya mountains in the plains. It is the largest city in the area (North Bengal) and second largest city in West Bengal and connects the hill station towns of Gangtok, Rangpo, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Darjeeling with the rest of India. The Mahananda River flows past Siliguri. Siliguri has three main seasons summer, winter and monsoon. Dense fog,a characteristic of Siliguri till a decade ago,is a rare occurrence nowadays. During the monsoons between June and September, the town is lashed by moderate to heavy rains often cutting access to the hill stations and Sikkim. The climate is suitable for growing tea and the surrounding region has many tea gardens. The ancient Baikunthapur Forest is nearby. The region is also a huge producer of Tea. Siliguri is one of the fastest growing cities of India.

Economy
Flyover
Siliguri is described as the gateway to the North East of India. The strategic location of the city makes it a base for essential supplies to the region. Siliguri has gradually developed as a profitable centre for a variety of businesses. As a central hub, many national companies and organizations have set up their offices here. The Hong Kong market near Khudirampally is a chief hub for buying low cost Chinese goods and imported goods, nearby Seth Srilal Market, Sevoke Road and Hill Cart Road is a prominent place to buy daily use goods, and is very popular among people from nearby areas. 4 "T" s - Tea, Timber, Tourism and Transport are the main businesses of Siliguri. Recently many hotels had mushroomed up & a very good increment had been seen in this sector at past. Siliguri is the headquarters of FOCIN (Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of North Bengal). The latest development is the development of malls like COSMOS and ORBIT. The city recently also witnessed the arrival of its first set of multiplexes,CINEMAX in early Dec'09 and INOX at ORBIT on Christmas of 2009.
The rapidly growing city also has showrooms of numerous automobile companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel, Toyota Kirloskar, Ford, Tata, JCB, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai,Skoda, General Motors. There are numerous two wheeler showrooms also of companies : Hero Honda, Kinetic, Honda scooters, Yamaha, Tvs, Suzuki, Bajaj, LML.
With the growing economic transactions there has opened up some major banks in the city namely Standard Chartered, HDFC, ICICI, Allahabad, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, UCO, Vijaya, IDBI and UBKG bank. There are also some other banks such as Bank of Maharastra, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, Sonali Bank.
In a recent gesture of international co-operation and friendliness the road network of Siliguri is being used by the government of Nepal and Bangladesh so as to facilitate easy transportation of essential and urgent commodities (like rice etc.). The Silk Route of India i.e trade route between India and China is accessible only after crossing Siliguri (Nathula and Jelepla). Thus making it important for international trade between India and other countries and also among other countries.There also are business routes to Bhutan and security manned border with Bangladesh.

Demographics
A house in Siliguri
Siliguri is experiencing a rapid expansion of its population. In a 2001 India census,[1] the number of residents was 1,220,275. According to estimates for 2008, 1,559,275 people live in the city.[2]. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Siliguri has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 66.0%; male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 65%. In Siliguri, 12% of the population is under six years of age.
Siliguri is a metropolitan city with Marwari, Bengali and Nepali people living peacefully. Marwaris are a majority followed by Bengalis, Nepali speaking communities.
Siliguri has seen waves of massive immigration over the years. Most prominent being the migrants from Bangladesh, Assam, Nepal and Bihar. In addition, people from Jharkhand and other parts of India are also coming to the city in search of livelihood. The influx has led to an abnormally high population growth.[3]

Transport
Hasmi
Local public transport include city buses, cycle rickshaws-often paddled by illegal Bangladesh immigrants and auto rickshaws,buses,and Mahindra/Ape tempos. There is no metered vehicular transport. While 6-seater City Autos ply between two fixed destinations of about 10–15 km away, one can hire petrol-driven auto rickshaws from auto-stands at a rate fixed by the Municipal Authorities.A total of 6000 rickshaws of the Municipal Corporation area and an additional 15000 unlicensed ones ply in the increasingly congested city.

Rail
Railway crossing
Siliguri has three important railway stations:
1. Siliguri Town - This is the oldest station in the area. Opened on 23 Aug, 1880 during the British Raj, this station used to be the terminus for the trains coming from Kolkata, and the starting point for the world-famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway for journey to Darjeeling. It is this station where such world-renowned personalities as Rabindranath Tagore, Chittaranjan Das and Subhash Chandra Bose set their feet on their way to Darjeeling and other places.
2. Siliguri Junction - This station opened in 1949, and used to be the point of departure of all trains to the north-eastern states, until the broad gauge was extended to Dibrugarh. Siliguri Junction is the only station[4] in India with tracks of all the three gauges used in India.
3. New Jalpaiguri - Opened in 1961 as a totally greenfield project 6 km south of Siliguri. Initially named New Siliguri (but, later renamed New Jalpaiguri as it is located in Jalpaiguri District) this is now the most important station in the region. It is also known as NJP. This station connects Siliguri to every nook and corner of the country by railway. The city has now been expanded and included New Jalpaiguri as one of its ward of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. The Darjeeling Himalayan Toy train is the main attraction of this station.
With the extension of broad-gauge railway track to the Siliguri Junction station, people can now travel directly to the heart of the city without having to alight at New Jalpaiguri. This new broad-gauge track extends to the old Dooars metre-gauge track up to Alipurduar and beyond. Travelling over this railway line is a beautiful experience as it passes through the picturesque tea gardens of the Dooars area in the backdrop of Darjeeling and Bhutan hills.

Air
Bagdogra airport, situated about 15 km away is a International airport in the region. The airport, since falls within Air Force area (having some restrictions over length of runways and time of flight, etc.), is not well connected to most Indian cities. However, daily flights are available for the state capital Kolkata, New Delhi, Guwahati,Mumbai, Chennai, Bangkok and Paro.

Bus
Siliguri
The Tenzing Norgay Central Bus Terminus situated next to the Siliguri Junction Railway Station is a major stop for most private and state-owned buses in the region. The Royal Government of Bhutan also operates buses from Siliguri to its border town Phuentsholing. Jeeps also link Siliguri to neighbouring hill towns like Darjeeling, Gangtok, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik, Jorethang, Namchi.
The Sikkim Government buses run to various destinations of Sikkim from the Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) bus station near the Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus. There is another Bus Terminus named P C Mittal Bus Stand on Sevoke Road. All Buses heading for the Dooars region via the Sevoke Coronation Bridge originate here.

Road
City Auto
A new four-lane road, named Vivekananda Road, has been rebuilt connecting Burdwan Road to Mahabirsthan bringing much relief to the chaotic section of the city and bifurcation of Nivedita road is also going on.The major roads-Hill Cart Rd,Bidhan Road and Sevoke Rd were historically rail routes of the trains "Toy Trains" that went towards Sevoke/Darjeeling.Street lighting and bifurcation of Hill Cart Road took place only in 1988 during the Nehru Cup football tournament. The Mahabirsthan area recently got a fly-over the first of its kind in the city.
National Highway no. 31 and 31A passes through Siliguri. In a recent national level project of building a golden quadrangle linking the major cities of India the NH 31 has been converted into a four way expressway.
The neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan and border region of Bangladesh are also connected through the road network.

Education
Siliguri has always been the hub of education in the Terrai as well as the Dooars region. Apart from the residents of the town, students from states like Sikkim, Nagaland and Assam come here to pursue education. The region also sees an influx of students from the neighbouring countries of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. While previously there had been just a handful of schools, of late there has been a spurt of growth in numbers with most catering to the CISCE,CBSE and West Bengal Secondary and Higher Secondary board(s).
In and around Siliguri, there are a number of colleges, viz., Siliguri College, Siliguri College of Commerce, Siliguri Women’s College, Surya Sen College. All these deliver general degrees as well as specialization (Honours) in the fields available under the University of North Bengal.
The University of North Bengal, located in a serene backdrop of the Terai foothills and tea gardens, was established in 1962, 10 km away from the main Siliguri town, in Raja Rammohan Pur. Approximately 80 colleges are affiliated to the University, with approximately 36,000 and 1,500 students enrolled in graduate and post graduate courses respectively, every year. A sprawling campus, this University boasts having the second largest campus in the country. Huge stretches of green, in the form of quite-dense vegetation, lakes, and seasonal flowers are woven in between the buildings housing the departments.

Siliguri Institute of Technology
The North Bengal Medical College, located in Sushrutnagar is the sole medical college in the region and is connected to the main city through the 3rd Mahananda Bridge. Students from across the state as well from neighboring sates come to study here, after having cleared the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations for engineering and medicine. The recently set up Siliguri Institute Of Technology (SIT)[5] located at Sukna, a few kilometers away from the city has fast become one of the major and regular centres for the state’s corporate houses to recruit fresh engineers.

Sports
Table Tennis, cricket, taekwon-Do, chess and football (soccer) are the five most popular sports here. People are football crazy and support the local clubs. The Kanchenjungha Stadium is the city's only outdoor stadium and matches are regularly held here. The Stadium houses the Sports Authority of India (SAI) sports hostel for athletes. There is an indoor stadium at Deshbandhupara in the southern part of the city. This new stadium has facilities for lawn tennis, badminton and table tennis as well as other indoor sports. However, the city is best known for being the training grounds for many Table Tennis players. Siliguri has produced quite a few National Champions like Maantu Ghosh, the Gold Medal winner in the 1996 and 1999 SAF Games, Subhajit Saha (2007), Nandita Saha (Juniors, 2000). In recent years the close proximity of the Teesta river has made Siliguri a destination for the adventure sports (White Water Rafting) enthusiasts. Wriddhiman Saha (cricketer) celebrated his first class debut for Bengal with a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy against Hyderabad. This wicket-keeper from Saktigarh, Siliguri in North Bengal possesses an extremely safe pair of hands and his performances for Bengal have been rewarded with a place in the East Zone teme. He has also been selected for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Bikes / Motorcycles too are a favorite sports of the young generation of Siliguri. To cater the needs, xKmph.com, an Indian Bikers community runs an offline base to bring all the bikers from all over Siliguri and neignbouring cities together and spread the news of biking.

Media
English language newspapers in Siliguri include the Times of India (Kolkata editions), The Economic Times, The Statesman and The Telegraph are widely circulated. Several Hindi, Nepali and Bengali newspapers, including Uttarbanga Sambad, Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Ganashakti, Aajkal, Sunchari Samachar, Nepali daily Purbanchal Bharat Darpan, Dainik Jagran, Ganadabi and Janpath Samachar , Samvad Sanjaal are also available.
In addition to All India Radio, Siliguri has four private FM radio stations: Radio High 92.7FM, Radio Misty 94.3, FM 91.9. and Red FM 93.5.
Siliguri receives almost all the television channels that are received by the rest of the country. Apart from the state-owned terrestrial network Doordarshan, cable television serves most of the homes in the town, while satellite television is common in the outlying areas and in wealthier households. Besides mainstream Indian channels, the town also receives Nepali Television Channels and Bangladesh Television Channels. Local news broadcasts, sporting events, and concerts are broadcast live or delayed via cable to many households. DTH services both by Government and private companies are also available like Tata sky, Dish tv, Digital tv - Airtel, Big tv - Reliance.
Internet cafés are well established in the main market area, served through broadband services provided by BSNL and other private companies like MetroNET[Orange Networks] & Sinet (CCN).
The area is serviced by cell phone companies such as Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom, MTS, Tata Docomo and Virgin Mobile. The major number of subscribers of mobile service are that of BSNL. With the improved service of quality Airtel and Vodafone are also gaining a huge market. The most popular and preferred connection among the Business class is BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone whereas for the Youth is Smart - Reliance GSM Service.

Suchitra Sen

2010-03-16T12:26:00.001-07:00

Suchitra Sen (born 6 April 1931) [1](Bangla: সুচিত্রা সেন, Hindi: सुचित्रा सेन) or Roma Dasgupta is a Indian actress who appeared in Bengali cinema films. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bangla films, Uttam Kumar, are all-time classics in Bengali cinema. She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any public appearances. When she left movies, she was slowly but steadily losing the position of leading lady of Bengali silver screen.
She is the first Indian actress to be awarded in an international film festival (Best Actress award for the movie Saat Paake Bandha in 1963 Moscow film festival). Her films with Uttam Kumar are still shown as re-runs on Bengali TV channels such as ETV Bangla, Aakash Bangla, DD7 Bangla and so forth; many of them are available on video CD. Notably, she allegedly refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (the Indian equivalent of a lifetime Oscar) in 2005, preferring to live in seclusion out of the public eye.
Contents [hide]
1 Personal life and education
2 Career
3 Selected Bengali filmography
4 Selected Hindi filmography
5 Biographies
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Personal life and education

Sen was born in Pabna, British India (now Bangladesh). Her father Karunamoy Dasgupta was the head master of the local school and her mother's name was Indira Dasgupta. She was their fifth child and third daughter. She had formal education in Pabna.
She married Dibanath Sen, son of a wealthy Bengali industrialist, Adinath Sen, in 1947 and had one child, Moon Moon Sen, a noted actress.
Sen made a successful entry after marriage into Bengali films circa 1952, and then a less successful transition to the Bollywood film industry. According to some unconfirmed but persistent reports in the Bengali press, her marriage was severely strained by her success in the film industry.
[edit]Career

Sen made her debut in films with Shesh Kothaay in 1952, but the film was never released. The following year saw her act opposite Uttam Kumar in Sharey Chuattor. The film became a box-office hit and it was remembered for launching Uttam-Suchitra as a leading pair. They went on to become the icons for Bengali dramas for more than 20 years, becoming almost a genre to themselves.
She received a Best Actress Award for the film Devdas (1955), which was her first Hindi movie. Her patented Bengali melodramas and romances especially with Uttam Kumar, made her the most famous Bengali actress ever. Her films ran through the 1960s and the 1970s. Her husband died, but she continued to act in films, such as the Hindi hit film Aandhi (1974), where she played a politician. Aandhi was inspired by India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sen received a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress, while Sanjeev Kumar, who essayed the role of her husband, won the Filmfare as Best Actor.
Her international success came in the year of 1963, when she won the best actress award in Moscow Film Festival for the movie Saat Paake Bandha. In fact, she is the first female to receive an international film award.
She refused Satyajit Ray's offer due to date problem, as a result Ray never made the film Devi Chawdhurani. She also refused Raj Kapoor's offer for a film under RK banner. She retired from the screen in 1978 after a career of over 25 years to a life of quiet seclusion. She has avoided the public gaze after her retirement and has devoted her time to the Ramakrishna Mission.[1] Suchitra Sen was a contender for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005, provided she was ready to accept it in person. Her refusal to go to New Delhi and personally receive the award from the President of India deprived her of that award.
[edit]Selected Bengali filmography

Year Movie Director Co-stars
1953 Saat Number Kayedi Sukumar Dasgupta Samar Roy
1953 Bhagaban Srikrishna Chaitanya Debaki Bose Basanta Choudhuri
1953 Saare Chuattor Nirmal Dey Uttam Kumar
1953 Kajori Niren Lahiri
1954 Sadanander Mela Sukumar Dasgupta Uttam Kumar
1954 Agnipariksha Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1954 Ora Thaake Odhare Sukumar Dasgupta Uttam Kumar
1954 Grihaprabesh Ajay Kar Uttam Kumar
1954 Atom Bomb Taru Mukherjee Robin Majumdar
1954 Dhuli Pinaki Mukherjee Prasanta Kumar
1954 Maraner Parey Satish Dasgupta Uttam Kumar
1954 Balaygraas Pinaki Mukherjee Uttam Kumar
1954 Annapurnar Mandir Naresh Mitra Uttam Kumar
1955 Shapmochan Sudhir Mukherjee Uttam Kumar
1955 Sabar Uparey Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1955 Snaajhghar Ajay Kar Bikash Roy
1955 Devdas (Hindi) Bimal Roy Dilip Kumar
1955 Snaajher Pradeep Sudhangshu Mukherjee Uttam Kumar
1955 Mejo Bou Debnarayan Gupta Bikash Roy
1955 Bhalabaasa Debaki Bose Bikash Roy
1956 Sagarika Agragami Uttam Kumar
1956 Trijama Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1956 Amar Bou Khagen Roy Bikash Roy
1956 Shilpi Agragami Uttam Kumar
1956 Ekti Raat Chitto Bose Uttam Kumar
1956 Subharaatri Sushil Majumdar Basanta Choudhury
1957 Harano Sur Ajay Kar Uttam Kumar
1957 Pathe Holo Deri Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1957 Jeeban Trishna Asit Sen Uttam Kumar
1957 Chandranath Kartick Chatterjee Uttam Kumar
1957 Musafir (Hindi) Hrishikesh Mukherjee Dilip Kumar
1957 Champakali (Hindi) Nandlal Jaswantlal Bharat Bhushan
1958 Rajlakshmi O Srikanta Haridas Bhattacharya Uttam Kumar
1958 SuryaToran Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1958 Indrani Niren Lahiri Uttam Kumar
1959 Deep Jwele Jaai Asit Sen Basanta Choudhury
1959 Chaaowa Pawoa Jatrik Uttam Kumar
1960 Hospital Sushil Majumdar Ashok Kumar
1960 Smriti Tuku Thaak Jatrik Asitbaran
1960 Bombai Kaa Babu (Hindi) Raj Khosla Dev Anand
1960 Sarhad (Hindi) Shankar Mukherjee Dev Anand
1961 Saptapadi Ajay Kar Uttam Kumar
1961 Saathihara Sukumar Dasgupta Uttam Kumar
1962 Bipasha Agradoot Uttam Kumar
1963 Saat Paake Badha Ajay Kar Soumitra Chatterjee
1963 Uttar Phalguni Asit Sen Bikash Roy, Dilip Mukherjee
1964 Sandhya Deeper Sikha Haridas Bhattacharya Bikash Roy
1966 Mamta (Hindi) Asit Sen Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra
1967 Grihadaha Subodh Mitra Uttam Kumar
1969 Kamallata Harisadhan Dasgupta
1970 Megh Kalo Sushil Mukherjee Basanta Choudhury
1971 Fariyaad Bijoy Bose Utpal Dutta
1971 Nabaraag Bijoy Bose Uttam Kumar
1972 Alo Amaar Alo Pinaki Mukherjee Uttam Kumar
1972 Haar Maana Haar Salil Sen Uttam Kumar
1974 Devi Chaudhurani Dinen Gupta Ranjit Mallick
1974 Srabana Sandhya Chitra Sarathi Samar Roy
1975 Priyo Bandhabi Hiren Nag Uttam Kumar
1975 Aandhi (Hindi) Gulzar Sanjeev Kumar
1976 Datta Ajay Kar Soumitra Chatterjee
1978 Pranoy Pasha Mangal Chakrabarty Soutmitra Chatterjee
[edit]Selected Hindi filmography

Devdas (1955), co-starring Dilip Kumar;
Musafir (1957), co-starring Dev Anand;
Champakali (1957)
Bombay ka Babu (1960),co-starring Dev Anand;
Mamta (1966) (a remake of her Bengali film Uttor Falguni) co-starring Dharmendra and Ashok Kumar
Aandhi (1975), co-starring Sanjeev Kumar; this film was banned for a while, because it was felt to portray Indira Gandhi[1]
[edit]Biographies

1. Suchitra Sen : A Legend in Her Lifetime by Shoma A. Chatterji. New Delhi, Rupa & Co., 2002, 80 p., photographs, ISBN 81-7167998-6.[2] 2. Suchitra Sen autobiography
[edit]References

^ a b Deb, Alok Kumar. "APRIL BORN a few PERSONALITIES". www.tripurainfo.com. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
^ Books on Cinema: Bollywood, Indian Cinema

Bengali Cinema

2010-03-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major filmmaking hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and one in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata. Within a decade, the first seeds of the industry was sown by Hiralal Sen, considered a stalwart of Victorian era cinema [1] when he set up the Royal Bioscope Company, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows[1] at the Star Theatre, Minerva Theatre , Classic Theatre. Following a long gap after Sen's works,[2] Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (Known as D.G) established Indo British Film Co, the first Bengali owned production company, in 1918. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatre production of Jamai Shashthi (1931), under Amar Chauduri's direction was the first Bengali talkie [3][4] A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the movie history.
On the other side of the border, Mukh O Mukhosh was released on 3 August 1956, written and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan, based on his drama scrip Dacoit, produced by Nuruz Zaman and Shahidul Alam, distributed by Iqbal Films and acted by Inam Ahmed and Zahrat Azra.
Contents [hide]
1 Two film industries
2 Early history
3 West Bengal film industry
4 Bangladeshi film industry
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Two film industries

Today, there are two Bengali-language film industries: the one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India (the Cinema of West Bengal, sometimes called Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood),[5][6] is one of many centres for Indian regional filmmaking; and the other one in Dhaka, Bangladesh (the Cinema of Bangladesh, sometimes called Dhallywood, a portmanteau of the words Dhaka and Hollywood), is the mainstream national film industry of Bangladesh.
[edit]Early history

Hiralal Sen is credited as one of Bengal's, and India's first directors. However, these were all silent films. Hiralal Sen is also credited as one of the pioneers of advertisement films in India. The first Bengali-language movie was the silent feature Billwamangal, produced by the Madan Theatre Company of Calcutta and released on 8 November 1919, only six years after the first full-length Indian feature film, Raja Harish Chandra, was released.[7]
The early beginnings of the "talking film" industry go back to the early 1930s, when it came to British India, and to Calcutta. The movies were originally made in Urdu or Persian as to accommodate a specific elite market. One of the earliest known studios was the East India Film Company. The first Bengali film to be made as a talkie was Jamai Shashthi, released in 1931. It was at this time that the early heroes of the Bengali film industry like Pramathesh Barua and Debaki Bose were at the peak of their popularity. Barua also directed a number of movies, exploring new dimension in Indian cinema. Debaki Bose directed Chandidas in 1932; this film is noted for its breakthrough in recording sound. Sound recordist Mukul Bose found out solution to the problem of spacing out dialogue and frequency modulation.
The 'Parallel Cinema' movement of Indian cinema began in the Bengali film industry during the 1950s, and then gained prominence in the other film industries of India.
[edit]West Bengal film industry

Main article: Cinema of West Bengal
The contribution of Bengali film industry to Indian film is quite significant. Based in Tollygunge, an area of South Kolkata, West Bengal and is more elite and artistically-inclined than the usual musical cinema fare in India. In the past, it enjoyed a large, even disproportionate, representation in Indian cinema, and produced film directors like Satyajit Ray, who was an Academy Honorary Award winner, and the recipient of India and France's greatest civilian honours, the Bharat Ratna and Legion of Honor respectively, and Mrinal Sen, who is the recipient of the French distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters and the Russian Order of Friendship. The early nickname for the Tollygunge film industry, "Tollywood", was also the very first Hollywood-inspired name, dating back to a 1932 article in the American Cinematographer by Wilford E. Deming (due to Tollygunge rhyming with Hollywood) and went on to inspire the name "Bollywood" and other similar names.[8]
Other prominent film makers in the Bengali film industry are Bimal Roy, Ritwik Ghatak, and Aparna Sen. The Bengali film industry has produced classics such as Nagarik (1952) The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), Jalsaghar (1958), Ajantrik (1958), Neel Akasher Neechey (1959), Devdas, Devi (1960), Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), the Calcutta trilogies (1971–1976), etc. In particular, The Apu Trilogy is now frequently listed among the greatest films of all time.[9][10][11][12]
The most well known Bengali actor to date has been Uttam Kumar; he and co-star Suchitra Sen were known as The Eternal Pair in the early 1950s. Soumitra Chatterjee is a notable actor, having acted in several Satyajit Ray films, and considered as a rival to Uttam Kumar in the 1960s but not at the level of Uttam Kumar. He is famous for the characterization of Feluda in Sonar Kella (1974) and Joy Baba Felunath (1978), written and directed by Ray. He also played the adult version of Apu in The World of Apu (1959), also directed by Ray. One of the most well known Bengali actresses was Sharmila Tagore, who debuted in Ray's The World of Apu, and became a major actress in Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood.
The pioneers in Bengali film music include Raichand Boral, Pankaj Mullick and K. C. Dey, all associated with New Theatres Calcutta [13]. Other famous playback singers in Bengali film music were Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and Kishore Kumar.
In the 1980s, however, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi films, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation, with notable exceptions of the works of directors like Gautam Ghose. However, even at this time, a number of actors and actresses enjoyed popularity, including Tapas Pal, Prosenjit, Chiranjit, Rituparna Sengupta and others. However, toward the end of the 90s, with the a number of directors coming increasingly into prominence, including Rituparno Ghosh, Gautam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Sandip Ray among others, a number of popular and critically acclaimed movies have come out of the Bengali film industry in recent years. These include, Unishe April, Titli, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Bombaiyer Bombete, etc and signal a resurgence of the Bengali film industry.Now after 2000 their rise another group of actor (Jeet, Dev, Parambrata, Rudranil), actress(Koel Mallik, Paoli Dam), Director(Anirudha Roychodhury, Raj chackrobarty), musicians (Jeet Ganguly).
Jahar Kanungo’s 'Nisshabd' made in 2005 has been critically acclaimed for its originality in the treatment of image and sound.
The market for Bengali films has expanded to a 340-million-strong Bengali audience in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. The industry could truly flourish if films from this state have a proper distribution network. While around 50 films are produced in West Bengal every year, only 30 make it to the theatres.[14]
[edit]Bangladeshi film industry

Main article: Cinema of Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi film industry is based in Dhaka. As of 2004, it produced approximately 100 movies a year. The average movie budget was about 12 crore Bangladeshi taka.[15]
Although the majority of the films made in Bangladesh are strictly commercial in nature, a handful of directors from Bangladesh have attained critical acclaim for their outstanding work. Zahir Raihan, Khan Ataur Rahman, Salahuddin, Alamgir Kabir, Amjad Hussain, Moshiuddin Shaker, Sheikh Niyamat Ali, Humayun Ahmed, Morshedul Islam, Tanvir Mokammel, Tareque Masud are among those prominent directors. One of the first films produced in Bangladesh after independence was Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Called Titas) in 1973 by acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak, whose stature in Bengali cinema is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen.
Bangladesh has been officially submitting nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film from 2003. Masud's Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) was the first film to be submitted, and won a number of other international awards from the Edinburgh, Palm Springs, Montreal, Marrakech, Cairo and Cannes Film Festivals. Another internationally acclaimed filmmaker from Bangladesh is Morshedul Islam, who won major awards at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg and other international film festivals.
[edit]See also

Bengal portal
Bengali Cinema
South Asian cinema
List of Bengali films
Cinema of Bangladesh
Cinema of India
Cinema of West Bengal
Parallel Cinema
Asian cinema
World cinema
[edit]References

^ a b Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. Hiralal Sen
^ Pioneers of Bangladeshi Cinema
^ Gokulsing, K.; Wimal Dissanayake (2004). Indian popular cinema: a narrative of cultural change. Trentham Books. p. 24. ISBN 1858563291.
^ IMDB page on Jamai Shashthi
^ http://www.indfy.com/kolkata/special-attractions/tollywood-trip.html
^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1251462050.cms
^ BANGLAPEDIA: Film, Feature, accessed 27-VII-2006
^ Sarkar, Bhaskar (2008), "The Melodramas of Globalization", Cultural Dynamics 20: 31–51 [34]
^ "The Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1992". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
^ "Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll". The Village Voice. 1999. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
^ The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made By THE FILM CRITICS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, New York Times, 2002.
^ "All-time 100 Movies". Time. Time Inc.. 2005. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
^ New Theatres Calcutta
^ http://www.screenindia.com/news/Bengali-cinema-in-independent-India/347909/
^ Bangladeshis reject "smutty" Bengali films, AFP/Helen Rowe, accessed 27-VII-2006

Uttam Kumar

2010-03-16T12:23:00.001-07:00

Uttam Kumar (Bangla: উত্তম কুমার ) (3 September 1926 - 24 July 1980) born as Arun Kumar Chatterjee; was an eminent Bengali actor from India. He is fondly called the Mahanayak or the "Great Hero" of Bengali cinema. He was born Arun Kumar Chatterjee on 3 September 1926 in Kolkata.
He had been an actor, director and producer. Apart from acting in two films with Satyajit Ray, Nayak (The Hero) and Chiriyakhana (The Zoo, a thriller written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, in which he played the famous Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi), he has acted in some Hindi films like "Chhoti si Mulaqat" (with Vyjayantimala Bali), Amanush (with Sharmila Tagore), Ananda Ashram(with Sharmila Tagore), Kitaab and Dooriyaan.

There is a theatre(Uttam Mancha)in his name in Kolkata.A life-size statue has been erected near Tollygunj metro station which has recently been renamed after the iconic actor by the central railway ministry.Besides,Shilpi Sansad,the actor's pet project of safegurading the artises especially the poor and the old, has still been active.There is a grapevine that the state government is planning to build a museum to preserve the memorabilia of the legend.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Film debut
3 Uttam-Suchitra
4 Branching out
5 Off screen romance(s)
6 Death
7 Family
8 Selected Filmography
9 12 Films With Highest Running Success At Release
10 Tributes
10.1 Awards
10.2 Quotes
11 External links
[edit]Early life

Uttam Kumar was born in Kolkata in his ancestral house in Girish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipore. After his schooling in South Suburban School (Main), he went for higher studies in Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration, an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta system. However, he couldn't complete his studies as he started working at the Kolkata Port as a clerk. During this period, he acted for amateur theater groups.
[edit]Film debut

Uttam's first released film was Drishtidan (The gift of sight) directed by Nitin Bose, though he worked in an earlier unreleased film called Mayador (Embrace of affection). He came into promonence in the film Basu Paribar and his breakthrough film was Sharey Chuattor (74 and a half) with a young actress called Suchitra Sen. This romantic comedy launched the career of the greatest romantic duo to grace the Bangla film industry.
[edit]Uttam-Suchitra

Uttam-Suchitra have ever since been a household name. Some of Uttam's famous films co-starring, with Suchitra include Saptapadi (Seven Steps), Pathe Holo Deri (Delay on the road), Harano Sur (Lost Music), Chaowa Paowa (Wish and Achievement), Bipasha (Bipasha), Jiban Trishna (Thirst for Life) and Sagarika (Sagarika). It is however debatable as whether on-screen chemistry between the two actors translated to off-screen romance.[citation needed]
[edit]Branching out

Uttam Kumar tried his hand at the popular Bombay/Hindi film with the oft-criticised box office bomb Chhoti Si Mulakat, a film he produced and starred in, among others that were better received. But his towering contribution was to Bengali cinema, or Tollywood (as it is primarily located in Tollygunge in South Kolkata). Many of his Bengali films were directed by notable directors or directing groups of the sixties and the seventies, such as Agradut, Agragami, and Yatrik. Arguably, one of his most lauded appearances was in Satyajit Ray's Nayak (film) (The Hero). It has been rumored that Ray wrote the script with Uttam in mind. Later in his career, Uttam branched out into producing and directing much-lauded films such as Bon Palashir Padaboli.
He had a huge phenomenal fan base which continues even to this day. Reruns of his films on television twenty nine years after his death is still eagerly watched. Uttam Kumars time is considered by many as the golden age of Bengali (West Bengal) cinema.
[edit]Off screen romance(s)

Uttam Kumar's affair with Supriya Debi was the only one that has been validated as they lived together for several years. Although his on-screen chemistry with Suchitra Sen is legendary, their alleged romance has never been substantiated. It is suspected that most of it was the figment of the public's and media's collective imagination. Sabitri Chatterjee, another of his heroines was treated like a very young little sister by Uttam. She has stated in numerous interviews that Uttam would scold her as if she were a little child.
[edit]Death

A strict workaholic, he was rumored to have said that his preferred demise would be on the floor of a studio, doing what he loved best, acting. Indeed, that is exactly how he died. While filming the Bengali film Ogo Bodhu Shundori in 1980, he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 55.
Uttam Kumar's funeral -- mourned by hundreds of thousands of Bengalis spilling into the streets as a slow-moving procession with his garlanded body moved along the major arteries of Calcutta -- was an elaborate, yet ultimately a simple affair. With his passing, Bengal marked the end of an era as Tollygunge (the area in Calcutta where most of the film studios are located) slowly but inexorably transformed itself into Tollywood (marked by an imitation of Bollywood).
As for actors -- to date, and arguably, there has appeared in Tollywood no adequate replacement with comparable star power, box office magnetism, as well as acting acumen. Some of his films like "NishiPadmo" were copied into Bollywood blockbusters like Amar Prem starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore.
In 1966, he turned in a much-lauded performance in the Satyajit Ray directed film Nayak. When the Indian Government instituted the National Awards for Best Actor and Actress in 1967, Uttam Kumar was the first ever recipient of the Best Actor Award for his performances in Chiriakhana directed by Satyajit Ray, and Antony Firingi (1967).
[edit]Family

Uttam Kumar was the eldest among three brothers. His second brother Barun Kumar Chatterjee died a decade back. However, his youngest brother Tarun Kumar Chatterjee (screen name Tarun Kumar) has acted in numerous Bengali feature films and considered a character actor of considerable repute. Tarun Kumar often paired onscreen with his real life wife, character actress Subrata Chatterjee. The films where Uttam Kumar and Tarun Kumar have starred together include Saptapadi, Mayamriga, Agnishwar, Deya Neya etc.
Uttam Kumar's only son Gautam (a businessman, who had no link with films) died of cancer. His grandson Gaurav is now an actor in Bengali movies, though he isn't as famous as the great man himself.
It is known that he was family to Pulak Bandyopadhyay, the famous lyricist. Bandhopadhyay was his uncle, according to records, and he is thus a member of the Salkia House.
[edit]Selected Filmography

See Filmography of Uttam Kumar
1948 ---- Drishtidan
1949 ---- Kamona
1950 ---- Marjada
1951 ---- Sahajatri
1951 ---- Nastanir
1951 ---- O re Jatri
1952 ---- Sanjeevani
1952 ---- Kaar Paape
1952 ---- Basu Paribar
1953 ---- Sharey Chuattor
1953 ---- Lakh Taka
1953 ---- Bou Thakuranir Haat
1953 ---- Nabin Jatra
1954 ---- Maraner Pare
1954 ---- Ora Thake Odhare
1954 ---- Chapadangar Bou
1954 ---- Annapurnar Mandir
1954 ---- Agnipariksha
1954 ---- Maner Mayur
1954 ---- Grihaprabesh
1954 ---- Bakul
1954 ---- Mantrashakti
1954 ---- Kalyani
1955 ---- Sabar Upare
1955 ---- Raikamal
1955 ---- Saajher Pradip
1955 ---- Debatra
1955 ---- Anupama
1956 ---- Saheb Bibi Golam
1956 ---- Sanakr Narayan Bank
1956 ---- Sagarika
1956 ---- Chirakumar Sabha
1956 ---- Ekti Raat
1956 ---- Shyamali
1956 ---- Lakshaheera
1956 ---- Trijama
1956 ---- Putrabadhu
1956 ---- Shilpi
1956 ---- Nabajanma
1957 ---- Haranu Sur
1957 ---- Prithibi Amare Chay
1957 ---- Baradidi
1957 ---- Surer Parash
1957 ---- Jatra Holo Suru
1957 ---- Tasher Ghar
1957 ---- Punarmilan
1957 ---- Chandranath
1957 ---- Abhayer Biye
1957 ---- Pathe Holo Deri
1957 ---- Harjeet
1957 ---- Jeeban Trishna
1958 ---- Indrani
1958 ---- Bandhu
1958 ---- Joutuk
1958 ---- Shikar
1958 ---- Suryatoran
1958 ---- Rajlakshmi O Srikanta
1958 ---- Manmoyee Girls School
1958 ---- Daktarbabu
1959 ---- Marutirtha Hinglaj
1959 ---- Chaowa Pawoa
1959 ---- Bicharak
1959 ---- Sonar Harin
1959 ---- Pushpadhanu
1959 ---- Gali Theke Rajpath
1959 ---- Khelaghar
1959 ---- Abak Prithibi
1960 ---- Khokababur Pratyabartan
1960 ---- Haat Baralei Bandhu
1960 ---- Mayamriga
1960 ---- Kuhak
1960 ---- Rajasaja
1960 ---- Sakher Chor
1960 ---- Uttar Megh
1960 ---- Saharer Itikatha
1960 ---- Shuno Baranari
1961 ---- Jhinder Bandi
1961 ---- Saptapadi
1961 ---- Dui Bhai
1961 ---- Saathihara
1961 ---- Agnisanskar
1961 ---- Neckless
1962 ---- Bipasha
1962 ---- Kanna
1962 ---- Siulibari
1963 ---- Bhrantibilas
1963 ---- Suryasikha
1963 ---- Deya Neya
1963 ---- Nisithe
1963 ---- Sesh Anka
1963 ---- Uttarayan
1964 ---- Jatugriha
1964 ---- Laal Pathar
1964 ---- Momer Alo
1964 ---- Bibhas
1964 ---- Natun Tirtha
1965 ---- Thana Theke Aaschhi
1965 ---- Raajkanya
1965 ---- Suryatapa
1966 ---- Nayak
1966 ---- Sankhabela
1966 ---- Kaal Tumi Aleya
1966 ---- Shudhu Ekti Bachhar
1966 ---- Rajadrohi
1967 ---- Naayika Sangbad
1967 ---- Chiriakhana
1967 ---- Anthoni Phiringi
1967 ---- Jeeban Mrityu
1968 ---- Teen Adhyay
1968 ---- Chowrangee
1968 ---- Kakhano Megh
1968 ---- Garh Nasimpur
1969 ---- Chirodiner
1969 ---- Sabarmati
1969 ---- Man Niye
1969 ---- Aparichito
1969 ---- Shuksari
1969 ---- Kamallata
1970 ---- Nishipadma
1970 ---- Bilambita Loy
1970 ---- Duti Mon
1970 ---- Rajkumari
1970 ---- Kalankita Nayak
1970 ---- Manjari Apera
1971 ---- Chhadmabesi
1971 ---- Joyjayanti
1971 ---- Ekhane Pinjor
1971 ---- Dhannyi Meye
1971 ---- Jiban Jiggasa
1971 ---- Nabaraag
1972 ---- Memsaheb
1972 ---- Andha Atit
1972 ---- Biraj Bou
1972 ---- Alo Amar Alo
1972 ---- Stree
1972 ---- Haar Mana Haar
1972 ---- Chhinnapatra
1973 ---- Sonar Khacha
1973 ---- Bonpalashir Padabali
1973 ---- Raudrachhaya
1973 ---- Raater Rajanigandha
1973 ---- Kayaheener Kaahini
1974 ---- Amanush
1974 ---- Bikele Bhorer Phul
1974 ---- Raktatilak
1974 ---- Jadi Jantem
1974 ---- Alor Thikana
1974 ---- Jadibangsha
1974 ---- Rodan Bhara Basanta
1975 ---- Agniswar
1975 ---- Mouchak
1975 ---- Kajallata
1975 ---- Ami Se O Sakha
1975 ---- Nagar Darparne
1975 ---- Priyo Bandhabi
1976 ---- Banhisikha
1976 ---- Nidhiram Sardar
1976 ---- Hotel Snow Fox
1976 ---- Sei Chokh
1976 ---- Anandamela
1976 ---- Mombati
1976 ---- Chander Kachhakaachhi
1977 ---- Ananda Ashram
1975 ---- Sannyasi Raja
1977 ---- Sabyasachi
1977 ---- Rajbangsha
1977 ---- Bhola Moyra
1977 ---- Sister
1978 ---- Dui Purush
1978 ---- Bandi
1978 ---- Nishan
1978 ---- Dhanraj Tamang
1979 ---- Debdas
1979 ---- Srikanter Will
1979 ---- Samadhan
1979 ---- Brajabuli
1979 ---- Sunayani
1979 ---- Naba Diganta
1980 ---- Dui Prithibi
1980 ---- Raja Saheb
1980 ---- Pakhhiraj
1980 ---- Darpachurna
1980 ---- Aaro Ekjon
1980 ---- Ogo Badhu Sundari
1980 ---- Khana Barah
1980 ---- Pratishodh
1980 ---- Kalankini Kankabati
1980 ---- Suryasakkhi
1981 ---- Iman Kalyan
[edit]12 Films With Highest Running Success At Release

1.Sagarika(1956 - 24 weeks
2.Mayamriga(1960) - 18 weeks
3.Nishipadma(1970 - 17 weeks
4.Chadmabeshi(1971) - 18 weeks
5.Stri(1972)- 24 weeks
6.Banpalashir Padabali(1973) - 17 weeks
7.Amanush(1974) - 32 weeks
8.Ami Se o Sakha(1975) - 26 weeks
9.Mouchak(1975) - 17 weeks
10.Sannyasi Raja(1975) - 18 weeks
11.Ananda Ashrama(1977) - 26 weeks
12.Ogo Badhu Sundori(1981) - 23 weeks

Late journalist Rintu Mukherjee in his " Khanojonma Uttam" did map out the incredible bankability of ths star. From 1947 to 1980, both in Bengali and Hindi, Uttam Kumar acted in 202 films. Among them 39 were blockbusters, 57 were superhits, 57 made profits above the average and the rest flop.
[edit]Tributes

"It is the demise of a leading light of the Bengali film industry…There isn't - there won't be another hero like him." -- Satyajit Ray
"I personally felt that the acting of Uttam Kumar could be compared to the best actor of any country. His great attribute is his diligence...Many are born with talent, but the talent gets eclipsed due to the lack of diligence. Uttam Kumar has both of them. Perhaps, that is the reason why he still sparkles." -- Tapan Sinha
"Uttam is my friend. In a word, he is a great,great artist. But still sometimes i feel as if he is not properly exploited." -- Suchitra Sen
"Uttam was a great human being...it can easily be underscored -- actor of his class is a rare kind" -- Shakti Samanta
"...slowly Uttam Kumar got popular. And a fairy tale was born. I was never bothered to know the individual self of the romantic hero of this fairy tale. I would never want to. What if the dream gets shattered! Let the beautiful spell be alive!Long live Uttam Kumar -- The evergreen romatic hero." -- Madhabi Mukherjee
" It feels good to see all praising one. Uttam is one such person...He never had any pose or pretension...God gave him everything but a friend." -- Kanan Devi
" Uttam Kumar,the numero uno hero of Bengal,the most loving." -- Samaresh Basu
" Sri Uttam Kumar is not merely the actor, I regard him as the creator of character.May be as the creator of character,he has achieved such stupendous popularity." -- Bimal Mitra
" He is the hero and life of many of my fictions." -- Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay
" Uttam!An extraordinary artist!The artistic self of Uttam Kumar never dies down!Oh God give him Uttam health,Uttam strength, Uttam longevity(in Sanskrit and in Bengali, 'Uttam' means 'good')-- Ashapoorna Devi
" In Uttam Kumar we have found a director who shows his brilliance on diverse levels." -- Hindustan Standard (on Uttam Kumar's directorial debut)

[edit]Awards
B.F.J.A Best Actor Award for Hrod(1955)
Recognition from the Government of India for Harano Sur(1957)
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Saptopadi(1961). Uttam Kumar received the award from the legendary film-maker Debaki Bose.
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Nayak(1966). Attended the Berlin Film Festicval as the distinguished guest.
The very first recipient of the 'Bharat' award in the Best Actor category for both 'Chiriyakhana' and 'Antony Firingi'(1967).
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for 'Grihadha'(1967).
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for 'Ekhane Pinjar'(1971).
Best Actor award from 'Prosad'magazine for 'Stri'(1973). He received the award from Kanan Devi.
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for 'Amanush'(1974).
Best Actor Filmfare Award for 'Amanush'(1975).
He received the Best Actor award for the same film from the Government of West Bengal on January 26,1975.The price was worth 5000 rupees. Uttam Kumar donated the whole sum to the impoverished artists'fund.
B.F.J.A Best Actor award for 'Bahnisikha'(1976).
Best Actor award both from the 'Prosad' magazine and Sanonskritik Sanbadik Sanostha for 'Ananda Ashram'(1977).

[edit]Quotes
" I prefer following my own ways of acting, like the ways we talk, get angry,that kind of natural spontaneous acting. More of portraying a character."
" Sometimes I got scared. So much of accolade -- would they last for long?And that is why I was not ready to get carried away in the waves of admiration. I desire for more work."
" I never fear work. Rather I derive pleasure out of work."
" Films,Shilpi Sansad,then there was the world of my own,my privacy:I was confused.As if my every moment has ben sold..."
" Whenever I set to work,one after the other death news hit me.Again I eased myself by realizing that death is the only truth."

Gurusaday Dutt

2010-03-16T12:20:00.001-07:00

Gurusaday Dutt, Esq., ICS (Bengali: গুরুসদয় দত্ত) was a civil servant, politician, folklorist, and writer.
Contents [hide]
1 Early Life and education
2 Career
3 Contributions to social work
4 Contributions to art and culture
5 Controversies
6 Organisations founded
7 Publications
8 Commemoration
9 References
10 External links
[edit]Early Life and education

He was the son of the Ramkrishna Dutta Chaudhuri and Anandamayee Debi. His father was the zamindar of Birasri village in Karimganj sub-division of Sylhet district, in eastern Bengal (present day Bangladesh).
Always a brilliant student, he completed his schooling at Minor School which had been set up by his father's elder brother Radhakrishna Dutta Chaudhuri. He completed his Entrance (School Leaving) examination at Government College, Sylhet where he stood 2nd in 1898. He stood 1st in the F.A. examination (prior to Graduate studies) from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1901 and was awarded the Scindia Gold Medal. He went on a Scholarship from the Sylhet Union to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, UK and then took the Indian Civil service (ICS) examination, in which he stood 7th in the First Part and 1st in the Second Part in 1904. He also passed the Bar examination with a First Class, and was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn.
He repaid the scholarship money to Sylhet Union after working for a few years, so that the Union could help another student from the same district with that money. In 1905, he returned to India and started work as an ICS officer.
[edit]Career

He served with distinction in the Bengal cadre which in 1905 included the present the Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in India. He served in various capacities in the districts of Arrah, Hooghly, Pabna, Bogra, Jessore, Faridpur, Comilla, Dacca, Barisal, Khulna, Birbhum, Bankura, Howrah and Mymensingh, before coming to Calcutta. He was District Magistrate, Mymensingh, Secretary, Industries and Local Self Government and Public Health, and also the Government Chief Whip in the Bengal Legislative Council. From 1930-1933, he was a nominated Member of the Council of State and of the Central Legislative Assembly (the erstwhile Parliament of British India).
[edit]Contributions to social work

From his youth, he started to take active interest in social service and participated in helping in fire-fighting and assisting in relief work during floods and other natural disasters. He was one of the social reformers of the first half of the nineteenth century who thought independently about various avenues of service to the rural poor. He realized that in order to establish any progressive idea on firm foundation it was necessary to educate women and make them self-reliant. Saroj Nalini Dutt, who became an eminent Social Worker in her own right, was inspired by Gurusaday to start Mahila Samitis (Women’s Institutes) as early as 1913, at Pabna district in British India, where he was then the District Magistrate.
In 1918, he started the first Rural Reconstruction Movement in India in Birbhum. He then extended the movement to several districts where he was subsequently posted, like Bankura, Howrah and Mymensingh. This movement was a bold and unique India that was under British Rule at the time. In fact, he was advised by his senior officer that he should spend time in the Club socializing with other officers rather than pursuing activities to promote rural development and social welfare.
He was the first amongst Civilian officers to set an example of the dignity of labour, by manually working with a group of followers to eradicate the water hyacinth, a plant that covers ponds and makes water unusable. He would also re-excavate silted irrigation canals with a band of workers. In those days, it was unthinkable for a Magistrate to work manually with common people.
In 1922, he started a Society for co-operative irrigation in Bankura, which he later extended to Mymensingh and Birbhum.
He headed the Indian delegation as a representative of the British Indian Government at a meeting of the Agricultural Institute at Rome in 1924.
In 1925, he lost his wife at a very early age. He established the Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association, in February 1925, as a Central Training Institute for training crafts and basic education to provide livelihood to women who had been deprived from receiving formal education in early life and lived at the mercy of relatives. He thought of non-formal education many years before it was officially started. His pioneering work was started when most women in India were still behind the purdah (veil), and would not dare to come out in the world to create a future for themselves. This organization became the apex organization for Mahila Samitis (Women’s Institutes) in Eastern India, and was later affiliated to the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) and the International Alliance of Women.
In October 1925, he started Bangalakshmi, a monthly magazine that is still published.
In 1929, he started a magazine called Gramer Daak that dealt with agrarian and rural matters of concern.
It was at Mymensingh that he started a Folk Dance Revival Society. He revived the Jaari dance, being inspired by the secular nature of the dance and its spirit of unifying both Hindus and Muslims, at a time when communal tensions were running high.
In 1930, he discovered the Raibeshe folk dance, a martial dance of un-divided Bengal, in Birbhum. He studied the origins of the dance and discovered its rich cultural past and its connection with the army of Raja Man Singh of Rajasthan. Subsequently, he also revived the Kaathi, Dhamail, Baul, Jhumur, Brata and Dhali dances from different parts of un-divided Bengal.
In 1931, he met Cecil Sharpe, who revived Morris dancing in England, when he visited London. He also attended All-England Folk Dance & Folk Song Festival. This inspired him to set up the Bangiya Palli Sampad Raksha Samiti (translated as Cultural Heritage Protection Society of Bengal) on his return.
In 1932, he started the Bratachari movement. In his words in The Bratachari Synthesis, first published in 1937,
“ the Movement is to bring back to humanity, in all countries, the ideal and practice of the wholeness of life which, alike in the individual, the national and the international sphere has been so grievously shattered in the modern world in every country by the fragmentary outlook on, and treatment of, life in education, science, work, play and social functioning. ”
In its aim to re-establish life on its fundamental unity, while preserving the inherent values of the individual and regional diversities, the Bratachari movement relies on a system of simultaneous physical, moral and spiritual culture with the three-fold objectives of i) shaping of life in accordance with a fully balanced ideal comprising the five Bratas or ultimate ideals which are of universal application, and adopting a course for their pursuit for the integration of the culture of the body and the soul, and of the thought, speech, and behaviour; ii) the pursuit of rhythmic discipline for bringing about unification, harmony and joy as well as inner transformation; and iii) bringing men and women of every country in touch with the regional culture of their own soil and with the arts and crafts, dances and songs, and customs and manners of their own region, thus providing a natural cultural medium for their healthy all-round growth. By this three-fold sadhana (devotion), the Bratachari system seeks to enable men and women in each land to become, simultaneously, truly national and truly international.
In 1934, the Bangiya Palli Sampad Raksha Samiti was renamed as The Bengal Bratachari Society.
In 1936, he started a magazine Banglar Shakti for The Bengal Bratachari Society.
Gurusaday Dutt did extensive research in the field of Folk art, crafts and folk dances of Bengal. He collected objects of folk art and crafts from the countryside. He had great compassion for the artists and craftsmen who created unique art objects without any training or technical knowledge. Folk art was neglected and not appreciated in those days. He wrote in different journals about the wealth and beauty of folk art and left his collection on his death to The Bengal Bratachari Society.
[edit]Contributions to art and culture

Gurusaday Dutt was mostly known for his interest and contribution to folk dance, folk music and other folk institutions. He started a number of organisations and societies aimed at preserving the elements of folk literature. He spent a lifetime collecting and studying art objects and handiwork from the remotest corners of undivided rural Bengal collecting items of folk art such as Kalighat paintings, patuas’ scrolls, embroidered kanthas, terracotta panels, stone sculptures, wooden carvings, dolls and toys, moulds used for making patterns on sweets or mango-paste etc. Most of the several thousand specimens of folk art and craft he collected, along with other folk artefacts, are on display at the Gurusaday Museum in Thakurpur in the suburbs of Kolkata. Gurusaday Dutt also wrote extensively on folk culture. Rabindranath Tagore and C.F. Andrews wrote in the foreword of the biography of his wife, Saroj Nalini Dutt, which he wrote. Gurusaday Dutt also wrote much about the Bratachari movement and village development. In 1936 he started publishing a monthly magazine named Banglar Shakti (The Force of Bengal).
[edit]Controversies

His fearless independence and indomitable spirit of nationalism brought him into conflict with the British Government on more than one occasion. In 1928, at Howrah, in connection with the Bamangachi Firing case, he condemned the firing on a crowd of protesters by the police led by a British officer. The matter was raised in the British House of Lords and Lord Birkenhead, then Secretary of State for India in the British Government, had to answer angry questions. British Parliamentarians wanted Dutt, referred to as this Indian officer, punished for having the audacity to question a British officer’s action. As a punitive measure he was transferred out of Howrah to Mymensingh.
His stay in Mymensingh was also cut short when he failed to give orders as required by him by the British Indian Government to deal with protesters against The Salt Act imposed by the Government. M.K.Gandhi had called for a satyagraha against this Act. He was transferred to Birbhum by telegram (then the fastest means of communication), which was an unprecedented way of dealing with an ICS officer in those days.
[edit]Organisations founded

Mymensingh Folk Dance and Folk Music Society (1929)
Pallisampad Raksha Samiti (1931)
Bratachari Lokanritya Samiti (1932)
South India Bratachari Society (1932)
Sarbabharatiya Bratachari Society etc.
In 1941 he also set up the Bratachari village near Calcutta, along with a university called Bratachari Janashiksha Pratishthan. The Bratachari movement founded by Gurusaday Dutt (from vrata, vow) was a movement for spiritual and social improvement. The movement aimed at creating a sense of world citizenship as well as national awareness among people, irrespective of caste, religion, sex and age. The movement aimed to nurture the mind and the body and to encourage people to work for national and individual improvement through encouraging traditional and folk culture, especially folk dance and folk song. The bratacharis, or followers of the movement, pledged themselves to build their moral fibre and serve the country on the five principles of knowledge, labour, truth, unity and joy. They aimed at developing the mind and body through dance as well as by undertaking to perform good deeds. The Bratachari movement did not catch on all over India and slowly died away after the death of its founder.
Gurusaday Museum.
[edit]Publications

Gurusaday Dutt wrote many books and articles, which are listed below. The latest book to be published is "Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya" (in Bengali), which is a collection of his essays and articles on Folk Art and Folk Dances of Bengal in various magazines between 1928 and 1941(his death), that were painstakingly obtained from the old magazines at Bangiya Sahitya Parishad's library by his grandson Devsaday Dutt and grand daughter-in-law Priyadarshini Dutt. The book has been published by Subhromani De and Subhadra De of Chhatim Books in 2008.
Bhajar Banshi (1922) (in Bengali) (A book of rhymes for children)
Palli Sangskar (in Bengali) (1925)
Village Reconstruction (1925)
Agricultural Organisation and Rural Reconstruction in Bengal (1919)
Ganer Saji (in Bengali) (1932)
Indian Folk Dance and Folklore Movement (in Bengali) (1933)
Bratachari Synthesis (in Bengali) (1937)
Patuya Sangit (in Bengali) (1939)
Bratacharir Marmakatha (in Bengali) (1940)
A Woman of India (1941)
Bratachari: Its Aim and Meaning (1942)
The Folk Dances of Bengal (1954)
Shrihatter Lokasangit (in Bengali) (1966)
Folk Arts and Crafts of Bengal (1990)[2]
Art of Kantha (1995)
Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya (in Bengali) (Calcutta: Chatim Books, 2008)
Goraey Golod (in Bengali)
Gramer Kaajer ka kha Ga(in Bengali)
Saroj Nalini
Palli Sanskar O Sangathan(in Bengali)
Paaglamir Puthi(in Bengali)
Purir Mahathwa(in Bengali)
Gaaner Saaji(in Bengali)
Banglar Samrik Krira(in Bengali)
Chaander Buri(in Bengali)
Bratachari Shakhaa(in Bengali)
Bratachari Marmakatha(in Bengali)
Patua Sangeet(in Bengali)
Bratachari Parichoy(in Bengali)
Srihotter Lokageeti(in Bengali)
Banglar Bir Jodha Raebeshe(in Bengali)
[edit]Commemoration

After he died in 1941 the road in Calcutta on which he built his house - Ballygunge Store Road - was named after him. His portrait adorns the walls of Mahajati Sadan, Calcutta.
Biographies have been written on his life and works in Bangladesh by Shankar Prasad De, Amitabha Chowdhury, Shaikat Azgar, Naresh Banerjee and Habib Ahmed Dutta Chowdhury.
A Medal in his honour, known as “The Gurusaday Dutt Medal” along with a Cash prize, was endowed by his grandson, Devsaday Dutt, at the University of Calcutta, which is given to the student who stands First in the Post-Graduate Examination in Geography, from 2008 onwards.
His articles initially published in the 1930s in journals such as Prabashi, Banglar Shakti, Bangalakshmi and Aloka (in Bengali), have been republished in a book entitled Banglar Lokashipla o Lokanritya in August 2008.
[edit]References

^ Tapati Das Gupta, Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis, (Calcutta, 1993), p. 138
^ Publications of G.S.Dutt

The Partition of Bengal

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The Partition of Bengal in 1947, part of the Partition of India, was a religious based partition that divided the British Indian province of Bengal between India and Pakistan. West Bengal became a province of India, and Muslim East Bengal became a province of Pakistan - and was later to become Bangladesh.
The partition, with the power transferred officially to Pakistan and India on August 14–15, 1947, was done according to what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan. India’s freedom on August 15, 1947 ended almost 350 years of British presence in the Indian subcontinent.
East Bengal, which became a province of Pakistan according to the provisions set forth the Mountbatten Plan, later became the independent country of Bangladesh after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 The Partition
3 The Aftermath
4 See also
5 Bibliography
6 References
[edit]Background

In 1905, the first partition in Bengal was implemented as an administrative preference, making governing the two provinces, West and East Bengal easier. While the partition split the province between West, in which the majority was Hindu, and the East, where the majority was Muslim, the Partition of Bengal (1905) left considerable minorities of Hindus in East Bengal and Muslims in the West Bengal. While the Muslims were in favor of this partition, due to their obtainment of their own province, Hindus were not. This controversy led to increased violence and protest and, in 1911, the two provinces were once again united.
However, the disagreements between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal which had sparked the Partition of Bengal in 1905 still remained and laws, including the Partition of Bengal in 1947, had to be implemented in order to fulfill the political needs of the parties involved.
[edit]The Partition

As per the plan, on 20 June 1947, the members of the Bengal Legislative Assembly cast three separate votes on the proposal to partition Bengal:
In the joint session of the house, comprising of all the members of the Assembly, the division of the joint session of the House stood at 126 votes against and 90 votes for joining the present Constituent Assembly (i.e., India)
Then the members of the Muslim-majority areas of Bengal in a separate session passed a motion by 106-35 votes against partitioning Bengal and instead joining a new Constituent Assembly (i.e., Pakistan) as a whole.
This was followed by the separate meeting of the members of the non-Muslim-majority areas of Bengal who by a division of 58-21 voted for partition of the province.
Under the Mountbatten Plan, a single majority vote in favour of partition by either notionally divided half of the Assembly would have decided the division of the province, and hence the house proceedings on 20 June resulted in the decision to partition Bengal. This set the stage for the creation of West Bengal as a province of the Union of India and East Bengal as a province of the Dominion of Pakistan.
Also in accordance with the Mountbatten Plan, in a referendum held on 7 July, the electorate of Sylhet gave a verdict in favor of joining East Bengal. Further, the Boundary Commission headed by Sir Cyril Radcliffe decided on the territorial demarcation between the two newly created provinces. The power was finally officially transferred to Pakistan and India on 14 and 15 August, respectively, under the Indian Independence Act, 1947.
[edit]The Aftermath

The second partition of Bengal left behind a legacy of violence which continues to this day. As Bashabi Fraser put it, “There is the reality of the continuous flow of ‘economic migrants’ / ‘refugees’ / ‘infiltrators’ / ‘illegal immigrants’ who cross over the border and pan out across the sub-continent, looking for work and a new home, setting in metropolitan centres as far off as Delhi and Mumbai, keeping the question of the Partition alive today. “[1]
[edit]See also

Partition of Bengal (1905)
East Bengal
West Bengal
East Pakistan
Bangladesh Liberation War
[edit]Bibliography

Works Cited
1. Bashabi Fraser Bengal Partition Stories: An Unclosed Chapter. New York: Anthem Press, 2008. ISBN 1843312999
Works Referenced
Joya Chatterji Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 0521411289
S.M. Ikram Indian Muslims and Partition of India. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 1992. ISBN 8171563740
Hashim S. Raza Mountbatten and the partition of India. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 1989. ISBN 8171560598
Craig Baxter Bangladesh: From a Nation to a State. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. ISBN 0813328543
Singh, J.J. “Partition of India: British Proposal Said to be Only Feasible Plan Now.” The New York Times 15 Jun. 1947: E8
Gyanendra Pandey Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism, and History in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521002508
Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia. London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415172977

Bengali People

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The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal (now divided between Bangladesh and India) in South Asia. They speak Bengali (বাংলা Bangla), which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী (pronounced Bangali). They are considered an Indo-Aryan people although they are also descended from Mongolo-Dravidians, closely related to Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Assamese, Sinhalese and Munda peoples. As such, Bengalis are a homogeneous but considerably diverse ethnic group with heterogeneous origins.
Bengalis are mostly concentrated in Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. There are also a number of Bengali communities scattered across North-East India, New Delhi, and the Indian states of Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. In addition, there are significant Bengali communities beyond South Asia; some of the most well established Bengali communities are in the United Kingdom and United States. In addition, many Bengalis have settled in the US and UK; in the US, there are about 150,000 living across the country, mainly in New York.[18] There are also millions living across the Gulf States, the majority of whom are living as foreign workers, and a significant amount of Bengalis in Malaysia, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Australia as well.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Ancient history
1.2 Middle Ages
1.3 Bengal Renaissance
1.4 Independence movement
1.5 Partitions of Bengal
1.6 Bangladesh Liberation War
2 Religion
3 Culture
4 See also
5 Notes
[edit]History

Main articles: History of Bengal and History of Bangladesh
[edit]Ancient history
Further information: Anga, Gangaridai, Magadha, Pundra Kingdom, Suhma Kingdom and Vanga Kingdom

Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BCE and was the ancient capital of the Pundra Kingdom.
Remnants of civilisation in the greater Bengal region date back 4,000 years,[19][20] when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE.[21]
After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed in and around Bengal and were first described in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BCE. From the 6th century BCE, Magadha expanded to include most of the Bihar and Bengal regions. It was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha and was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas. Under the Maurya Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya, Magadha extended over nearly all of South Asia, including parts of Persia and Afghanistan, reaching its greatest extent under the Buddhist emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BCE. The word is speculated to have come from Gangahrd (Land with the Ganges in its heart) in reference to an area in Bengal.[22] Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire.
[edit]Middle Ages
See also: Pala Empire and Sena Empire

Pala Empire under Dharmapala
Pala Empire under Devapala
One of the first recorded independent king of Bengal was Shashanka, reigning around the early 7th century.[23] After a period of anarchy, Gopala came to power in 750 by democratic election.[24] He founded the Bengali Buddhist Pala Empire which ruled the region for four hundred years, and expanded across much of Southern Asia, from Assam in the northeast, to Kabul in the west, to Andhra Pradesh in the south. Atisha Deepankar was a renowned Bengali Buddhist teacher who was instrumental in revival of Buddhism in Tibet and also held the position of Abbot at the Vikramshila university. Tilopa was also from Bengal region.
The Pala dynasty was later followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena Empire. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the twelfth century by Sufi missionaries. Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.[25] Bakhtiar Khilji, an Afghan general of the Slave dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords under the Delhi Sultanate for the next few hundred years. In the early 17th century, Mughal general Islam Khan conquered Bengal. However, administration by governors appointed by the court of the Mughal Empire gave way to semi-independence of the area under the Nawabs of Murshidabad, who nominally respected the sovereignty of the Mughals in Delhi. After the weakening of the Mughal Empire with the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Bengal was ruled independently by the Nawabs until 1757, when the region was annexed by the East India Company after the Battle of Plassey.
[edit]Bengal Renaissance
Main article: Bengal Renaissance

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as the "Father of the Bengal Renaissance."

Rabindranath Tagore is Asia's first Nobel laureate and a versatile genious, also composer of Jana Gana Mana the national anthem of India as well as Amar Shonar Bangla the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Swami Vivekananda is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America[26] and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of the 19th century.[27]

Jagadish Chandra Bose was a Bengali polymath: a physicist, biologist, botanist, archaeologist, and writer of science fiction.[28] He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made very significant contributions to plant science, and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian subcontinent.[29] He is considered one of the fathers of radio science,[30] and is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction.

Satyendra Nath Bose was a Bengali physicist, specializing in mathematical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose-Einstein condensate. He is honoured as the namesake of the boson.
The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the region of Bengal in undivided India during the period of British rule. The Bengal renaissance can be said to have started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775-1833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), although there have been many stalwarts thereafter embodying particular aspects of the unique intellectual and creative output.[31] Nineteenth century Bengal was a unique blend of religious and social reformers, scholars, literary giants, journalists, patriotic orators and scientists, all merging to form the image of a renaissance, and marked the transition from the 'medieval' to the 'modern'.[32]
[edit]Independence movement
See also: Freedom fighters from Bengal

Subhash Chandra Bose s one of the most prominent leader and highly respected freedom fighter from Bengal in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj.

Sri Aurobindo is one of the most respected freedom fighter from Bengal and also a poet, philosopher, and yogi.
Bengal played a major role in the Indian independence movement, in which revolutionary groups such as Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were dominant. Bengalis also played a notable role in the Indian independence movement. Many of the early proponents of the freedom struggle, and subsequent leaders in movement were Bengalis such as Chittaranjan Das, Khwaja Salimullah, Surendranath Banerjea, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Titumir (Sayyid Mir Nisar Ali), Prafulla Chaki, A. K. Fazlul Huq, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Bagha Jatin, Khudiram Bose, Surya Sen, Binoy-Badal-Dinesh, Sarojini Naidu, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rashbehari Bose and many more. Some of these leaders, such as Netaji, did not subscribe to the view that non-violent civil disobedience was the best way to achieve Indian Independence, and were instrumental in armed resistance against the British force. Netaji was the co-founder and leader of the Indian National Army (distinct from the army of British India) that challenged British forces in several parts of India. He was also the head of state of a parallel regime, the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, that was recognized and supported by the Axis powers. Bengal was also the fostering ground for several prominent revolutionary organisations, the most notable of which was Anushilan Samiti. A large number of Bengalis were martyred in the freedom struggle and many were exiled in Cellular Jail, the much dreaded prison located in Andaman.
[edit]Partitions of Bengal
Main articles: 1905 Partition of Bengal and 1947 Partition of Bengal
[edit]Bangladesh Liberation War
Main article: Bangladesh Liberation War
[edit]Religion

Main articles: Demographics of Bangladesh, Demographics of West Bengal, and Demographics of Tripura
See also: Religion in Bangladesh
Further information: Islam in Bangladesh, Hinduism in Bangladesh, Buddhism in Bangladesh, and Christianity in Bangladesh

Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka is the National Mosque of Bangladesh.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Two major religions practiced in Bengal are Islam and Hinduism. In Bangladesh 88.3% of the population follow Islam (US State Department est. 2007) while 9.2% follow Hinduism. In West Bengal, Hindus are the majority with 70% of the population while Muslims comprise 23%. Other religious groups include Buddhists and Christians.[17] Since West Bengal has a long history of Communism, there are also atheist Bengali people such as Amartya Sen, Prabir Ghosh, Subodh Banarjee, and Sibnarayan Ray.
[edit]Culture

Further information: Culture of Bengal

Satyajit Ray is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema.
Noted Bengali saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers, painters and film-makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture . The Bengal Renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries was brought about after the British introduced Western education and ideas. Among the various Indian cultures, the Bengalis were relatively quick to adapt to the British rule and actually use its principles (such as the judiciary and the legislature) in the subsequent political struggle for independence. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism and was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic and cultural expression.
The Bengali poet and novelist, Rabindranath Tagore, became the first Nobel laureate from Asia when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Other Bengali Nobel laureates include Amartya Sen (1999 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences) and Muhammad Yunus (2006 Nobel Peace Prize). Other famous figures in Bengali literature include Ram Mohan Roy, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Bangla science fiction writers such as Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Humayun Ahmed, Jagadananda Roy and Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya). Famous Bengali musicians include Ravi Shankar and Norah Jones; Famous Bengali scientists include Megh Nad Saha, Prafulla Chandra Roy, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, Jagadish Chandra Bose and Satyendra Nath Bose; famous Bengali engineers include Fazlur Khan and Amar Bose; famous Bengali filmmakers include Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Aparna Sen and Tareque Masud; and famous Bengali entrepreneurs include Sake Dean Mahomed, Amar Bose and Jawed Karim.
[edit]See also

Bengal portal
List of Bengalis
List of Bangladeshis
List of people from West Bengal
Rohingya people
Bangladeshi diaspora
British Bangladeshi
Bangladeshi American
[edit]Notes

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.
^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html#People
^ http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Afghanistan-to-Bosnia-Herzegovina/Bengalis.html
^ The 2 Million Bengalis of Karachi - Daily Times
^ http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=62077
^ [1]
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ US Census 2000 foreign born population by country
^ a b Hasan, Rafiq (November 20, 2003), "4,000 Bangladeshis to return from Oman in December", The Daily Star 4 (176), retrieved 2008-12-19
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ [6]
^ [7]
^ [国籍別外国人登録者数の推移]
^ Comparing State Polities: A Framework for Analyzing 100 Governments By Michael J. III Sullivan, pg. 119
^ Bangledesh- CIA World Factbook
^ a b "Data on Religion". Census of India (2001). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
^ Census Profile: New York City’s Bangladeshi American Population Asian American Federation of New York Census Information Center (2005). Retrieved on 2009-05-24.
^ "History of Bangladesh". Bangladesh Student Association @ TTU. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
^ "4000-year old settlement unearthed in Bangladesh". Xinhua. 2006-March.
^ James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden, ed (1989). "Early History, 1000 B.C.-A.D. 1202". Bangladesh: A country study. Library of Congress.
^ Chowdhury, AM. "Gangaridai". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
^ "Shashanka". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
^ A. Shiefner, History of Buddhism in India.
^ "Islam (in Bengal)". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
^ Georg, Feuerstein (2002). The Yoga Tradition. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 600.
^ Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006). New Religions in Global Perspective. Routledge. p. 209.
^ A versatile genius, Frontline 21 (24), 2004.
^ Chatterjee, Santimay and Chatterjee, Enakshi, Satyendranath Bose, 2002 reprint, p. 5, National Book Trust, ISBN 8123704925
^ A. K. Sen (1997). "Sir J.C. Bose and radio science", Microwave Symposium Digest 2 (8-13), p. 557-560.
^ History of the Bengali-speaking People by Nitish Sengupta, p 211, UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-7476-355-4.
^ Calcutta and the Bengal Renaissance by Sumit Sarkar in Calcutta, the Living City edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Vol I, p 95.

Poush Mela

2010-03-16T12:11:00.001-07:00

Poush Mela (Bengali: পৌষ মেলা) is an annual fair and festival that takes place in Santiniketan, in Birbhum District in the Indian state of West Bengal, marking the harvest season. Commencing on the 7th day of the month of Poush, the fair officially lasts for three days, although vendors may stay up until the month-end. The key characteristic of this fair include its live performances of Bengali folk music, notably baul music.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Inauguration
3 Other days
4 The fair
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
[edit]Background

Devendranath Tagore with twenty followers accepted the Brahmo creed from Ram Chandra Vidyabagish on 21 December 1843 (7 Poush 1250 according to the Bengali calendar). This was the basis of Poush Utsav (the Festival of Poush) at Santiniketan[2]
A Brahma mandir was established at Santiniketan on 21 December 1891 (7 Poush 1298 according to the Bengali calendar). A small fair was organised in 1894 in connection with the establishment anniversary of the Brahma mandir, in the ground opposite the mandir. What started as a small homely Poush Mela now attracts attention of not only the people of Birbhum district but tourists from all around.[3]
In earlier days the mela (fair) was held in the ground on the north side of Brahma mandir (also referred to as glass temple). On that day, a firework display was held in earlier days after evening prayers. As the mela increased in size, it was shifted to the field in Purbapalli.[2]
[edit]Inauguration

Poush Utsav is inaugurated on 7 Poush (around 23 December). At dawn, Santiniketan wakes up to the soft music of shehnai. The first to enter the scenario is the Vaitalik group, who go round the ashrama (hermitage) singing songs. It is followed by a prayer-meeting at Chhatimtala. Then the entire congregation moves on to Uttarayan singing songs.[2]
[edit]Other days

Poush Mela is characterized by the live performances of Bengali folk music, especially the baul music. It includes folk songs, dances and tribal sports. This fair offers a perfect insight of true heritage of the state. The students of Santiniketan present their magnificent performance and make this festival more enjoyable and glamorous. Each day of this festival is filled with different activities. The last day of this fair is devoted to those who are related to Santiniketan.[4]
[edit]The fair

Shoppers at the Poush Mela Fair
Some 1,500 stalls take part in the fair.[5]The number of tourists pouring in for the three day fair is around 10,000.[6]Government statistics put the daily inflow of tourists in to Santiniketan at around 3,500 per day; but during major festival such as Pous Utsav, Basanta Utsav, Rabindra Paksha, and Naba Barsha it goes up to an average 40,000 per day or more. Obviously, many of them do not stay back in Santiniketan, which has 85 lodges with accommodation for 1,650. Biside of this, room on rent can be hire for some days.[7]
Local printed fabrics and handicrafts are available in the stalls erected during the fair.[4]

Jaydev Kenduli

2010-03-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jaydev Kenduli (Bengali: জয়দেব কেন্দুলি) (also known as Kendubillo) is a village and gram panchayat in Ilambazar community development block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum District in the Indian state of West Bengal. Until recently, it was believed by some, to be the birth place of Jayadeva and has developed as a religious centre with many temples and ashramas (hermitages). An annual fair, popular as baul fair, is organized on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Transport
5 Culture
5.1 Terracotta carvings
5.2 Fair
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit]History

Jaydev Kenduli had long been considered as a possible birthplace of the poet Jayadeva, who had composed Gita Govinda in Sanskrit. However, now there appears to be a consensus among scholars that Jayadeva was born in another place in Orissa bearing the same name, in Kenduli Sasan.[1][2][3][4][5]. He was populalrly believed to be the court poet of Raja Lakshman Sen, who ruled in the 12th–13th century. The image of Radhamadhav set up by him is daily worshipped. The asana (mat) on which the poet sat and obtained siddhi (salvation) through meditation is carefully preserved.[6]
During the Mughal era Jaydev Kenduli was part of Senpahari pargana. As per a firman issued by Aurangzeb in the 17th century, Senpahari was added to the property of Krishnaram Rai of Bardhaman Raj. Maharani Brajakishori of Bardhaman had set up temples in different places such as Puri and Vrindaban. Jugal Kishore Mukhopadhyay of Jaydev Kenduli was then court-poet at Bardhaman. It is said that it was at his request that the Maharani set up the Radhabinod temple at Jaydev Kenduli in 1683. The temple stands where the house of the poet Jayadeva, was believed locally to have stood, based on the prior assumption of his birth there.[7]
Around 1860-70, Radharaman Brajabasi of the Nirbak Vaisnava sect set up the Nirbak Ashrama at Jaydev Kenduli, the place of birth of their kula guru (patron saint) of the sect, the poet Jayadeva.[7] In the first half of the 20th century, the Radhaballav temple of the Mukhopadhyay family was established. Many more ashramas (hermitages) were set up and thus Jaydev Kenduli developed as a religious centre.[7]

Radhabinode Temple, a navaratna temple with nine turrets

Details of terracotta carving in Radhabinode Temple
[edit]Geography

Jaydev Kenduli is located at 23.63°N 87.43°E. It has an average elevation of 48 metres (157 ft).[8] It is located on the banks of Ajay River.[7]
Villages in Jaydev Kenduli panchayat are: Joydev Kenduli, Tikarbeta, Sahapur, Janubazar, Raghunathpur, Mundira, Balarpur, Santoshpur, Bhubanaswer, Sugar, Chhata Chak, and Akamba.[9]
[edit]Demographics

In the 2001 census, Jaydev Kenduli village had a population of 2,755, of whom 976 belonged to scheduled castes.[9]
[edit]Transport

Jaydev Kenduli is off the Panagarh–Morgram Highway. When one is travelling from Panagarh, one has to turn left a little after Ilambazar.[10]
[edit]Culture

[edit]Terracotta carvings
The Radhabinode temple has exquisite terracotta carvings, some depicting Ramayana scenes.[10]
[edit]Fair
A fair is organized in memory of Jayadeva on the occasion of Poush Sankranti or Makar Sankranti. It starts on the last day of the Bengali calendar month, Poush and continues up to 2 Magh.[7] The start of the fair commemorates the auspicious day on which Jayadeva is claimed to have taken a bath at the Kadaambokhandi ghat of the Ajay river at Jaydev Kenduli.[11] In 1982, the district authorities took control of the fair to provide a better environment, a good sanitation system, drinking water, lighting and security.[12]
Several thousand bauls, a community of wandering minstrels who sing devotional songs to the music of the ektara (one stringed instrument), assemble for the fair and as such it is also referred to as Baul Fair. The bauls stay in 160 temporary hermitages at Jaydev Kenduli for around a month. These bauls appear to have inherited the legacy of Jayadeva songs.[6][7][10]
However, in recent years, the greatest baul fair in the state is gradually losing its character, as the bauls have been outnumbered by kirtanias, who perform in the mela to gain popularity. In 2008, around 2,000 kirtanias came to attend the mela and they obtained contracts worth Rs. 2 crore.[11]
It is not known whether Rabindranath Tagore ever visited Jaydev Kenduli. However, many personalities linked with Santiniketan such as Kshiti Mohan Sen, Nandalal Bose, Provat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Ramkinkar Baij, and Santideb Ghosh visited Jaydev Kenduli and contributed substantially towards the spread of its name outside Birbhum and added to its fame.[13]
The fair, which is believed by some to have been there for around centuries, caters primarily to the requirements of village folk. Everything from cooking utensils to fishing nets are sold in the fair.[6][7]

Ajodhya Hills

2010-03-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

Ajodhya Hills (Bengali: অযোধ্যা পাহাড়), is a hill located in the Purulia district of the state West Bengal, India. The nearby populated town area is Bagmundi.
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 Mythology
3 Development
4 References
5 External links
6 See also
[edit]Overview

It is a popular place for young mountaineers to learn the basic course in rock climbing. There are two routes available to reach Ajodhya Hills. One is via Jhalda and the other one is via Sirkabad. There is a Forest Rest House here. Gorgabunu (900 m), Mayuri etc. are of the some of the peaks of Ajodhya hills range.[1]
The area forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills. The area around Bagmundi or Ajodhya Hill is an extended plateau.[2]
[edit]Mythology

According to Hindu mythology, Rama and Sita had come to Ayodhya Hills and stayed during their exile. Sita was thirsty and Ram pierced an arrow through the Earth's soil crust and through that water gushed out. Sita quenched her thirst. The place is known as Sita-kunda. During the full moon day in Baisakh every year tribals of nearby areas come and join in the game of hunting wild animals.[1]
[edit]Development

Purulia Pumped Storage Project with an installed capacity of 900 MW (4 X 225 MW) has been set up in Ajodhya hills under Bagmundi police station with the loan assistance of Japan Bank for International Cooperation.[3]
Near Ajodhya Hills, there is Turga Dam and the Lake, and the pleasant waterfall formed by the River Bamni. The site of the Turga Dam site is a perfect tourist spot, where the visitors can spend their day.[1]

Bishnupur

2010-03-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Bishnupur (Bengali: বিষ্ণুপুর) is a city and a municipality in Bankura District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is famous for its terracotta temples and the balucheri sarees.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Culture
4.1 Temples and other places of interest
4.2 Music
4.3 Products
4.4 Festivals and fairs
5 Politics
6 References
7 External links
[edit]History

Bishnupur was ruled under the Gupta period by local Hindu kings who paid tribute to Samudra Gupta[citation needed]. Following a long period of obscurity, where the land oscilated between being a minor independent principality and a vassal state . The land is also called Mallabhum after the Malla rulers of this place. The Malla rulers were Vaishnavites and built the famous terracotta temples during the 17th and 18th century at this place. The terracotta temples here are the best specimen of the classical style of Bengal architecture.
Bishnupur (the distance from Kolkata is 132 km), now the headquarters of the subdivision of the same name in Bankura district, is a seat of crafts and culture.
For almost a thousand years it was the capital of the Malla kings of Mallabhum, of which Bankura was a part, till their power waned during the times when Mughal rule weakened under the last monarchs of the dynasty.
The patronage of Malla king Veer Hambir and his successors Raja Raghunath Singha and Veer Singha made Bishnupur one of the principal centres of culture in Bengal. Most of the exquisite terracotta temples for which town is justly famous were built during this period.
Apart from the unique architecture of the period, Bishnupur is also famous for its terracotta craft and its own Baluchari sarees made of tussar silk.
Royal patronage also gave rise to Vishnupuri gharana (school) of Hindustani classical music and the Bishnupur school of painting.

Detail of terracotta relief from the Rasmancha
[edit]Geography

Bishnupur is located at 23.08°N 87.32°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 59 metres (194 feet).
[edit]Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[2] Bishnupur had a population of 61,943. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Bishnupur has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 77% and female literacy of 61%. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
[edit]Culture

[edit]Temples and other places of interest
There are many such temples which stand testimony to the exquite craftsmanship of the artisans of the region. The temples were crafted from the local laterite and brick. The temples are covered with terracota tiles depicting scenes from the epic Mahabharata. The temples are located in Bishnupur and across many other small villages in the Bankura district. These include:
Rasmancha: It is the oldest brick temple. Built in the late 16th century by King Beera Hambira. The temple has an unusual elongated pyramidical tower, surrounded by hut-shaped turrets, which were very typical of Bengali roof structures of the time.

Cluster of temples
Jorebangla Temple of Keshta Rai: Built by King Raghunath Singha Dev II in the 17th century. The ornate terracotta carvings are set off by the roof in the classic chala style of Bengal architecture.
Nandalal Temple
Radhamadhab Temple
Kalachand Temple
Radhagovinda Temple
Sarbamangala
Pancha Ratna Temple of Shyam Rai: Built in 1643 by King Raghunath Singha. The walls are richly decorated with terracotta carvings featuring aspects of Lord Krishna’s life.
Krishna-Valaram Temple
Mrinmayee Temple
Radhashyam Temple
Jor Bangla Temple
Radha Laljiu Temple
Madanmohan Temple
Madanmohan Temple: King Durjana Singh Deva built the temple in 1694 AD in the ekaratna style, a square flat-roofed building with carved cornices, surmounted by a pinnacle. Impressive carvings on the walls depict scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas.
Malleswar
Sanreswar
Radhalaljiu
Madangopal
Chhinnamasta Temple
Dalmadal Caman
Lalgarh
Lalbandh
Acharya Jogeshchandra Museum
Gumgarh
Pathar Darwaja (Main Gateway of Bishnupur)
Garh Darwaja (Small Gateway of Bishnupur)
Stone Chariot
Nutan Mahal
Birthplace of Shrinibas Acharya
[edit]Music
A school of music, called the Bishnupur Gharana, was established here in 1370 A.D and flourished under the patronage of the Malla kings. The school hit its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries. This style of music is rooted in the Dhrupad style and is still being kept alive in local academies of music.
[edit]Products
Terracotta is characteristic of Bishnupur. Apart from the temples, terracotta pottery, artifacts and even jewellery made in this very traditional material is famous. The potters here derive their inspiration from the glorious history of kings, soldiers and wars. Bishnupur is also known for its silk (tussar), particularly the Baluchari Sarees. Woven on unusual punch-card looms, these sarees have episodes from the Mahabharata woven into the border and pallu. Bellmetalware, conch-shell jewellery is also available here.
[edit]Festivals and fairs
There is a snake festival in August, Ultorath and the Bishnupur fair in December.

Bangaon

2010-03-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

Bangaon (Bengali: বনগাঁ) is a city and a municipality in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. Bangaon is one of the five sub-divisions of the District Of North 24 Parganas. Other sub-divisions are Barasat, Barrackpore, Basirhat and Bidhan Nagar.
Contents [hide]
1 Geography
1.1 Geo-political significance
1.2 Climate
1.3 River
2 Demographics
3 Politics
4 Education
5 Road
6 Sports
7 Birthplace
8 Area of contamination
9 Healthcare
9.1 Main Festival
9.1.1 Other occations & fairs
10 Attractive place to visit
11 References
[edit]Geography

Bangaon is located at 23.07°N 88.82°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 7 metres (22 feet). It is the last station on the Sealdah-Bangaon section of Eastern Railway, 77 km from Sealdah Station.[2] It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system. The Sealdah – Bangaon railway was built between 1882 and 1884.[3]
[edit]Geo-political significance
Bongaon has border with Bangladesh. In Bongaon it is called Petrapole and in the Bangladesh side it is called Benapole. It is the most favoured road check post. The Indian Railway has started a weekly goods rail transport of 35 wagons, Sonar Bangla, from Bongaon. It was started by the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee under the National Democratic Alliance government. The route was established in 1884 and the Barisal Express operated passenger services till 1947. After the partition, a mixed service (passenger and goods) continued till the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. With the creation of Bangladesh, the goods train service was reintroduced for two years from 1972 but again closed for lack of goods. India and Bangladesh signed an agreement in July last to re- establish the train link. This was in line with the initiatives of the previous BNP Government, which formed a committee in 1994 to assess the feasibility. Officials said the route would cut short 63 km compared to the Darshana-Gethe track to Dhaka and facilitate smooth traffic of 7 lakh metric tonnes of expected import-export items in a year. According to the agreement, goods train from both sides would be allowed at Benapole and Petrapole from where the Bangladesh Railway and the Indian Railway would take wagons of their counterparts to the destination.Petrapole Border is the most Profitable Border among the whole Indo-Bangladesh border. Most Business of Bangladesh come from this Bordeer. [4]
[edit]Climate
Rainfall - 1,579mm(normal)
Temperature - Max 41 °C in May and Min 10 °C in January
Relative Humidity - Between 50% in March & 90% in July
Soil Status - varies from sandy to clay loam
Ratio of Land - High:Medium:Low = 17:44:39
[edit]River
Ichamati River goes through the Bongaon Subdivision.
[edit]Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[5] Bangaon had a population of 102,115. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Bangaon has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 55% of the males and 45% of females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. SC population is around 80-90%.
[edit]Politics

Gopal Seth son of Late Bhupemdranath Seth(Former MP of Bongaon) of Trinamool Congress won the Bangaon assembly seat in the 2009 by-sub-elections.The Sub-Election held because The former MLA Sougata Roy had to leave because he became the Central minister.
Bhupemdranath Seth of Trinamool Congress defeated Pankaj Ghosh of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in the 2006 state assembly elections. Pankaj Ghosh of CPI(M) defeated Bhupendranath Seth (Independent and Indian National Congress respectively) in 2001 and 1996. Bhupemdranath Seth of Congress defeated Ranajit Mitra of CPI(M) in 1991. Ranajit Mitra of CPI(M) defeated Bhupendranath Seth of Congress in 1987. Bhupendranath Seth of Congress defeated Ranajit Mitra of CPI(M) in 1982. Ranajit Mitra of CPI(M) defeated Bhupendranath Seth of Congress in 1977. [6]
Bongaon lok sabha is constituted of Bongaon,Bagdah,Gaighata,Kalyani,Swarupnagar,Haringhata and Chakdah. The seat is reserved for SC. Now it is commuted by TMC.
The Municipality is presently headed jointly by the All India Trinamool Congress and Congress party. and the current/working chairman of Bongaon municipality is Prasanta Kumar Bala. He has been elected from TMC.
[edit]Education

Among the schools, the Bongaon High School for boys (phone number - 03215 255144) and Kumudini Girls School for girls are one of the most sought after by students, though there are other good schools.By the way another high school Bongaon Kabi Kesheblal Vidyapith for Boys also has a good educational background. Bongaon high school have produced some brilliant students who have signed a lot in the whole world.Starting from Narendranath Mitra & Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay it has produced likes of Dr.Samir Kr Kanjilal to Dr.Dhiman Bhattacharyya in the recent past. Bongaon has a college named Dinabandhu Mahavidyalaya affiuliated to Calcutta University (Phone Number - 03215 255044).The name of the other Important schools are, Kabikashablal Vidya Pith,Saktigarh High school,Gourisundari Balika Vidyalaya etc
[edit]Road

National Highway No. 35,the jessore road goes through the Bongaon Subdivision. "Chakdah Road"(state highway no; 1) is the connector/Bypass between NH-34 and NH-35.
[edit]Sports

In sports and cultural activities Bongaon is very well in the State. There are many Playing grounds in Bongaon like 1. Stadium 2. Prataphgarh 3. Subash Pally's Math 4. BDO office's Play ground.5.avijan sangher math. Football and Cricket are the main game of Bongaon. Stadium is the main ground of Bongaon. Here mostly cricket and Football matches takes place. Other Fields are the Cricket Ground. Prataphgarh is main Cricket Ground. which is situated opposite of Bongaon Sub divisional Hospital.
[edit]Birthplace

Bongaon is the Birth place of famous novelist Bibhuti Bhusan Bandhopadhyay. His novel "Panther Pachali" was picturised by Satyajit Ray which was acknowledged & awarded nationally & internationally.His others novels like "Apur Sansar", "Aparajit" etc are also very famous. The house of Bibhuti Bhusan in Barackpore [5km away from the heart of the town] is a tourist place.Bongaon is also the birthplace of famous historian Rakhal Das Bandhopadhyay, who discovered "Harappa & Mahenjodaro" civilization on the bank of "sindhu" river. His house in Bongaon,near Patrapole] is also a tourist place. Dinabandhu Mitra also from here, He born in Chouberia in Bongaon, his "Neel Darpan" Drama against British Brutality in the field of Indiago Cultivation is very popular.
[edit]Area of contamination

Bongaon is one of the areas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination. [7]
[edit]Healthcare

Bongaon has a Government aided Hospital namely Dr. J. R. Dhar Sub Divisional Hospital.It has 200 beds and 30 doctors. As most of the people of this region are Below Poverty Line they get free treatments here. Some leading doctors of Bongaon are Dr.Sunirmal Mitra, Dr.Samir Kr. Kanjilal, Dr.Joydeb Mukherjee, Dr.D.Bahubalindra, Dr.M.N.Roy and many more. There are some private Nursing Homes in Bongaon.
[edit]Main Festival
"Durga Puja" is the main festival of . Some other important Festivals of the People are "Kali puja","Biswakarma Puja","Lokenath Puja", "Saraswati Puja","Holi" etc.

[edit]Other occations & fairs
Some popular fair or carnival of Bongaon is Sat-Bhai Kali Talar mela(held on january),Charaker mela(held on mid april,the bengali new

Saat bhai kali talar mela
year),Bongaon mela(also held on april) etc.
[edit]Attractive place to visit

In Bongaon There are some places for the visitors. You can find here the Birthplace / House of Bibhuti Bhusan Bandhapadhya. Here is a park on his name and The villagers of the area are very helpful. they always welcome everyone. This is a picnic spot for many visitors.
The another one is "Parmadan Forest". This forest is under State Forest department. Here you can see Deer, Different types of Birds (Mostly in Winter) , Different types of Monkey and many more.

Krishnanagar

2010-03-16T11:59:00.001-07:00

Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision (Bengali: কৃষ্ণনগর সদর মহকুমা), is a subdivision of the Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, India. It consists of Krishnanagar municipality, Nabadwip municipality and seven community development blocks: Kaliganj, Nakashipara, Chapra, Krishnanagar–I, Krishnanagar–II, Nabadwip and Krishnaganj. The seven blocks contain 77 gram panchayats and six census towns. The subdivision has its headquarters at Krishnanagar.
Contents [hide]
1 Area
2 Blocks
2.1 Kaliganj block
2.2 Nakashipara block
2.3 Chapra block
2.4 Krishnanagar–I block
2.5 Krishnanagar–II block
2.6 Nabadwip block
2.7 Krishnaganj block
3 Legislative segments
4 References
[edit]Area

Apart from the Krishnanagar municipality and Nabadwip municipality, the subdivision contains six census towns and rural areas of 77 gram panchayats under seven community development blocks: Kaliganj, Nakashipara, Chapra, Krishnanagar–I, Krishnanagar–II, Nabadwip and Krishnaganj.[1] The six census towns are: Jagadanandapur, Kshidirpur, Baruihuda, Bablari Dewanganj, Char Maijdia and Char Brahmanagar.[2]
[edit]Blocks

[edit]Kaliganj block
Rural area under Kaliganj block consists of 15 gram panchayats, viz. Barachandghar, Hatgachha, Mira–I, Palitbegia, Debagram, Juranpur, Mira–II, Panighata, Faridpur, Kaliganj, Plassey–I, Rajarampur Ghoraikhetra, Gobra, Matiari and Plassey–II.[1] There is no urban area under this block.[2] Kaliganj police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Dabgram.[4]
[edit]Nakashipara block
Rural area under Nakashipara block consists of 15 gram panchayats, viz. Bethua Dahari–I, Billwagram, Dharmada, Muragachha, Bethua Dahari–II, Birpur–I, Dogachhia, Nakasipara, Bikrampur, Birpur–II, Haranagar, Patikabari, Bilkumari, Dhananjaypur and Majhergram.[1] Urban area under this block consists of and two census town: Jagadanandapur and Kshidirpur.[2] Nakashipara police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Nakashipara.[4]
[edit]Chapra block
Rural area under Chapra block consists of 13 gram panchayats, viz. Alfa, Chapra–II, Hridaypur, Pipragachhi, Bagberia, Hatisala–I, Kalinga, Brittihuda, Hatisala–II, Mahatpur, Chapra–I, Hatkhola and Maheshpur.[1] There is no urban area under this block.[2] Chapra police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Bangaljhi.[4]
[edit]Krishnanagar–I block
Rural area under Krishnanagar–I block consists of 12 gram panchayats, viz. Assannagar, Bhatjungla, Dignagar, Joania, Bhaluka, Bhimpur, Dogachi, Poragachha, Bhandarkhola, Chakdilnagar, Daypara and Ruipukur.[1] Urban area under this block consists of one census town: Baruihuda.[2] Krishnanagar police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Krishnagar Road.[4]
[edit]Krishnanagar–II block
Rural area under Krishnanagar–II block consists of seven gram panchayats, viz. Belpukur, Dhubulia–II, Naopara–II, Sadhanpara–II, Dhubulia–I, Naopara–I and Sadhanpara–I.[1] There is no urban area under this block.[2] Dhubulia Investigation Centre police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Dhubulia.[4]
[edit]Nabadwip block
Rural area under Nabadwip block consists of eight gram panchayats, viz. Bablari, Mahisura, Mayapur Bamanpukur–II, Charmajdia Charbrahmanagar, Majdia Pansila, Mayapur Bamanpukur–I, Swarupganj and Fakirdanga Gholapara.[1] Urban area under this block consists of three census towns: Bablari Dewanganj, Char Maijdia and Char Brahmanagar.[2] Nabadwip police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Mahesganj.[4]
[edit]Krishnaganj block
Rural area under Krishnaganj block consists of seven gram panchayats, viz. Bhajanghat Tungi, Joyghata, Matiary Banpur, Taldah Majdia, Gobindapur, Krishnaganj and Shibnibas.[1] There is no urban area under this block.[2] Krishnaganj police station serves this block.[3] Headquarters of this block is in Krishnaganj.[4]
[edit]Legislative segments

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in West Bengal, four gram panchayats under the Nakashipara block, viz. Bikrampur, Bilkumari, Dhananjaypur and Haranagar, will be part of the area covered by the Palashipara assembly constituency of West Bengal. All other gram panchayats under this block, viz. Bethua Dahari–I, Bethua Dahari–II, Billwagram, Birpur–I, Birpur–II, Dharmada, Dogachhia, Majhergram, Muragachha, Nakasipara and Patikabari, will form the Nakashipara assembly constituency along with the gram panchayats of Palitbegia and Rajarampur Ghoraikhetra under the Kaliganj block. All other gram panchayats under the Kaliganj block, viz. Barachandghar, Debagram, Faridpur, Gobra, Hatgachha, Juranpur, Kaliganj, Matiari, Mira–I, Mira–II, Panighata, Plassey–I and Plassey–II, will form the Kaliganj assembly constituency. The area under the Chapra block will constitute the Chapra assembly constituency. The Krishnanagar municipality and five gram panchayats under the Krishnanagar–I block, viz. Bhandarkhola, Bhimpur, Assannagar, Dogachi and Poragachha, will form the Krishnanagar Uttar assembly constituency. The Nabadwip block, the Nabadwip municipality and two gram panchayats under the Krishnanagar–I block, viz. Joania and Bhaluka, will form the Nabadwip assembly constituency. The Krishnanagar–II block and five gram panchayats under the Krishnanagar–I block, viz. Bhatjungla, Dignagar, Chakdilnagar, Daypara and Ruipukur, will form the Krishnanagar South assembly constituency. The area under the Krishnaganj block will be part of the area covered by Krishnaganj assembly constituency, which will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Palashipara, Kaliganj, Nakashipara, Chapra, Krishnanagar Uttar and Nabadwip constituencies will be assembly segments of the Krishnanagar (Lok Sabha constituency). The assembly constituencies of Krishnanagar Dakshin and Krishnaganj will be part of the Ranaghat (Lok Sabha constituency), which will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.[5]