The 190th birth anniversary of great poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutta is being celebrated at Sagardari under Keshabpur upazila in Jessore today. The Jessore district administration has chalked out an elaborate programme to mark the day. A week-long Madhu Fair will be held at the birth place of the legendary poet.
Ismat Ara Sadeq, state minister for public administration inaugurated the fair which has been colourfully decorated. People from all walks of life are pouring in to show respect to the poet and to enjoy the fair overnight.
The celebrations programme includes different programmes like puppet shows, jatra, circus, traditional sports, cultural programmes, seminars and discussion sessions on the life and works of the poet. A series of makeshift stalls have been installed at the venue where visitors can buy different traditional textile and cottage industry products.
Cultural troupes and business people from all over the country have gathered at the venue to celebrate the day.
Michael Madhusudan Dutta was born at Sagardari under Keshabpur upazila in Jessore on January 25, 1824. He was born to the land lord Raj Narayan Dutta and Janhabi Devi. He died at Kolkata General Hospital on June 29, 1873. He is buried at Park Street, Kolkata, India.
From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu Bengali family landed-gentry family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. In later life he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period. However he is specially known for the famous epic Meghnadbadh Kabya (1861), which is a tragic epic consisting nine cantersary os and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content.
Michael Madhusudan Dutta is also the writer of a number of dramas, poetry books, translated books and others literary works. His literary works include Sharmishtha (1859), Ekei Ki Bale Shabhyata (1860), Bure Shaleker Ghare Roan (1860), Padmabati (1860), Tilattama Shambhab (1860), Krishnakumari (1861), Nil Darpan (1861), Hectar Badh (1871), Mayakanan (1874), The Captive Lady (1849) and so on.
For his contributions, Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse).
-With New Age input
