>DayakSibiriak at 08:52, 13 March 2021

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{{Infobox person
| name = Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor
| image =Memorial of Bharat chandra.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =Bharatchandra memorial, Debanandapur, Hooghly
| birth_date = 1712
| birth_place = Penro-Bhurshut village,(present-day [[Howrah district]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]])<ref name="i">{{cite book|last1=Sengupta|first1=Subodh Chandra|last2=Bose|first2=Anjali|title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan|lang=Bengali|publisher=Sishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt. Ltd.|date=1976|page=374}}</ref>
| death_date = 1760
| death_place = Mulajore, (present-day [[Shyamnagar, West Bengal|Shyamnagar]], [[North 24 Parganas district]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| occupation = Poet, song composer
| spouse = Radha Devi
}}

'''Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor''' ({{lang-bn|ভারতচন্দ্র রায় গুণাকর}}; 1712–1760) was an 18th-century [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Sanskrit]] [[Sakta]] court poet and song composer. He is mostly known for his poetic work, ''[[Annadamangal]]'' or ''Annapurnamangal''.<ref name="sen">Sen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.II, {{in lang|bn}}, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, {{ISBN|81-7215-025-3}}, pp.424-32</ref><ref name = "Bose377">Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976/1998), ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, {{in lang|bn}}, p 377, {{ISBN|81-85626-65-0}}</ref> He is often referred to simply as Bharatchandra. Maharaja Krishnachandra of Nadia conferred him with the title Gunakor, after which he became famous as '''Ray Gunakor Bharatchandra'''.<ref name = "bharat_grathabali">Chakraborty, Shree Natabar (publisher), (1905/1906), ''Bharatchandrer Granthabali'', {{in lang|bn}}, p 19</ref>

==Early years==
Bharatchandra was born to Narendranarayan Ray and Bhavani Devi in Penro-Bhurshut village (in the present-day [[Howrah district]]) which is currently near Amta, Howrah area. He was youngest of the four children. His father entered a property dispute with the Raja of Bardhaman, and in the process disrespected Raja Kirti Chandra Ray's mother Rani Bishnukumari. As a result, they took away all his lands. A penniless Narendranarayan fled away, while Bharatchandra was taken to his maternal uncle's home in Naoapara. While staying there he learned Sanskrit at the nearby village of Tajpur. When he was 14 he mastered the language and married the daughter of Narottam Acharya of nearby Sarada village.

On returning home his elder brothers mocked him for learning [[Sanskrit]] as they thought the language would be of no use for them. Bharatchandra felt bad and left home for West Debanandpur, a village in Bashberia area of [[Hooghly district]]. There, while living in Ramchandra Munshi's house, he mastered Persian. After his education, he worked as a Mokhtar to facilitate his paternal household's property management. He had to leave his ancestral home because of property disputes and marriage of his own choice. He roamed from place to place. He passed some time in [[Cuttack]], Orissa in the domain of the Maratha power. Later he went back to Bengal.<ref name = "bharat_grathabali_2">Chakraborty, Shree Natabar (publisher), (1905/1906), ''Bharatchandrer Granthabali'', {{in lang|bn}}, p 10 - 15</ref>

==Court poet of Maharaja Krishnachandra==
When Bharatchandra was residing in the house of [[Indranarayan Chaudhury]], the [[Diwan (title)|Diwan]] of the French government at [[Chandernagore]], his talent was noticed by [[Maharaja Krishnachandra]] of [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]] and Bharatchandra became his court poet. He was bestowed with the title '''''Raygunakar''''' and received huge amount of land in [[Shyamnagar, West Bengal|Mulajore]] from Krishnachandra. He was the first poet in the [[Bengali language]] to be identified as a people's poet, and lent a new grace and beauty to the language.<ref name="sen"/><ref name = "Bose377"/>

==Works==
The most notable work of Bharatchandra is ''[[Annada Mangal|Annadamangal]]'' or ''Annapurnamangal''. This work, completed in 1752, is divided into three parts. The first part, which eulogises the goddess [[Annapurna]] is known as ''Annadamangal''. The second part, which narrates the story of Vidya and Sundar is known as ''Kalikamangal'' and the third and the final part, which narrates the story of [[Man Singh I]] and Bhavananda Majumdar is known as ''Annapurnamangal''. His another work, ''Rasamanjari'' is a Bengali-language adaptation of a [[Maithili language|Maithili]] work of the same name written by Bhanudatta. ''Nagashtaka'', a bi-lingual poetic work in Sanskrit and Bengali, shows his mastery over Sanskrit metres. His other notable works include: ''Gangashtaka'' in Sanskrit, ''Satyanarayan Panchali'' and an incomplete work, ''Chandi Natak''.<ref name="sen"/>

==Songs==
Bharatchandra was the true representative of the transition of Bengali music from medieval to modern age. He was well versed in classical music, a skill he possibly acquired in the court of the Maharaja Krishnachandra. While he adopted the line of ''mangalgan'' (song of bliss) which was traditionally dedicated to the gods and goddesses, he attempted to liberate the poetical as well as musical compositions of Bengal from the hold of gods and goddesses and infused a human touch into them. Many of the songs he composed as part of long poetic works were on their own lyrical and could be sung independently. Bharatchandra may also be regarded as a pioneer in composing songs on Radha-Krishna love theme in raga musical form outside the area of ''padavali kirtan''. In a way he is considered the forerunner of [[Ramprasad Sen]] and Ramnidhi Gupta (popular as [[Nidhu Babu]]).<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.amrakojon.org/kg.html
| title = Music
| accessdate = 2007-03-02
| last = Goswami
| first = Karunamaya
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070321042702/http://www.amrakojon.org/kg.html
| archivedate = 21 March 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

==Translations==
[[Gerasim Lebedev]] translated a portion of Bharatchandra's ''Annadamangal'' into Russian.<ref name=banglapedia1>{{cite book
|last=Ghosh |first=Prodyot |year=2012
|chapter=Lebedeff, Gerasim Steppanovich
|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Lebedeff,_Gerasim_Steppanovich
|editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> He also borrowed from the lyrics composed by Bharatchandra for the musical composition of the two translated plays he stage in Kolkata.<ref name=banglapedia1/><ref name=bharatchandra>{{Cite web
| url = http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199580
| title = Staging a recovery
| accessdate = 2006-12-09
| last = Ghosh
| first = Swarnab
| date = 2006-09-03
| work = The Real Page 3
| publisher = Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070320022052/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199580
| archive-date = 2007-03-20
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite book |last=Raychaudhuri |first=Tapan |year=2012 |chapter=Bharatchandra Ray |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bharatchandra_Ray |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1712 births]]
[[Category:1760 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Bengali-language poets]]
[[Category:Bengali male poets]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Hindu poets]]
[[Category:Bhakti movement]]
[[Category:Shaktas]]
[[Category:People from Howrah district]]

Bharatchandra Ray - Revision history

>DayakSibiriak at 08:52, 13 March 2021