https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bharatendu_HarishchandraBharatendu Harishchandra - Revision history2026-07-31T13:12:23ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Bharatendu_Harishchandra&diff=207218&oldid=prev>Uranium Site at 05:25, 12 September 20212021-09-12T05:25:50Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian writer}}<br />
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{{Infobox writer<br />
|name = Bharatendu Harishchandra<br />
|image = Bharatendu Harishchandra 1976 stamp of India.jpg<br />
|imagesize = <br />
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1850|9|9}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Benares]], [[Benares State]], [[British India]]<br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1885|1|6|1850|9|9}}<br />
|death_place = [[Benares]], [[Benares State]], [[British India]]<br />
|occupation = Novelist, poet, playwright<br />
|penname = Rasa<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Bharatendu Harishchandra''' (9 September 1850{{spaced ndash}}6 January 1885) was an Indian poet, writer and playwright. He was an author of several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts; he used new media such as reports, publications, letters to the editor, translations, and literary works to shape public opinion.<ref>Vasudha Dalmia, ''Poetics, Plays and Performances: The Politics of Modern Indian Theatre,'' New Delhi, Oxford University Press (2006) {{ISBN|0-19-567473-1}}</ref><ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2002" /><br />
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Writing under the [[pen name]] "Rasa", Harishchandra represented the agonies of the people, the country's poverty, dependency, inhuman exploitation, the unrest of the middle class and the urge for the progress of the country. He was an influential [[Hindu]] "traditionalist", using [[Vaishnava]] devotionalism to define a coherent Hindu religion.<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2002" /><br />
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Bharatendu Harishchandra is often considered the father of [[Hindi literature]] and [[Hindi theatre]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Diana Dimitrova|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FA9qAKpUtTIC&q=Hindi+theatre|title=Western tradition and naturalistic Hindi theatre|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2004|isbn=0-8204-6822-3|page=14|ref=Dm}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sandria B. Freitag|title=Culture and power in Banaras: community, performance, and environment, 1800–1980|publisher=University of California Press|year=1989|isbn=0-520-06367-8|page=78|chapter=Chapter 2: The Birth of Hindi Drama in Banaras: 1868–1885, by Kathryn Hansen|ref=Han|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RAaBmHA9uUC&pg=PA62}}<br />
</ref><br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Born into the [[Agrawal]] caste in [[Banaras]], Bharatendu Harishchandra's father Gopal Chandra was a poet. His ancestors were landlords in Bengal.<ref name="Awadesh Pradhan 2009" /> His parents died when he was young but they seem to have had an influence on him. [[Acharya Shukla|Acharya Ramchandra Shukla]] has described how Bharatendu went to the [[Jagannath Temple (Puri)|Jagannath temple]] in Puri, Orissa with his family in 1865, when he was merely 15 years of age.<ref>Ramchandra Shukla, ''Hindi Sahitya ka Itihaas (History of Hindi Literature)'', 1928.</ref> During this trip he was influenced by the [[Bengal Renaissance]] and decided to bring the genres of social, historical, and [[Puranas|Puranic]] plays and novels into Hindi. This influence reflected in his Hindi translation of the Bengali drama ''[[Ramprasad Sen|Vidyasundar]],'' three years later, in 1868.<br />
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Harishchandra edited the magazines ''Kavi Vachan Sudha'', ''Harishchandra Magazine'', ''Harishchandra Patrika'' and ''Bal Vodhini.''<ref>{{cite book|author=Vasudha Dalmia|title=The nationalization of Hindu traditions : Bharatendu Harischandra and nineteenth-century Banaras|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1997|isbn=0-19-563961-8|location=Delhi; New York}}</ref><br />
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He wrote under the pseudonym Girdhar Das. He was titled "Bharatendu" ("The moon of India") at a public meeting by scholars of [[Banaras|Kashi]] in 1880 in recognition of his services as a writer, patron, and moderniser. [[Ram Vilas Sharma]] refers to the "great literary awakening ushered in under Bharatendu's leadership" as the "second storey of the edifice of renascent Hindi", the first being the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref name="Awadesh Pradhan 2009">Awadesh Pradhan, ''The Spiritual and Cultural Ethos of Modern Hindi Literature'', Prabuddha Bharata, July 2009.</ref><br />
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He was married and had one daughter.<br />
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== Hindu traditionalism ==<br />
According to [[Barbara Metcalf|Barbara]] and [[Thomas R. Metcalf]], Bharatendu Harishchandra is considered an influential example of Hindu "traditionalist" in north India, typifying continuity with received tradition and self-conscious participation with the modern world. He was typical of those Indians who engaged with Western institutions and learning. He used new media, especially publications to shape public opinion. Harishchandra was also typical of revivalists of Hindi literature which were closely connected with Hindu revivalist movements. He "combined pleas for [the] use of [[Swadeshi]] articles with [[Hindi–Urdu controversy#Hindi and Urdu movements|demands for replacement of Urdu by Hindi]] in courts and a ban on [[cow slaughter]]".<ref name="Sarkar1983">{{cite book|author=Sumit Sarkar|title=Modern India, 1885–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1uBQgAACAAJ|date=1 January 1983|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-90425-1|page=70}}</ref> He used [[Vaishnava]] devotionalism to define a coherent [[Hindu]] religion, with a base in the Kashi Dharma Sabha, started in the 1860s by the [[Narayan dynasty#Rajas of Benares: .281770.E2.80.931939.29|Maharaja of Benares]] as a response to more radical Hindu reformist movements.<br />
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He also went to [[Delhi Durbar]] on behalf of [[Narayan dynasty|Maharaja of Benares]] asking for a legal ban on cow slaughter. He also drew a petition on the same later and according to Sahay ([1905] 1975: 84) had 60,000 signatories and was submitted to Lord lytton but no action was taken however this proved to be of lasting significance and he was given the title "Vir Vaishnava"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalmia|first=Vashudha|title=Bharatendu Harischandra And Nineteenth Century|year=1997|location=New Delhi|pages=370}}</ref> <br />
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Harishchandra insisted on the value of image worship and interpreted [[Bhakti]] as devotion to a single god; this was in response to Orientalist and Christian critiques of Hinduism.<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2002">{{cite book|author1=Barbara D. Metcalf|author2=Thomas R. Metcalf|title=A Concise History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGCBNTDv7acC|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-63974-3|page=143}}</ref><br />
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== Major works==<br />
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=== Plays ===<br />
Bharatendu Harishchandra soon become a director, manager, and playwright. He used theatre as a tool to shape public opinion. His major plays are:<br />
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* ''[[Vaidika Himsa Himsa Na Bhavati]]'', 1873 (वैदिक हिंसा हिंसा न भवति)<br />
* ''Satya Harishchandra'', 1876 (सत्य हरिश्चन्द्र)<br />
* ''[[Bharat Durdasha]]'', 1875<br />
* ''Niladevi'', 1881 (नीलदेवी)<br />
* ''[[Andher Nagari]]'' (अन्धेर नगरी, City of Darkness), 1881: A popular play of modern Hindi drama and a political satire. Translated and performed in many Indian languages by prominent Indian directors like [[B. V. Karanth]], [[Prasanna (theatre director)|Prasanna]], [[Arvind Gaur]] and Sanjay Upadhyaya.<br />
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===Poetry===<br />
* Bhakta Sarvagya (भक्त सर्वज्ञ)<br />
* Prem Malika (प्रेम मालिका), 1872<br />
* Prem Madhuri (प्रेम माधुरी), 1875<br />
* Prem Tarang (प्रेम तरंग),1877<br />
* Prem Prakalpa (प्रेम प्रकल्प), Prem Phulwari (प्रेम फुलवारी) and Prem Sarowar (प्रेम सरोवर), 1883<br />
* Holi (होली), (1874)<br />
* Madhumukul (मधुमुकुल), 1881<br />
* Raga Sangrah (राग संग्रह), 1880<br />
* Varsha Vinod (वर्षा विनोद), 1880<br />
* Vinay Prem Pachasa (विनय प्रेम पचासा), 1881<br />
* Phulon Ka Guchchha (फूलों का गुच्छा), 1882<br />
* Chandravali (चन्द्रावली), 1876 and Krishnacharitra (कृष्णचरित्र), 1883<br />
* Uttarardha Bhaktamal (उत्तरार्द्ध भक्तमाल), 1876–77<br />
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==== Couplets ====<br />
The following two rhyming couplets are taken from his famous poem, मातृ-भाषा के प्रति (For the Sake of Mother-Tongue or Towards Mother-Tongue). It has ten couplets. The poet asserts the importance of using mother tongue as a medium of instruction{{mdash}}conversational and educational.<br />
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{{quote|<br />
निज भाषा उन्नति अहै, सब उन्नति को मूल ।<br><br />
बिन निज भाषा-ज्ञान के, मिटत न हिय को सूल ।।<br />
<br />
विविध कला शिक्षा अमित, ज्ञान अनेक प्रकार।<br><br />
सब देसन से लै करहू, भाषा माहि प्रचार ।।<br />
<br />
Translation:<br><br />
Progress is made in one's own language (the mother tongue), as it the foundation of all progress.<br><br />
Without the knowledge of the mother tongue, there is no cure for the pain of heart.<br />
Many arts and education infinite, knowledge of various kinds.<br> Should be taken from all countries, but be propagated in one's mother tongue.}}<br />
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===Translations===<br />
{{expand list|date=August 2014}}<br />
* [[Harsha]]'s [[Ratnavali]] (रत्नावली)<br />
* [[Vishakhadatta]]'s [[Mudrarakshasa]] (मुद्राराक्षस)<br />
* [[Ramprasad Sen]]'s Vidyasundar (विद्यासुन्दर) from Bengali<br />
* Karpuramanjari (कर्पूरमञ्जरी) from Prakrit<br />
* [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Merchant of Venice]]'' as Durlabh Bandhu (दुर्लभ बन्धु) ''Invaluable Friend''<br />
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===Essay collection===<br />
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* Bharatendu Granthavali (भारतेन्दु ग्रन्थावली), 1885<br />
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== Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards ==<br />
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India gives the [[Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards]] since 1983 to promote original writings in Hindi [[mass communication]].<ref>{{cite press release|publisher=Indian Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|date=8 January 2003|title=Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards Presented|url=http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/rjan2003/08012003/r0801200311.html}}</ref><br />
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== See also ==<br />
* [[Bharatendu Academy of Dramatic Arts|Bharatendu Natya Academy]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Bharatendu Harishchandra}}<br />
* {{Librivox author |id=9644}}<br />
*{{OL author}}<br />
* [http://www.kavitakosh.org/kk/index.php?title=भारतेंदु_हरिश्चंद्र Bharatendu Harishchandra] at Kavita Kosh (Hindi)<br />
* [http://www.gadyakosh.org/gk/भारतेंदु_हरिश्चंद्र Plays of Bharatendu Harishchandra] at Gadya Kosh<br />
* [http://manaskriti.com/kaavyaalaya/bhrtendu1.stm Poetry by Bharatendu]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harishchandra, Bharatendu}}<br />
[[Category:1850 births]]<br />
[[Category:1885 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Varanasi]]<br />
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[[Category:Hindi journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]<br />
[[Category:Hindi theatre]]<br />
[[Category:Indian magazine editors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian journalists]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian novelists]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian male actors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male poets]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]<br />
[[Category:Journalists from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
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