https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Hemanga_BiswasHemanga Biswas - Revision history2026-07-31T14:56:20ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Hemanga_Biswas&diff=290922&oldid=prev->Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan at 08:00, 18 December 20212021-12-18T08:00:35Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}<br />
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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = <!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name -->Hemanga Biswas<br />
| native_name_lang = bn<br />
| image = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] -->Hemango Biswas in the 1980s.TIF<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = Biswas in the 1980s<br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1912|12|14}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Habiganj]], [[Assam Province]], [[British India]] (Present-day Bangladesh)<br />
| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1987|11|22}}<br />
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]<br />
| nationality = Indian<br />
| occupation = Musician, author, political activist<br />
| spouse = Ranu Dutta<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Late-singers-wife-found-dead-in-pond/articleshow/12575890.cms |title=Late singer's wife found dead in pond |work=The Times of India |access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref><br />
| children = 2<br />
}}<br />
'''Hemanga Biswas''' (14 December 1912 – 22 November 1987) was an Indian singer, composer, author and political activist, known for his literature in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Assamese language|Assamese]], advocacy of peoples music, drawing from genres of folk music, including [[Bhatiali]] originally popular among the fishermen of Bengal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sos-arsenic.net/lovingbengal/songs.html |title=Jasimuddin.org |publisher=Sos-arsenic.net |access-date=2012-10-10}}</ref><br />
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== Early life ==<br />
Biswas was born in Habiganj, Sylhet, British India (now in [[Bangladesh]]) on 14 December 1912 to Harakumar and Sarojini Biswas. He went to the Middle English School in Habiganj. He studied in the George Institution of [[Dibrugarh]] from 1925 to 1927 when [[Nilmoni Phukan]] was its headmaster. There he became interested in [[Culture of Assam|Assamese culture]]. He attended Habiganj Government High School in 1930. He also studied in [[Murari Chand College|MC College]], [[Sylhet]] from 1930–1931. Biswas embraced the values of [[communism]] during his college years, and wrote poems and plays on equal rights. During this time he started performing "gana sangeet." He did not complete his formal education. Biswas became involved in a movement to ensure the rights of tea garden laborers, farmers, and the underprivileged throughout the region. For his political convictions, he was arrested in 1930. He was also associated with the [[Indian People's Theatre Association]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shrivastava |title=Broadcast Journalism |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Limited |year=2008 |isbn=9788120735972}}</ref><br />
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==Musical work==<br />
[[File:Hemango with Debabrata Biswas, Omar Sheikh, Niranjan Sen and others. Pic courtesy Hemango Biswas's family.tif|thumb|Hemanga with Debabrata Biswas, Omar Sheikh, Niranjan Sen and others.]]<br />
Hemanga Biswas was responsible for a number of popular Bengali songs. A fierce debate once ensued between [[Salil Choudhury]] and him on the method of translating the ideal of people's art:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/17392882/PaperAesthetics-and-Politics |title=Paper-Aesthetics and Politics |publisher=Scribd.com |date=2009-07-16 |access-date=2012-10-10}}</ref><br />
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He sang a duet with [[Bhupen Hazarika]], [[Debabrata Biswas]] and [[Pete Seeger]]. Through his music, he had hoped to motivate the masses to fight for their rights, for them to be united, and for them to be vocal against any form of corruption. His beliefs in equal rights for all led him to repeatedly try to request and urge the then Congress Government headed by Siddhartha Shankar Roy to extend a helping hand to the labour class people. ''[[Banchbo Re Banchbo Amra]]'' was composed to motivate the laborers to improve their standard of living. His translation of ''[[The Internationale]]'' into Bengali and his singing of such songs as ''Amra Karbo Joy, Ajadi Hoyni Tor,'' and ''Negro Bhai Amar'' aided the Bengali leftist movement.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/ipta-tribute-to-folk-artiste-hemanga-biswas-s-birth-centenary-celebrations-begin/cid/474724 |title=IPTA tribute to folk artiste - Hemanga Biswas's birth centenary celebrations begin |work=The Telegraph |location=Kolkata |language=en |access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-64753 |title=Death anniversary of Hemanga Biswas observed in Sylhet |date=2008-11-25 |work=The Daily Star |language=en |access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref><br />
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He was influenced by [[Bhawaiya]] and [[Bhatiali]], and generated his own style, which combined those folk traditions with Sylhet culture's, which he called [[Bahirana musical style|Bahirana]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kaahon.com/folk/rongili-notifies-distinct-music-style-hemanga-biswas/ |title=Rongili notifies the distinct music style of Hemanga Biswas |website=Kaahon |language=en-US |access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref><br />
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==Movies==<br />
Hemanga Biswas was the playback singer in ''[[Meghe Dhaka Tara]]'' (The Cloud Capped Star) (1960), ''Lalon Fakir'' (Deha Tari Dilam Chhariyo), Utpal Datta's ''Kallol'', and [[Artistic depictions of the partition of India#Komal Gandhar (E Flat)|''Komal Gandhar'']].<br />
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==Partial discography==<br />
* ''Hemanga Biswaser Gaan''<br />
* ''Shankhachil''<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
===Bengali===<br />
* ''Shankhachiler Gaan''<br />
* ''Hemanga Biswaser Gaan''<br />
* ''Lokasangeet Samiksha''<br />
* ''Bangla O Assam''<br />
* ''Abar Chin Dekhe Elam''<br />
<br />
===Assamese===<br />
* ''Kul Khurar Sutal''<br />
* ''Akou Sin Sai Ahilu''<br />
* ''Jiwon Xilpi Jyoti Prasad''<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]]<br />
*[[The Internationale]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*{{imdbname|0084438|Hemanga Biswas}}<br />
*[http://www.esnips.com/web/HemangoBiswas-ergaan?docsPage=1#files Listen Songs by Hemango Biswas]<br />
*[http://sih.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/21/1/79.pdf Rhyming Revolution: Marxism and Culture in Colonial Bengal]<br />
*[https://www.scribd.com/doc/66883215/Mass-Commune Translated chapter from Biswas's travelogue: "Abar Chin Dekhe Elam" (Trip To China Again), 1975] <br />
*[https://archive.today/20130129184634/http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/timeout/40938.html Hemango Biswas’s popular songs presented at University of Dhaka, in Bangladesh, celebrating his 99th birth anniversary]<br />
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[[Category:Bengali singers]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali-language singers]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali playback singers]]<br />
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]<br />
[[Category:1912 births]]<br />
[[Category:1987 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian male singers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian folk singers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian folk-song collectors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian folk musicians]]<br />
[[Category:Indian People's Theatre Association people]]<br />
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal]]</div>->Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan