JASHORE, Jan 24, 2024 (BSS) - The 200th birth anniversary of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the legendary Bengali poet and father of the Bengali sonnet, will be observed here tomorrow (25 January).
 
On the occasion of the 200th birth anniversary of the great poet, a nine-day long 'Madhu Mela' has started from January 19 at Sagradandi on the banks of Kapotakkha Nad (river), said Keshabpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Tuhin Hossain.
 
Jashore district administration and Keshabpur upazila administration jointly organised the nine-day long 'Madhu Mela'. Famous poets and writers attended the discussion on life and work of Madhusudan Dutt at Madhumanch at the mela. About 400 stalls including rural cottage industry product, have been set up at the mela.
 
On January 25 in 1824, Madhusudan Dutt was born to landlord Raj Narayan Dutt and Janhabi Devi at Sagardari village under Keshabpur upazila in Jashore district.
 
Legendary poet Madhusudan, who is called Mahakobi (epic poet) for his tragic epic 'Meghnad Badh Kavya', earned name and fame in the arena of literature for his extraordinary creative works.
 
Madhusudan 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). His first attempt at blank verse was 'Sharmistha' in Bengali literature.
 
"Always, o river, you peep in my mind/ Always I think you in this
loneliness/ Always I soothe my ears with the murmur/ Of your waters in illusion, the way/ Men hear songs of illusion in a dream," are a few lines of his extraordinary creation 'Kapotakkha Nad' in which he showed his deep love towards his country and the river.
 
Apart from his outstanding talent in authoring poems, Madhusudan Dutt showed prodigious skills as a playwright as he was the first to write Bengali plays in the English style, segregating the play into acts and scenes.
 
He was also the pioneer of the first satirical plays in Bengali literature.'Buro Shaliker Ghare Ron' and 'Ekei Ki Boley Sabhyota' are among his famous satirical plays.
 
Kaliprasanna Singha, who is famous for his translation of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata into Bengali, organised a felicitation ceremony to Madhusudan Dutt to mark the introduction of blank verse in Bengali poetry.
 
His most famous literary work is the sonnet "Kapotakkha Nad". Kapotakkha Nad (river) flows through Jashore, the poet's ancestral home.
Madhusudan was a gifted linguist and polyglot as he studied Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit.
 
Madhusudan passed away at Kolkata on June 29, 1873 at the age of 49, only three days after his wife Henrietta breathed her last. The poet was buried in Kolkata.