Michael Madhusudan Dutt. File Photo

DHAKA, Jan 24, 2025 (BSS) – The 201st birth anniversary of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the legendary Bengali poet and father of the Bengali sonnet, will be observed tomorrow through various programmes in the country.

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.

To mark the birthday of this great poet, a week-long 'Madhu Mela' has started from Friday (January 24) at Sagardari village. 

The Jashore District Administration in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is organizing the 'Madhu Mela'. 

The 'Madhu Mela' has been organized at Sagardari, the sacred birthplace of the poet, on the banks of Kapotakkha Nad (river) since 1973 as a sign of expressing profound respect and love towards Madhusudan Dutta who is considered as the beacon of modernity in Bengali literature.   

Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md. Firoz Sarkar officially inaugurated the ‘mela’ on Frida.  Many famous poets and writers are expected to gather at Madhumanch at the mela (fair) to take part in discussions aiming to highlight the life and works of Madhusudan Dutt. People can also visit many stalls set up in the fair premises.

On the eve of the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus have issued separate messages paying rich tributes to poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt.

Both of them wished all programmes taken on the birth anniversary of the poet a success.

The Chief Adviser welcomed the initiative of organizing the seven-day 'Madhusudan Janma Utsab' and 'Madhumela 2025' at Sagardari in Jashore district marking the poet’s birth anniversary. 

Madhusudan Dutt pioneered what came to be called 'Amitrakshar Chhanda' (blank verse). His first attempt at blank verse was 'Sharmistha' in Bengali literature.

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.