Michael Madhusudan Dutt was an important figure of the Bengali Renaissance who helped place Bengali literature on the throne it holds at present. He was hailed as the greatest poet of the Bengali language, until the advent of Rabindranath Tagore. Even now, he is considered one of the greatest poets of Bengal.
To pay a humble tribute to the prolific poet and dramatist on his 193rd birth anniversary, Dokhin Duyar has organised a cultural programme today at the Rameshchandra Dutt Smrity Auditorium of Chhayanaut Bhavan in the capital’s Dhanmondi area. The programme will feature poetry recitation, reciting poems of Madhusudan Dutt and review, music and performance. The programme will begin with a chorus rendition ‘Rekho Ma Dasere Mone’. Then, Abdud Sobur Khan will read out the biography of the poet, while Dr Ratan Siddique will review Madhusudan Dutt ‘s ‘Banga Bhasha’. Kazi Chopol will recite the poem from ‘Meghnad Badh Kavya’, while Kazi Shila, Musa Kolim and Sukumar Das will perform music at the event.
On the other hand, Abdus Sobur Khan, Kazi Shila, Hasan Tareque, Sumon Ghosh will read out Madhusudan Dutt ‘s ‘Buro Shaliker Ghare Row’. Subarna Arefin and Pulok Raha will recite poems, while Mukta Thakur will perform dance with the song ‘Nachichhe Shikhi Sukhe’.
Madhusudan, the first Bengali rebel and modern poet, was born into an aristocratic family on the January 25, 1824 in Sagordari, a village on the bank of Kopotakkho River in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore district.
His major works are Tilottama (1860), the first blank verse in Bangla, Padmaboti (1860), his first comedy in Bangla, Krishna Kumari (1861), first historical and tragic play), Meghnad Bodh Kavya, Birangana, Choturdoshpodi Kobitaboli, Brajangngana, Sharmishtha, Ekei Ki Bole Sovyota, Buro Shaliker Ghare Rown, Ratnavali, Rizia, The Sultana of Inde, The Captive Lady, Visions of the Past, Rosalo Sornolatika, Bongobani, Sonnets and other poems. He was the first to write Bengali plays in the English style, segregating the drama into acts and scenes. He was also the pioneer of the first satirical plays in Bengali – ‘Buro Shaliker Ghare Row’ and ‘Ekei Ki Bole Sovyota’ (Is this what we call civilisation?).