Ghanaram Chakrabarty (; c. 1669–?) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the

Early Modern Era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...

and the greatest contributor to the

Dharmamangalkavya The Dharmamangal () is an important subgenre of mangalkavya, with narratives of local deities of rural Bengal, the most significant genre of medieval Bengali literature. The texts belonging to this subgenre eulogize Dharmathakur, a folk deity worsh ...

tradition of

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

. He was greeted by his

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

as ''Kabiratna'' ("The Jewel of the Poets"). His work, ''Anadi Mangal'' (), also known as ''Sri Dharma Sangeet'', was probably composed in 1711. Chakrabarty was born to Gourikanta Chakrabarty and Sita Devi at Krishnapur kukura village on

Damodar River Damodar River (Pron: /ˈdʌmoˌdaː/) is a river flowing across the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. The valley is rich in mineral resources and is known for large-scale mining and industrial activity. It was also known as the Sorrow o ...

in modern-day

Purba Bardhaman district Purba Bardhaman district is in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its headquarters is in Bardhaman. It was formed on 7 April 2017 after the division of the previous Bardhaman district. Great revolutionary Rash Behari Bose was born in village Suba ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of Paschimbanga (

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

). He was sent to a ''pathshala'' (traditional village primary school in Bengal) at Rampur. Later he was patronised by Kirtichandra, the

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Bardhaman Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...

. He had four sons: Rampriyo, Ramgopal, Ramgobindo and Ramokrishno. Although he eulogises

Dharmathakur Dharmathakur (also called, Dharmaraj or simply Dharma) is a Hindu deities, Hindu deity of death and justice, worshipped by villagers in the traditional Rarh region in the present day Indian state of West Bengal as one of their special village go ...

in his poem, Chakrabarty was a devotee of

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

. In his version of Dharmamangalkavya, many incidents from the ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' and the ''

Bhagavata The Bhagavata (; , IAST: ''Bhāgavata'' ) tradition, also called Bhagavatism (), is an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism becam ...

'' are also described. Two major tales of Dharmamangalkavya i.e. the tales of Harishchandra and Lausen are told in 24 ''palas'' (Cantos) which are further subdivided into 9147 ''shlokas'' in his poem. Chakrabarty also composed ''Satyanarayana Sindhu'', a ''panchali'' (small

narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may ...

) eulogising Satyanarayana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakrabarty, Ghanaram 1660s births Poets from the Mughal Empire 18th-century Bengali poets Bengali male poets People from Purba Bardhaman district 18th-century deaths Bengali Hindus Bengali-language writers 17th-century Bengalis