Bharatendu Harishchandra
Encyclopedia
Bharatendu Harishchandra (भारतेन्दु हरिश्चन्द्र) (September 9, 1850 January 6, 1885) is known as the father of modern Hindi literature
as well as Hindi theatre
. He is considered one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India
. A recognized poet, he was also a trend setter in Hindi prose-writing. As an author of several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts, Bharatendu Harishchandra represents the agonies of the people, country's poverty, dependency, inhuman exploitation, the unrest of the middle class and the urge for the progress of the country. He wrote under the pen name "Rasa".
in Puri, Orissa with his family in 1865, when he was merely fifteen years of age. It was during this trip that he was influenced by the Bengal Renaissance
and decided to bring the genres of social, historical, and Puranic plays and novels into Hindi. This influence reflected in his Hindi translation of the Bengali drama Vidyasundar, just three years later, in 1868.
Bharatendu devoted his life to the development of Hindi literature. In recognition of his services as a writer, patron and modernizer, the title of "Bharatendu" was conferred on him at a public meeting by scholars of Kashi in 1880. Reputed literary critic Ramvilas Sharma refers to the "great literary awakening ushered in under Bharatendu's leadership" as the "second storey of the edifice of renascent Hindi," the first being the Indian Rebellion of 1857
.
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Bharatendu Harishchandra was multi-faceted. He made major contributions in the field of journalism
, drama
, and poetry
. He edited the magazines Kavi Vachan Sudha, Harishchandra Patrika, Harishchandra Magazine and Bal Vodhini. He was a member of the Chowdhury family of Varanasi
belonging to the Agrawal
community and his home there is still in use. His ancestors were landlords in Bengal. He had one daughter. He wrote the widely mentioned history of the Agrawal
community.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India
gives Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards since 1983 to promote original writings in Hindi mass communication
.
His great granddaughter Pratibha Agarwal, (b. 1930), a Hindi writer, co-founded theatre group Anamika in Kolkata in 1955, with theatre director Shyamanand Jalan
, which played a pioneering role in the revival of Hindi theatre and later remained director of Natya Sodha Sansthan.
Bharatendu Harishchandra entered in theatre activity as an actor and soon become director, manager, and playwright. He used theatre as a tool to aware Indian society. his major plays are-
1-Vaidiki himsa hitnsa na bhavati ,1873 ( वैदिक हिंसा हिसा न भवति )
2-Bharat durdasha ,1875 (भारत दुर्दशा)
3-The mythological classic Satya Harishchandra i.e. `Truthful Harishchandra` in 1876
4-Neel devi ,1881 (नीलदेवी)
5-The political Andher nagari i.e. City of Darkness in 1881 (अंधेर नगरी ) -One of the most popular plays of modern Hindi drama. Translated and performed in many Indian languages by prominent Indian directors like B. V. Karanth
, Prasanna
, Arvind Gaur
and Sanjay Upadyaye.Andher nagari is a powerful political satire with universal appeal.
Poetry
Bhagat sarvagya ( भक्तसर्वस्व), Prem malika ( प्रेममालिका,रचनाकाल १८७१), Prem Maduri (प्रेम माधुरी ,१८७५), Prem Tarang (प्रेम-तरंग,१८७७), Utrarat Bhagat Mal ( उत्तरार्द्ध भक्तमाल,१८७६-७७), Prem Pralap (प्रेम-प्रलाप`) (१८७७), Holi(होली)(१८७९), Madu Mukul ( मधुमुकुल) (१८८१), Raag Sangraah ( राग-संग्रह,१८८०), Varsha Vinod ( वर्षा-1950 5455विनोद,१८८०), Vinya Prem Pachassa (विनय प्रेम पचासा,१८८१), Pholo ka Guchha (फूलों का गुच्छा,१८८२), Chandravali in 1876,Prem fuhalwari (प्रेम फुलवारी,१८८३) and Krishan Charitra(कृष्णचरित्र,१८८३)।
Translations
Harsha's Ratnavali, Visakhadattas Mudra-Rakshasa (मुद्राराक्षस), Vidya-Sundar (विद्यासुन्दर), from Bengali, Kapoor mnajari (कपूरमंजरी)from Prakrat and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as Durlabh bandhu i.e. Invaluable Friend, incomplete.
Essay collection
Bharatendu Grnthaaolly (साहित्य हरिश्चंद्र ),1885
wrote & directed a play Seema Paar on Bharatendu for National School of Drama
rep as tribute to Kashi and one of its greatest dramatists, Bharatendu Harishchandra and inevitably thus an involvement with death. For nowhere else is the end of life as palpable as on the Ghats of Kashi and few other lives as closely bound up with death as that of Bharatendu, the father of modern Hindi drama. The lilting dialects of Eastern Uttar Pradesh employed by players of Bharatendu’s theatre company and the typical patois of Kashi spoken by its denizens enliven the play
Hindi literature
Hindi literature , is broadly divided into four prominent forms or styles, being Bhakti ; Shringar ; Veer-Gatha ; and Adhunik...
as well as Hindi theatre
Hindi theatre
Hindi theatre primarily refers to theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Khari boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai and Bhopal...
. He is considered one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. A recognized poet, he was also a trend setter in Hindi prose-writing. As an author of several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts, Bharatendu Harishchandra represents the agonies of the people, country's poverty, dependency, inhuman exploitation, the unrest of the middle class and the urge for the progress of the country. He wrote under the pen name "Rasa".
Biography
Born in Banaras, Bharatendu Harishchandra's father Gopal Chandra was a poet. He wrote poems under the pseudonym Girdhar Das. Bharatendu's parents died when he was still young but they seem to have had an influence on him. Acharya Ramchandra Shukla has described how Bharatendu went to the Jagannath templeJagannath Temple (Puri)
The Jagannath Temple in Puri is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. The name Jagannath is a combination of the Sanskrit words Jagat and Nath...
in Puri, Orissa with his family in 1865, when he was merely fifteen years of age. It was during this trip that he was influenced by the Bengal Renaissance
Bengal Renaissance
The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the region of Bengal in Undivided India during the period of British rule...
and decided to bring the genres of social, historical, and Puranic plays and novels into Hindi. This influence reflected in his Hindi translation of the Bengali drama Vidyasundar, just three years later, in 1868.
Bharatendu devoted his life to the development of Hindi literature. In recognition of his services as a writer, patron and modernizer, the title of "Bharatendu" was conferred on him at a public meeting by scholars of Kashi in 1880. Reputed literary critic Ramvilas Sharma refers to the "great literary awakening ushered in under Bharatendu's leadership" as the "second storey of the edifice of renascent Hindi," the first being the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
.
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. He edited the magazines Kavi Vachan Sudha, Harishchandra Patrika, Harishchandra Magazine and Bal Vodhini. He was a member of the Chowdhury family of Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
belonging to the Agrawal
Agrawal
Agrawal or Agarwal is a large and influential community in India. Agrawals are Kshatriya by birth of the Solar Dynasty but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by king Agrasena, Agrawals started dealing in business...
community and his home there is still in use. His ancestors were landlords in Bengal. He had one daughter. He wrote the widely mentioned history of the Agrawal
Agrawal
Agrawal or Agarwal is a large and influential community in India. Agrawals are Kshatriya by birth of the Solar Dynasty but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by king Agrasena, Agrawals started dealing in business...
community.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
gives Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards since 1983 to promote original writings in Hindi mass communication
Mass communication
Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time...
.
His great granddaughter Pratibha Agarwal, (b. 1930), a Hindi writer, co-founded theatre group Anamika in Kolkata in 1955, with theatre director Shyamanand Jalan
Shyamanand Jalan
Shyamanand Jalan was an influential Kolkata-based Indian thespian, theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s...
, which played a pioneering role in the revival of Hindi theatre and later remained director of Natya Sodha Sansthan.
Major works
Drama-Bharatendu Harishchandra entered in theatre activity as an actor and soon become director, manager, and playwright. He used theatre as a tool to aware Indian society. his major plays are-
1-Vaidiki himsa hitnsa na bhavati ,1873 ( वैदिक हिंसा हिसा न भवति )
2-Bharat durdasha ,1875 (भारत दुर्दशा)
3-The mythological classic Satya Harishchandra i.e. `Truthful Harishchandra` in 1876
4-Neel devi ,1881 (नीलदेवी)
5-The political Andher nagari i.e. City of Darkness in 1881 (अंधेर नगरी ) -One of the most popular plays of modern Hindi drama. Translated and performed in many Indian languages by prominent Indian directors like B. V. Karanth
B. V. Karanth
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth was a renowned film and theatre personality from India...
, Prasanna
Prasanna
Prasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...
, Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
and Sanjay Upadyaye.Andher nagari is a powerful political satire with universal appeal.
Poetry
Bhagat sarvagya ( भक्तसर्वस्व), Prem malika ( प्रेममालिका,रचनाकाल १८७१), Prem Maduri (प्रेम माधुरी ,१८७५), Prem Tarang (प्रेम-तरंग,१८७७), Utrarat Bhagat Mal ( उत्तरार्द्ध भक्तमाल,१८७६-७७), Prem Pralap (प्रेम-प्रलाप`) (१८७७), Holi(होली)(१८७९), Madu Mukul ( मधुमुकुल) (१८८१), Raag Sangraah ( राग-संग्रह,१८८०), Varsha Vinod ( वर्षा-1950 5455विनोद,१८८०), Vinya Prem Pachassa (विनय प्रेम पचासा,१८८१), Pholo ka Guchha (फूलों का गुच्छा,१८८२), Chandravali in 1876,Prem fuhalwari (प्रेम फुलवारी,१८८३) and Krishan Charitra(कृष्णचरित्र,१८८३)।
Translations
Harsha's Ratnavali, Visakhadattas Mudra-Rakshasa (मुद्राराक्षस), Vidya-Sundar (विद्यासुन्दर), from Bengali, Kapoor mnajari (कपूरमंजरी)from Prakrat and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice as Durlabh bandhu i.e. Invaluable Friend, incomplete.
Essay collection
Bharatendu Grnthaaolly (साहित्य हरिश्चंद्र ),1885
couplets
The following two rhyming couplets are taken from his famous poem, मातृ-भाषा के प्रति (For the Sake of Mother-Tongue or Towards Mother-Tongue). The poem has ten couplets in total. The poet asserts the importance of using mother tongue as a medium of instruction conversational and educational.
निज भाषा उन्नति अहै, सब उन्नति को मूल ।
बिन निज भाषा-ज्ञान के, मिटत न हिय को सूल ।।
विविध कला शिक्षा अमित, ज्ञान अनेक प्रकार।
सब देसन से लै करहू, भाषा माहि प्रचार ।।
Translation:
Progress is made in one's own language (the mother tongue), as it the foundation of all progress.
Without the knowledge of the mother tongue, there is no cure for the pain of heart.
Many arts and education infinite, knowledge of various kinds.
Should be taken from all countries, but propagated in one mother tongue.
Play on Bharatendu Harishchandra
Kannada writer and director PrasannaPrasanna
Prasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...
wrote & directed a play Seema Paar on Bharatendu for National School of Drama
National School of Drama
National School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and became an independent school in 1975...
rep as tribute to Kashi and one of its greatest dramatists, Bharatendu Harishchandra and inevitably thus an involvement with death. For nowhere else is the end of life as palpable as on the Ghats of Kashi and few other lives as closely bound up with death as that of Bharatendu, the father of modern Hindi drama. The lilting dialects of Eastern Uttar Pradesh employed by players of Bharatendu’s theatre company and the typical patois of Kashi spoken by its denizens enliven the play
External links
- Bharatendu Harishchandra at Kavita Kosh (Hindi)
- Bharatendu
- Poetry by Bharatendu
- Bhartendu Natya AcademyBhartendu Academy of Dramatic ArtsBhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts is a theatre training institute in Lucknow, India...