Dakshinee
Encyclopedia
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Rabindrasangeet.
History
Suvo Guha Thakurta was a devotee of Rabindrasangeet wanted to spread it among BengaliBengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
masses which was then confined primarily to Santiniketan
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year...
. On the advice of Shailaranjan Majumdar , he founded Dakshinee on 8 May, 1948.
Early days
Dakshinee started with only 12 students and by 1955 it had 600 students. Between 1962 and 1972 the student strength was over 1500.Sections
Since inception it had four functioning sections- Nrityakala Kendra (Dance School)
- Drama
- Cultural
- Publication
Activities
Dakshinee organised Triennial Tagore Music Conference from 1951 - 1960 with the assistance of All India RadioAll India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
.
Dakshinee celebrated the Tagore Centenary in the year 1961.
Publications
- Rabindrasangeeter Dhara - Suvo Guha Thakurta wrote the book titled “Rabindrasangeeter Dhara” in 1950, to educate people about the richness and variety of his compositions and their classification into 17 streams or ‘Parjyay’. This book was then incorporated into the academic curriculum of Dakshinee and remains so till date. It serves to give students a detailed theoretical background to Rabindrasangeet
- Subarno Joyonti Barsha (Shahitya Patra)
- Rabindra Janma Satabarshiki
- Rajat Joyonti Utsab
In 2008 Dakshinee proposes to publish a special edition on the occasion of its Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.
Location
This institute was earlier started at 132, Rashbehari Avenue. In 1955, it was moved to Dakshinee Bhawan, 1 Deshapriya Park (West) and has been there since then.Affiliated Institutes
- Nupur in London (Currently withdrawn)
- Rabishikha in North London
- Dakshinayan in South London
- Robiprobash in Toronto
- Kahlar in Washington DC (Currently withdrawn)
- Uttarayan in New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
Controversies
Although the institute professes to teach Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
's ideals through his music, credible evidence strongly suggests that Dakshinee believes in instilling a sense of fear among the rank and file of its students, an idea that is wholly contrary to Tagore's own views on any kind of learning.
Dakshinee also got itself mired in a recent controversy when a letter published in a widely read mainstream Kolkata newspaper alleged that the institute expelled one of its students, an eight year-old girl, only for wearing a salwar-kameez (a dress widely used by Indian girls and women).
See also
- Bengal Music CollegeBengal Music CollegeThe Bengal Music College is a music training college in Kolkata, India, established in 1940 by Nanigopal Bandopadhyay, the college is affiliated with the University of Calcutta since 1956...
- Calcutta School of MusicCalcutta School of MusicCalcutta School of Music established in 1915 by Phillpe Sandre is one of the premier institutions of India, in the field of Western Classical music and Contemporary classical music. It was established in the year 1915 by Dr. Phillipé Sandré, a musician of considerable calibre, and a contemporary...
- Eastern fare music foundationEastern Fare Music FoundationEastern Fare Music Foundation is a music school and a production house in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The institute provides training for instrumental music in Western Classical music and contemporary style.-History:...