Ghanaram Chakrabarty (c. 1669-?) was a Bengali

Bengali 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...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and the greatest contributor to the Dharmamangalkavya

Dharmamangalkavya

The Dharmamangalkavya is an important sub-genre of mangalkavya, the most significant genre of medieval Bengali literature. The texts belonging to this sub-genre eulogize Dharmathakur, a folk deity worshipped in the Rarh region of Bengal. According to tradition, the earliest poet of Dharmamangal...

 tradition of mediaeval Bengali literature

Bengali literature

Bengali literature is literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian provinces of West Bengal and Tripura. The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the...

. He was greeted by his guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

 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 Kukura-Krishnapur village on Damodar River

Damodar River

Damodar River originates near Chandwa village, Palamau district, on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Jharkhand state in eastern India, and flows eastward for about 592 km through the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the estaury of the River Hooghly...

 in modern day Bardhaman district

Bardhaman District

'Bardhaman district is a district in West Bengal. The headquarter of the district is Bardhaman, though it houses other important industrial towns like Durgapur and Asansol...

 of the 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...

n state of Paschimbanga (West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

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

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

 of Bardhaman

Bardhaman

'Bardhaman or Burdwan , is a city of West Bengal state in eastern India. It is the headquarters of Bardhaman District....

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

Although he eulogises Dharmathakur

Dharmathakur

Dharmathakur is a Hindu god worshipped by villagers in the traditional Rarh region in the present day Indian state of West Bengal as one of their special village gods...

 in his poem, Chakrabarty was a devotee of Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

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

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

and the Bhagavata

Bhagavata

Bhagavata signifies in the context of Hinduism. In this context bhakti has the primary meaning of 'adoration', while Bhagavat means 'the Adorable One', and Bhagavata is a worshiper of the Adorable One...

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) eulogising Satyanarayana

Satyanarayana

"Satyanarayana" may refer to God Vishnu and also many South Indian celbrities with the same name:* Satyanarayana Puja, Hindu God, an incarnation of Vishnu* Viswanatha Satyanarayana, a Telugu poet* Kaikala Satyanarayana, a Telugu actor* E. V. V...

.