Premanand Bhatt
Encyclopedia
Premanand Bhatt (1649–1714) is known for his contribution in Gujarati literature
. Popularly, he is known as Premanand in Gujarat. Premanand is known for his literary form called "Aakhyan" in Gujarati
. He belongs to middle age or "Madhya-kal" of Gujarati literature.
As earlier said, Premanand was famous for his "Aakhyan".
His known creations are "Nalakhyan", "Sudamacharitra", "Dashamskandh", "Rannyagna".
Name of Raskavi (Poet of sentiments) Premanand is on top of the list of Aakhyankars. He was born about 350 years ago in the year 1645 at Vadodara
in the Nandora Chaturvanshi Bramins cast. Remarks such as:
"Place of braves called Vadodara, Situated in the middle of Gujarat, cast Chaturvanshi Bramins,Bhatt Premanand is the name" were made by Premanand himself in many of his Aakhyans.
The Mughal Empire
was at its peak at that time. Future ruler of the empire, Aurangzeb
, was the governor of Gujarat province. At that time it was openly said:
Mahakavi Pramanand
"Marwari language is valued at 16 aanas (Equv. To 1 Rupee),
Kachhi language is valued at 12 aanas;
Marathi language is valued at 8 aanas,
While gujarati language is valued at 4 paise (Equv. To 1 aana)"
(1645 to 1705 AD)
Born at the time when Gujarati language was devalued in such a manner, Premanand vowed that:
"I shall not put on a Turban on my head
till the time I earn a respectable position for Gujarati Language"
In today's times, it is very difficult to understand or make someone understand the importance of an act of putting on a turban or otherwise!
By some divine inspiration, Premanand undertook the commendable but Herculean task of taking The Ramayan, Mahabharat, Bhagwat, Harivansh Puraan and life episodes of Devout-Poet Narsinh Mehta through "Maankala" (with the help of playing Maan) across numerous villages of Gujarat. Premanand provided invaluable service to Gujarati Language as well as to the people of society by poetically narrating the religious and social inheritance of Middle Ages, i.e. episodes from epics and scriptures in simple and effective language and also performed valuable act of cultural awakening. Premanand's creations are priceless possessions of Gujarati literature; they are the cultural inheritance of Gujarati populace.
All time great Gujarati Poet Narmad has noted that:
"Premanand's language is universally uniform.
The depiction of customs, traditions and nature of people; and
verbal depiction of incidents garnished with exaggerated descriptions have found
their prominent place in the vernacular language.
This is the beauty of Premanand's verses.
And the eminent Gujarati novelist Navalram
has mentioned:
"It is not surprising that Premanand who hails from Vadodara, who has written poetry on pure and profound love and whose name has become so dear to those art-loving people who have experienced divine love and pleasure; enjoys the supreme position amongst the contemporary poets. I personally believe that it is his modesty and humbleness that he obliges the other three frontline poets by allowing them to sit near the steps of his artistic kingdom! Really! Gujarati people should be proud of Premanand"
Raskavi Premanand has structured his poetic verbal recitals as per time and incidences. For example, importance of "Okhaharan" (Abduction of girl named Okha) in the month of "Chaitra
" (6th month of the Vikram year), the pleasure of listening to a detailed poetic depiction of the marriage of "Shamalsha" (son of Narsinh Mehta) in the month of "Vaishakh" (7th month of the Vikram year) which is the season for marriages, while in "Bhadarvo" (11th month of the Vikram year) - the month of making ceremonial offerings to the dead ancestors - he would present a poetic recital on the description of such offerings to the deceased father of Narsinh Mehta.
Ancient Poet of Gujarati language
Narsinh Mehta
created Aakhyans (Poetic recitals) and initiated the tradition of Aakhyans in this language. Thus, this unique narration form of Gujarat is as old as 450 to 500 years.
The torch of Gujarati culture bears light even today due to the noteworthy contributions of these "Aakhyankars" (performers of poetic recitals). Tales of history and Puraans are presented to the society by these Aakhyankars in a poetic form and due to this, the society, over generations, has been receiving the knowledge of history and ancient scriptures/events only by the word of mouth without much efforts.
"Sounds of "Kill them", "Kill them" are heard...
The earth starts vibrating ...
and turbulence prevails..."
Maanbhatts used to exist even before Premanand, but Premanand's Aakhyans (poetic recitals) are popular even today. Through his creations using various "Chhand", "Duha", "Chopai" and "Dhhal", he would make his poetic recitals very popular and through them, he would express the main and true meaning of the subject matter. Even today people are interested in listening to such recitals. Apart from using "Chhand", "Duha", "Chopai" and "Dhhal", he would keep varying forms of "Taal" which would enable his audience to get deeply involved in his presentations. This poet would include the contemporary customs and traditions, dressing and social structure etc. in a very detailed manner. These recitals were made so lively using "Navras" (nine poetic sentiments) in a balanced manner that even today, while listening to them, the audience picturises the verbal paintings.
Maanbhatts would generally choose the epic Mahabharat as the topic of their 'Aakhyan' - verbal poetic recital. Such a recital would last for about 3 months at one particular place. It would deal with important episodes of Mahabharat like the birth of Pandavas, Draupadi's swyamvar (act of selection of a groom by a bride from those present), "Vastraharan" (Ghastly act of removing clothes of Draupadi by force) in the king's assembly, Okhaharan, Victory of Abhimanyu etc. Listening to very interesting and artistic and poetic vocal recitals of such events and incidences, the audience would get highly influenced and would offer food, money, cloths, utensils etc. with a lot of respect and love. Maanbhatt would accept such gifts and offerings and therefore he would never encounter the least difficulty in earning his livelihood.
Gujarati literature
The history of Gujarati literature may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers...
. Popularly, he is known as Premanand in Gujarat. Premanand is known for his literary form called "Aakhyan" in Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
. He belongs to middle age or "Madhya-kal" of Gujarati literature.
Contribution
He was known as 'Ras-Kavi'.As earlier said, Premanand was famous for his "Aakhyan".
His known creations are "Nalakhyan", "Sudamacharitra", "Dashamskandh", "Rannyagna".
Name of Raskavi (Poet of sentiments) Premanand is on top of the list of Aakhyankars. He was born about 350 years ago in the year 1645 at Vadodara
Vadodara
Vadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...
in the Nandora Chaturvanshi Bramins cast. Remarks such as:
"Place of braves called Vadodara, Situated in the middle of Gujarat, cast Chaturvanshi Bramins,Bhatt Premanand is the name" were made by Premanand himself in many of his Aakhyans.
The Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
was at its peak at that time. Future ruler of the empire, Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
, was the governor of Gujarat province. At that time it was openly said:
Mahakavi Pramanand
"Marwari language is valued at 16 aanas (Equv. To 1 Rupee),
Kachhi language is valued at 12 aanas;
Marathi language is valued at 8 aanas,
While gujarati language is valued at 4 paise (Equv. To 1 aana)"
(1645 to 1705 AD)
Born at the time when Gujarati language was devalued in such a manner, Premanand vowed that:
"I shall not put on a Turban on my head
till the time I earn a respectable position for Gujarati Language"
In today's times, it is very difficult to understand or make someone understand the importance of an act of putting on a turban or otherwise!
By some divine inspiration, Premanand undertook the commendable but Herculean task of taking The Ramayan, Mahabharat, Bhagwat, Harivansh Puraan and life episodes of Devout-Poet Narsinh Mehta through "Maankala" (with the help of playing Maan) across numerous villages of Gujarat. Premanand provided invaluable service to Gujarati Language as well as to the people of society by poetically narrating the religious and social inheritance of Middle Ages, i.e. episodes from epics and scriptures in simple and effective language and also performed valuable act of cultural awakening. Premanand's creations are priceless possessions of Gujarati literature; they are the cultural inheritance of Gujarati populace.
All time great Gujarati Poet Narmad has noted that:
"Premanand's language is universally uniform.
The depiction of customs, traditions and nature of people; and
verbal depiction of incidents garnished with exaggerated descriptions have found
their prominent place in the vernacular language.
This is the beauty of Premanand's verses.
And the eminent Gujarati novelist Navalram
Navalram
Navalram was a noted author and critic of Gujarati literature.He is considered as the first critic of modern Gujarati literature.-Contribution:...
has mentioned:
"It is not surprising that Premanand who hails from Vadodara, who has written poetry on pure and profound love and whose name has become so dear to those art-loving people who have experienced divine love and pleasure; enjoys the supreme position amongst the contemporary poets. I personally believe that it is his modesty and humbleness that he obliges the other three frontline poets by allowing them to sit near the steps of his artistic kingdom! Really! Gujarati people should be proud of Premanand"
Raskavi Premanand has structured his poetic verbal recitals as per time and incidences. For example, importance of "Okhaharan" (Abduction of girl named Okha) in the month of "Chaitra
Chaitra
Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar....
" (6th month of the Vikram year), the pleasure of listening to a detailed poetic depiction of the marriage of "Shamalsha" (son of Narsinh Mehta) in the month of "Vaishakh" (7th month of the Vikram year) which is the season for marriages, while in "Bhadarvo" (11th month of the Vikram year) - the month of making ceremonial offerings to the dead ancestors - he would present a poetic recital on the description of such offerings to the deceased father of Narsinh Mehta.
Aakhyan
A poetic recital of a story or epic consisting of the facts about things that have taken place in the society in past or which narrates episodes from ancient literature and which is recited by a person or a group of persons and listened to by the audience is called "Aakhyan".This person who narrates 'Aakhyan' is called 'Maanbhatt'.Ancient Poet of Gujarati language
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
Narsinh Mehta
Narsinh Mehta
Narsinh Mehta also known as Narsi Mehta or Narsi Bhagat was a poet-saint of Gujarat, India, and a member of the Nagar Brahmins community, notable as a bhakta, an exponent of Hindu devotional religious poetry. He is especially revered in Gujarati literature, where he is acclaimed as its Adi Kavi...
created Aakhyans (Poetic recitals) and initiated the tradition of Aakhyans in this language. Thus, this unique narration form of Gujarat is as old as 450 to 500 years.
The torch of Gujarati culture bears light even today due to the noteworthy contributions of these "Aakhyankars" (performers of poetic recitals). Tales of history and Puraans are presented to the society by these Aakhyankars in a poetic form and due to this, the society, over generations, has been receiving the knowledge of history and ancient scriptures/events only by the word of mouth without much efforts.
Maanbhatt Tradition
Maan is a pot made of copper, displayed before you, which used to be made of soil earlier. Bhattji puts on rings called "Vedh" on all his ten fingers and plays Maan in a rhythm to create melodious sound as per the need of the narration being done by him verbally. The intensity and tone of the sound is varied as per the subject matter of the narration e.g. while depicting the war of Mahabharat, the Maanbhatt loudly narrates with action:"Sounds of "Kill them", "Kill them" are heard...
The earth starts vibrating ...
and turbulence prevails..."
Maanbhatts used to exist even before Premanand, but Premanand's Aakhyans (poetic recitals) are popular even today. Through his creations using various "Chhand", "Duha", "Chopai" and "Dhhal", he would make his poetic recitals very popular and through them, he would express the main and true meaning of the subject matter. Even today people are interested in listening to such recitals. Apart from using "Chhand", "Duha", "Chopai" and "Dhhal", he would keep varying forms of "Taal" which would enable his audience to get deeply involved in his presentations. This poet would include the contemporary customs and traditions, dressing and social structure etc. in a very detailed manner. These recitals were made so lively using "Navras" (nine poetic sentiments) in a balanced manner that even today, while listening to them, the audience picturises the verbal paintings.
Maanbhatts would generally choose the epic Mahabharat as the topic of their 'Aakhyan' - verbal poetic recital. Such a recital would last for about 3 months at one particular place. It would deal with important episodes of Mahabharat like the birth of Pandavas, Draupadi's swyamvar (act of selection of a groom by a bride from those present), "Vastraharan" (Ghastly act of removing clothes of Draupadi by force) in the king's assembly, Okhaharan, Victory of Abhimanyu etc. Listening to very interesting and artistic and poetic vocal recitals of such events and incidences, the audience would get highly influenced and would offer food, money, cloths, utensils etc. with a lot of respect and love. Maanbhatt would accept such gifts and offerings and therefore he would never encounter the least difficulty in earning his livelihood.