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192nd birth anniversary of Madhusudan Dutt Monday

  • Sun Online Desk
  • 24th January, 2016 08:46:01 PM
  • Print news

The 192nd birth anniversary of the great poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutt will be celebrated tomorrow (Monday).

 

A week-long Madhu Fair (Madhu Mela) began at the birthplace of the legendary poet at Sagardari under Keshabpur Upazila of Jessore from January 22.

 

People from all walks of life are pouring in to show respect to the poet and to enjoy the fair. Jessore district administration has chalked out an elaborate programme to mark the day, BSS reports.

 

The celebration programmes include puppet show, jatra, circus, traditional sports, cultural programmes, seminars and discussions on the life and works of the poet.

 

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to the memory of Michael Madhusudan Dutt on the occasion of the 192nd birth anniversary of the great Bengali poet in separate messages.

 

Michael Madhusudan Dutt was born at Sagardari under Keshabpur upazila in Jessore on January 25, 1824. He died at Kolkata General Hospital on June 29, 1873. He was buried at Park Street, Kolkata, India.

 

From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu Bengali family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael.

 

In later life he regretted his attraction to England. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period.

 

He is specially known for the famous epic Meghnadbadh Kabya (1861), which is a tragic epic and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content.

 

For his contributions, Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet.