The 194th birth anniversary of legendary Bengali poet and father of Bengali sonnet Michael Madhusudan Dutt will be observed on Thursday with pomp and grandeur.
A fair titled "Madhu Mela", featuring staging of drama, recitation of poems, setting up of small shops and cultural functions, are among the programmes chalked out to celebrate the birth anniversary of the celebrated son of this soil.
The Madhu Mela has been drawing hundreds of curious visitors at the fair venue at Sagordari under Keshabpur upazila. Jessore district administration is organizing the fair under the patronization of Cultural Affairs Ministry.
In his message, President Abdul Hamid said the unique quality of the legendary poet has enriched Bangla literature a lot.
The poet earned name and fame in the arena of literature for his extraordinary creative works, he said.
In a separate message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "The literary work of Madhusudan, who introduced sonnet in the Bangla literature, is a great asset for our country and language."
Both the President and the Prime Minister welcomed the initiative of organising a weeklong fair - Madhu Mela - at Sagardari in Jessore on January 20-26, marking the birth anniversary of the great Bengali poet.
On January 25, 1824 Madhusudan Dutt was born to land lord Raj Narayan Dutt and Janhabi Devi at Sagardari under Keshabpur upazila in Jessore.
His most famous literary work is sonnet "Kapatakkha Nad". Kapatakkha Nad (river) is flows through Jessore, the poet's ancestral home.
"Always, o river, you peep in my mind/ Always I think you in this loneliness/ Always I soothe my ears with the murmur/ Of your waters in illusion, the way/ Men hear songs of illusion in a dream," are a few lines of his extraordinary creation 'Kapatakkha Nad' in which he showed his deep love towards his country and the river.
Madhusudan Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called 'Amitrakshar Chhanda' (blank verse).
Madhusudan Dutt's first attempt at blank verse was 'Sharmistha' in Bengali literature.
Kaliprasanna Singha, who is famous for his translation of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata into Bengali, organised a felicitation ceremony to Madhusudan Dutt to mark the introduction of blank verse in Bengali poetry.
Praising Dutt's blank verse, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, observed: "Ordinarily, reading of poetry causes a soporific effect, but the intoxicating vigour of Madhusudan's poems makes even a sick man sit up on his bed." He added: "As long as the Bengali race and Bengali literature would exist, the sweet lyre of Madhusudan would never cease playing."
Apart from his outstanding talent in authoring poems, Madhusudan Dutt showed prodigious skills as a playwright as he was the first to write Bengali plays in the English style, segregating the play into acts and scenes.
He was also the pioneer of the first satirical plays in Bengali literature. 'Buro Shaliker Ghare Ron' and 'Ekei Ki Boley Sabhyota' are among his famous satirical plays.
Madhusudan was a gifted linguist and polyglot as he studied Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit.
