Bengaluru :

Did you know Karnataka and Bengal share a deep-rooted literary bond? Neither did almost 800 Bengalis and 200 non-Bengalis who attended the three-day Bengali literature and cultural fest, held nearly after a decade in the city on December 25, to know that.

Ranjon Ghoshal, an engineer by profession and founding member of Bengali band Moheener Ghoraguli talked about the exchange of literature between Karnataka and Bengal since the 12th century. Ranjon is a literature and theatre enthusiast

He stated that the king who ruled Bengal and parts of Orissa in 1160 AD, Ballala Sen, hailed from the coastal region of Karnataka. Ballala Sen was a poet and literature flourished in Bengal during his reign. Ballala Sen authored two books Danasagara and Adbhutasagara.
“Bengal during the Sena regime can be considered a silver period,” said Ranjon Ghoshal. “The kingdom prospered and law and social responsibility was maintained so Bengal is indebted to the Sena dynasty,” he added.

The second link is the city of Gauda, that is located in the present day Malda. The city served as the capital of Bengal for more than 500 years and Bengal was almost synonymous to it. According to Ranjon, this co-incidence has something to do with the Goud Saraswat Brahmins of the Konkan Bay.
“I would suggest the link to the fact that Bengal had sent emissaries to coastal regions ultimately to reach the Konkan Bay. It was then that cultural colonisation took place between Bengal and Karnataka,” he said.
The third parallel drawn was when the spiritual leader,Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from Bengal started the Bhakti Movement in 15th century, his two primary disciples Roop and Sanathan were from Karnataka.
On further studying the links between two separate states, the 61-year-old literature-enthusiast found an intriguing similarity. “If you search the historical literary movements that shaped the country in the north and south, you will not find a concrete evidence to explain this coincidence. But if you search the Kabir and Chaitanya of the north separately and Dasa and Bhakti people of the south, all are contemporaries. There is a maximum of 50 years gap.” he said.

When the Kannada literary movement, Navodaya started in 20th century, it was heavily influenced by Tagore and vice-versa. Ranjon, gave the talk on the topic titled Ballal Sen to Banalata Sen, a Bengali poem written in 1942 by the poet Jibanananda Das with an idea to demarcate the span through which Bengal and Karnataka have been exchanging literature and culture.
“Bengal and Karnataka have exchanged more than glances with one another, the have looked deep into each other’s eyes with love and remand,” he said.

The three-day event called the 89th Annual Conference was organised by Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan and was inagurated by the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee. The conference is held annually by the Bengali community to keep the regional literature alive among Bengalis living in different parts of the country.

It was held fourth time in Karnataka, the last one being in 2007 and the first one being in 1959.
“One of the biggest revelation from the conference was the historical link we share with Karnataka. Now we live in an era of mixed race. My daughter is married to a Kannadiga here but the it was amazing to know that one of our king was from Karnataka and the translation period of Karnataka and Bengal is so ancient,” said Manomita Roy, conference secretary of the event.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / December 31st, 2016