Rabindranather Tripura (Rabindranath’s Tripura )

This book, highlighting the place of Tripura in Rabindra literature was published in 2003 by Parul Prakashani, Agartala. Price: Rs. 36/-; Cover design: Swapan Nandi. 

Already a number of books had come into the market on this subject. But, perhaps this was the first time that someone had thrown light exclusively on the status of Tripura in Rabindra literature. At the time when the young poet’s recognition was confined to a small circle of family and friends, the king of Tripura, Maharaja Bir Chandra congratulated the poet for his work ‘Bhagna Hriday’. It can be said that the Maharaja of Tripura was the first person to detect the seed of a world-conquering poet in Rabindranath. Through the years this relationship between Rabindranath and the royal family of Tripura was cemented further. The poet ran back to Tripura time and again and accorded a special place to the state in his writings. ‘Rajarshi’, ‘Bisarjan’ and ‘Mukut’ of Rabindranath talked about Tripura. But all these works of the poet were creations of the period of his pre-Tripura visit. Then how did he collect all the information about Tripura. You can also find answer to the questions like – “to what extent history has been followed in ‘Rajarshi’, ‘Bisarjan’ and ‘Mukut’”? “How much fiction or how much fact is there?” 

Newspaper Reports

Boiyer Kaagaz (Falgun – Chaitra, 1411), Kolkata-73 writes : “Pannalal Roy has very nicely discussed the topic of influence of Tripura on the life of Rabindranath and his literature. He has done it from the point of a researcher. …..What were the personalities of Amar Manikya of Mukut and Govinda Manikya of Rajarshi like – he has analyzed and justified with appropriate information. There is no emotional exaggeration in the way of his judgment and presentation; he did not impose anything, rather he used some quotations from relevant sources to justify his explanation. How were the characters of Rabindra literature in reality, was Govinda Manikya really a saintly character? Pannalal Roy has wiped off our all curiosity. Tripura definitely holds a significant place in Rabindra literature because the royal recognition Rabindranath received from Tripura for Bhagna Hriday encouraged him a lot and which helped him grow as a great poet Rabindranath later. However, the contribution of Tripura to Rabindra literature has not been highlighted to that extent. In this context Pannalal Roy has done a commendable job. Published with immense interest the book preserves some priceless pictures also……”.

Syandan Patrika, January 30, 2005, Agartala: “……How were the rulers of ancient Tripura and how were their lives – ‘Rajmala’ is the prime source to throw a light on this. The facts presented in this book did not match everywhere with that of Rabindranath. And it is quite natural, as Rabindranath’s aim was not solely preservation of history, he created literature also. Pannalal Roy has tried to point how far Rabindranath followed history in his works by supporting with adequate information….”