Radharaman Dutta | |
|---|---|
| রাধারমণ দত্ত | |
 Radharaman Dutta | |
| Born | Radharaman Dutta Purakayastha 26 May, 1833 |
| Died | November 10, 1915(1915-11-10) (aged 82) Jagannathpur,Assam,British India |
| Other names | Radha Raman Dutta |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Dhamal |
| Spouse | Gunamayi Devi |
| Children | Bipin Bihari Dutta and 3 others |
| Father | Radha Madhab Dutta |
Radharaman Dutta (Bengali:রাধারমণ দত্ত; 1834 – 1915), also spelt asRadha Raman Dutta, was an influentialBengali musician and poet. A prominent member of theBauls, Dutta's body of work has led him to be considered as the "Father of Dhamail songs".[1] His songs are widely covered by contemporary Bengali musicians[2][failed verification] and lyricist.[3][failed verification]
In 640, theRaja of Tripura Dharma Fa planned a ceremony and invited fiveBrahmans fromEtawah,Mithila andKannauj. To compensate for their long journey, the Raja granted the Brahmans land in a place which came to be known as Panchakhanda (meaning five parts). One of the five Brahmans, Ananda Shastri of Mithila, was the ancestor of Nidhipati Shastri. In 1195, the King of Tripura granted Nidhipati some land inIta.Ita was feudal to the Kingdom of Tripura and part of its Manukul Pradesh.[4] Nidhipati became the founder of theIta dynasty which would later gain aRaja status through his descendant, Bhanu Narayan. Bhanu Narayan's son, Ramchandra Brahma Narayan had a son called Prabhakar Dutta. In 1612, afterKhwaja Usman's successful battle against the last Ita Raja, Subid Narayan, the royal family fled to nearby kingdoms in theSylhet region. Prabhakar fled to Alisarkul (a village inSrimangal) before seeking refuge in theJagannathpur Kingdom. The King of Jagannathpur, Raja Vijay Singh allowed Prabhakar to live in the Keshabpur village. Later, Prabhakar's son, Sambhu Das Dutta, is made a minister under Vijay Singh. After the defeat of the Jagannathpur Kingdom by the Baniyachong Raja Habib Khan, the Dutta family decided to stay away from politics in order to protect themselves. Sambhu's son, Radha Madhab Dutta engaged himself in Sanskrit and Bengali literature. He translatedJayadeva'sGita Govinda into theBengali language in addition to writing and composing famous songs and poems.[4]
Dutta was born on May 26,[citation needed] 1833 into aBengali Kayasthazamindar[citation needed] family in the village of Keshabpur inJagannathpur, which is located in present-daySunamganj District,Bangladesh. As the youngest child of theBengali Hindu poet Radha Madhab Dutta, Dutta displayed a musicaltemperament from childhood.[citation needed] The early death of his father led Dutta to seek the discipleship and initiation of religious mentors like Raghunath Goswami.[1][failed verification] Dutta'sVaishnavism (worship ofKrishna) shaped his musical work and led him to a life ofasceticism; he lived for some time in a house that amounted to little more than a seven-square-foot of mud-hut. He studied Shakta, Vaishnavism, Shaiva and Sahajiya doctrines and started performing sadhana-bhajan according to Sahajiya. Dutta was also heavily influenced by theSufism that infuses Baul culture, and was in touch with contemporaryBengali Muslim poetHason Raja.[5][6]
Radharaman Datta wrote and composed over 2,000 songs[6] and was known in particular for his "Geets" and "Dhamal" songs - compositions to traditional dance forms. He has been cited as the creator of the Dhamail art form.[6] Dutta's compositions are performed today in weddings all over Bangladesh. Many popularBengali songs of today were written originally by Radharaman and his songs are sung by modern professional musicians inBangladesh[7] and inWest Bengal, India.
In 1275 BS (1868-1869 AD), he married Gunamayi Devi. She was the daughter of Nandakumar Sen Adhikari, a descendant ofSivananda Sen who was a disciple ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu. Her home village was Adpasha in present-day Ward 8, Amtail,Moulvibazar. Bipin Bihari Dutta was their only surviving child at the time of Dutta's death, with his three other children and wife dying in his lifetime.
On 10 November 1915, Dutta died in his own house which became hissamadhi (shrine). Following his death, his disciples lit candles in the shrine everyday - a tradition which has been maintained to this day.[8][9]
