Girish Rachanabali — Girish Chandra Ghosh: The Guide to Bengali Drama & Literature in Present Era.
Title: Girish Rachanabali Vol-1 (Girish Works Vol-1),
Author: Girish Chandra Ghosh,
Genre: Collection Book,
Format: PDF, Size: 28MB,
Girish Rachanabali by Girish Chandra Ghosh Bengali PDF.
Girish Chandra Ghosh is called the guide to Bengali Drama and Literature because he laid the foundation of modern Bengali theater and created a unique combination of society, history and religious consciousness through his drama.
The cultural identity of a nation is especially reflected in its drama and literature. Bengali drama and literature is rich and its scope is also wide-ranging. However, Bengali drama and literature began only in the late eighteenth century, from the time of the Russian Gerasim Lebedev. Among those who enriched Bengali drama and literature in later times, the playwright Girish Chandra Ghosh is brilliant in the variety and abundance of his creations.
Girish Chandra Ghosh is also the guide of the current stir in Bengali drama and literature. He is a playwright, actor and applied artist. This combination is rare. The overall impact of Girish Chandra Ghosh’s theatrical career is a groundbreaking chapter in the history of Bengali literature and culture.
Life and Introduction of Girish Chandra Ghosh:
Born: 28 February 1844, in Baghbazar, Kolkata
Died: 8 February 1912, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
He was a playwright, poet, novelist, composer, theatre director and actor.
He initiated the golden age of Bengali theatre.
Contribution to Theatre and Literature:
Girish Chandra Ghosh has written and directed more than 40 plays. His plays can be divided into four main parts.
Lyric dramas:
- Akalbodhan, Agamani
- He combined music with drama.
Historical dramas:
- Chanda, Kalapahar, Sirajaddoulla, Meerkashim, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Ashoka
- He gave history a dramatic form and awakened national consciousness.
Mythological and devotional dramas:
- Ravanabadh, Abhimanyu Badh, Lakshmana Barjan, Ramer Banavas, Chaitanya Leela, Bilvamangal
- He gave religious and spiritual ideas a dramatic form.
Social dramas:
- Prafulla, Haranidhi, Maya
- He wrote about social problems and human relations.
Overall impact of theatre life
1. Laying the foundation of Bengali theatre
- Girish Chandra Ghosh was the first organizer and guide of modern Bengali theatre.
- Under his leadership, drama took on a professional form, which was previously only the entertainment of the elite.
- He created an organizational structure for theatre houses, theatre groups and actors.
2. Theatre movements and institutions
- In 1872, he founded the National Theatre, which was the first professional Bengali theatre company.
- He not only wrote plays, but also led in all areas of stage management, teaching acting, and forming theatre groups.
- He made drama popular among the common people, as a result of which drama was no longer just the entertainment of the elite, but became part of the cultural consciousness of the people.
3. Increase in the popularity of drama
- He brought drama to the common people.
- He made drama a popular medium of entertainment and education by mixing music, dance, historical stories and mythological atmosphere.
4. Awakening of nationalist consciousness
- In plays like Sirajaddaullah, Meerkashim, Shivaji, etc., he aroused nationalist emotions through history.
- During the British rule, these plays aroused the desire for freedom in the minds of the people.
5. Social reforms and human values
- In social plays like Prafulla, Haranidhi, etc., he highlighted the self-esteem of women, family relations and the inconsistencies of society.
- He used plays not only as entertainment, but also as a tool for social education.
6. Spiritual influence
- After becoming a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa towards the end of his life, the imprint of devotion and spirituality became clear in his plays.
- Plays like Chaitanya Leela, Bilvamangal give a dramatic form to spiritual emotions.
7. Influence and legacy
- His plays have set the foundation and direction of Bengali drama.
- Later playwrights and actors followed his path and enriched Bengali theatre.
- Modern playwrights like Utpal Dutta have recognized him as the greatest figure in Indian drama.
- Playwright Utpal Dutta rightly said: “Not only is he the greatest playwright of India, but any of his works also deserves a place in world drama.”
- Many have compared Girish Chandra Ghosh to the famous English actor David Garrick, but Girish Chandra was a man of many talents.
- Towards the end of his life, he became a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, which added a spiritual dimension to his theatrical consciousness.
He could not write Girish Chandra’s biography and literary pursuits. Girish wrote the works, and the rest was edited by Dr. Devipada Bhattacharya, the director of the Bengali department of Jadavpur University. Girish Chandra’s ‘Complete Works’ were not available recently, which was hindering the study of Girish.
In this context, a plan was taken to publish Girish Chandra’s entire works (including scattered works published in newspapers and magazines) in four volumes and the editing was entrusted to Dr. Rathindranath Roy, Professor of the Bengali Department of the University of Calcutta.
With a lot of effort and cooperation from everyone, those four volumes were published as Girish Rachanabali. The PDF link of each volume of Girish Rachanabali is given on this web page.
Short stories of his most popular plays and their impact on society
For example:
- Sirajaddaullah – The story of the fall of the Nawab, which awakens nationalist consciousness.
- Prafulla – Social drama, where the question of women’s self-esteem and independence arises.
- Chaitanya Leela – Spiritual drama, which is written around devotion and religious emotions.
Summary:
The impact of Girish Chandra Ghosh’s theatrical career can be seen on three levels:
- Cultural: Making drama a part of public life.
- Social: Spreading the message of social reform.
- Political and Spiritual: Awakening nationalist consciousness and devotional emotions.
Girish Chandra Ghosh is the pioneer and guide of Bengali drama and literature. His plays combine history, mythology, society and religion and take Bengali theater to new heights. He is not only a playwright, but also the architect of the drama movement, who laid the foundation of modern Bengali drama. His theatrical career is marked as an infallible guide in the history of Bengali drama and literature.
Readers can collect the PDF of each volume of the book Girish Rachanabali All Volumes (4 Volumes) from this web page and can read it online.