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Tarapada Santra | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 January 1931 Nabasan village, Bagnan, Howrah District |
| Died | 23 April 2003 (aged 72) Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Occupation |
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| Language | Bengali |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | Dineshchandra Sen Memorial Award, Sudhi Pradhan Memorial Award |
Tarapada Santra (14 January, 1931- 22 April, 2003) was a scholar and writer from West Bengal. He is widely considered to be a pioneering figure in the study of the art, architecture, and Anchalik Itihas or local history of southern Bengal, especially of the Medinipur and Howrah districts.
Family Background
Tarapada was born in Nabasan, a village in the Bagnan administrative block of Howrah District in West Bengal. Tarapada was greatly influenced by his uncle, Suryakumar Santra, who was a mechanic in the Kidderpore port in Kolkata. His father Basudeb Santra worked in an iron welding factory. Tarapada lost his mother Bindubasini at an early age.
Early Life and Education
Tarapada studied at Salkia Bidyapith, a primary school in Howrah. Before completing the fifth grade he had to leave the town due to the Japanese Bombing of Kolkata during World War II. His father initially planned to discontinue his studies and send him to work in a welding factory. However, when Tarapada secured the first position in his school exams[1], and he was permitted to continue his studies. In 1948, he passed his Matriculation exam from Salkia Anglo-Sanskrit School.
Later Education and Political Involvement
Tarapada came to Calcutta in 1948 and enrolled in the Arts Section of the Scottish Church College. He also started publishing a social magazine, Pather Alo, as its editor and printer-publisher. By the end of 1948, he became fully absorbed into the student movement led by Communist Party of India and subsequently became a party member. Within a year the party was banned.
In 1950, police force of the Special Branch arrested Tarapada but after a short period of imprisonment he was released. From then on Tarapada devoted himself entirely[1] to political activism. Between 1950 and 1956 he participated in the Tebhaga Movement, Khadya Andolan or Price Increase and Famine Resistance Committee, and the Bengal-Bihar Assimilation Movement. In 1956 while he was working as the editor-publisher of Sandesh, a left-wing weekly magazine devoted to trade union politics he had a disagreement with the party leadership and decided to leave all his engagements with the party. He returned to college and in 1959, passed the Intermediate Examination and enrolled in the B.A. course at Uluberia College. However, financial circumstances led him to leave college and take a job as a temporary teacher in a primary school.
Ananda Niketan and Later Education
In the next phase of his life Tarapada devoted himself to the study of Bengal's regional architecture, and folk customs and rituals. He travelled tirelessly across villages and rural towns of Medinipur and Howrah districts taking photographs and collecting information. He also became involved in the work of rural development along with former comrades who were disillusioned with the CPI, such as Amal Kumar Ganguly, an MLA from Bagnan, and the former freedom fighter, Sukumar Mitra. Together, they established Ananda-Niketan, a holistic institution committed to rural development. Tarapada donated his collection of archaeological artefacts to the institution and they were inaugurated as a separate museum in 1962 by the renowned anthropologist Nirmal Kumar Bose. Bose named the museum ‘Ananda Niketan Kirtishala’ and Tarapada became its first voluntary curator. Sadly, a large part of Tarapada's collection including 30,000 glass negative photographs were destroyed in the devastating floods of 1978.
Later Life
Tarapada returned to academics in 1963, graduating from the University of Calcutta. He then joined a post-graduate diploma course on Museology and in 1967, he passed the examination in the first division.
As a curator of his Bagnan museum, Tarapada often visited the State Archaeological Museum in Kolkata. Its director, Paresh Chandra Dasgupta, introduced Tarapada to David McCutchion, Amiya Kumar Bandyopadhyay, and Hiteshranjan Sanyal. Over the next ten years, Tarapada, David, Amiyakumar, and Hitesranjan collaborated extensively[2] in surveying, documenting, and studying the architecture and art of Bengal's villages. During this time Tarapada wrote extensively in journals and newspapers on various aspects of local history including social customs, festivals, architecture, and art. Between 1971 and 1988, he was also the editor of Koushiki, a monthly magazine devoted to local history that was illustrated by the great Indian writer and artist Purnendu Patri.
In 1973, Tarapada joined the recently-founded research institute the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta as a Research Investigator. He worked there for a year under the supervision of Hiteshranjan Sanyal, studying the origins of grassroot nationalism in south-western Bengal. Later, Amiya Kumar Bandyopadhyay urged him to apply for a government job and in 1975, Tarapada joined as an assistant translator in the Bidhan Bibhag of the West Bengal Government. After 16 long years of service, he retired in 1991. After his retirement, Tarapada continued to read and write extensively on various topics. He died from kidney failure in 2003.
Selected bibliography
- Howrah Jelar Lok Utsab (1962)
- Howrah Jelar Purakirti (Kolkata: West Bengal Government, 1976)
- Mandirlipite Banglar Samajchitro (1982)
- Purakirti Samiksha Medinipur (Kolkata: West Bengal Government, 1987)
- Medinipur Sangskriti O Manabsamaj (Howrah: Kousiki Prakashani, 1987)
- Paschimbanger Loksilpa o Silpisamaj (Loksanskriti o Adibasi Sanskriti Kendra, 2000)
- Kirtibas Kolkata (Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 2001)
- Banglar Kather Kaaj (Centre for Archeological Studies, 2003)
- Folk arts of West Bengal and the Artist community (New Delhi, Niyogi Books, 2011)
- Kolkatar Mandir-Masjid: Sthapotya-Alankaran-Rupantar (Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 2014)
- Paschim Banglaye Dharmiya Sthapatya: Mandir o Masjid (Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, 2018)