RAMANATH BHATTACHARYA FOUNDATION LITERARY AWARDS FOR 2023
Rongili Barta- The prestigious Padmanath Vidyabinod literary award and the Bhuparjatak (Globe-trotter) Ramnath Biswas literary award, given by the Ramanath Bhattacharya Foundation, Mumbai were presented to Assamese Poet Dilip Phookan and Bengali Poet Joy Goswami respectively at a solemn function held at the Vivekananda Kendra here. Both the awards carry a cash prize of Rs.75,000 (Rupees seventyfive thousand), a citation and a memento, besides a specially designed scarf on muga cloth. The function, conducted by Sudhangshu Sekhar Mukhopadhyay, was attended by distinguished personalities in a packed auditorium.. In his welcome address, the General Secretary of the Foundation and renowned producer of Hindi TV serials Shyamashis Bhattacharya explained the background of initiating the two awards in memory of their two great ancestors — Pandit Padmanath and Bhuparjatak Ramnath — both of whom were illustrious sons of undivided Assam, and said that mainly because of his father Ramanath Bhattacharya’s zeal the decision to give these awards was taken fourteen years ago. Accordingly, today’s awards were presented for the year 2023. The awards for the year 2020 could not be given due to pandemic. A well-prepared and informative souvenir edited by Sudhangshu Sekhar Mukhopadhyay and published on the occasion by the Foundation was released by Usharanjan Bhattacharya. He said the Foundation has set a unique example by deciding to give the awards in the names of its founder’s illustrious ancestors, which should be an inspiration for the future generations. Accepting the award, poet Dilip Phookan and poet Joy Goswami expressed their gratitude, and also answered the questions posed by members of the audience. Previous recipients of the awards include Assamese poets Ajit Barua, Hiren Bhattacharya, Nilamoni Phukan, Hirendranath Dutta, Bhaben Barua, Harekrishna Deka, Sananta Tanty, Sameer Tanti, Anubhav Tulsi, Nilim Kumar, Anis Uz Zaman, Rabindra Sarkar and Bengali poets Bijit Kumar Bhattacharya, Pabitra Mukhopdhyay, Tarun Sanyal, Swapan Sengupta, Shyamal Kanti Das, Ratneshwar Hajra, Udayan Ghosh, Ajit Bairi, Pijush Raut, Ranajit Das, Kalikrishna Guha and Mridul Dasgupta. It may be recalled that both Padmanath (1868-1938) and Ramnath (1894-1955), in whose names the two awards are given, were born in Baniachang under Habiganj subdivision in the Sylhet district of undivided Assam. While Padmanath had a bright educational career, who spent major parts of his life as a professor in the Cotton College, Guwahati and was actively associated with literature and historical research of Assam with his pioneering research work titled ‘Kamarupashasanavali‘, he was instrumental in the establishment of Assam Research Society and was also one of the founder-members of Asom Sahitya Sabha. On the other hand, Ramnath had participated in the Indian freedom struggle as a member of the famous Anushilan Samiti and later travelled four continents of the world on a number of journey with bicycle, which earned him the title of ‘Bhuparjatak’ (globe-trotter). He had written over 30 travelogues depicting his vast experience during those journey.