Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan

Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan
Name	Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan
Native name	নিক্হিল ভারত বাঙ সাহিত্য সম্মেলন
Formation	1923
Headquarters	Kolkata
Region served	India
Language	Bengali
Type	Literary organization

Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan is an Indian Bengali literary organization founded in 1923 that promotes Bengali language and literature across India, linking diasporic communities in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The Sammelan has interacted with literary movements and institutions such as the Bengal Renaissance, Tagore-era cultural circles, the Indian National Congress, the All India Radio, and regional academies like the Sahitya Akademi and the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad.

History

The organization was established in the aftermath of the Non-Cooperation Movement and during the milieu of the Bengal Renaissance and Swadeshi movement, with founding figures drawing inspiration from contemporaries like Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sri Aurobindo, and Chittaranjan Das. Early sessions were held in Kolkata and connected to cultural sites such as the Victoria Memorial, the Indian Museum, and institutions like the Presidency College, Kolkata and the University of Calcutta. Over decades the Sammelan engaged with national events including the Quit India Movement, the Partition of India, and post-independence cultural reorganization involving bodies like the Reserve Bank of India (through commemorative publications) and state governments such as the West Bengal Government. It expanded chapters to metropolitan centers including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, and collaborated with media outlets like The Statesman, Ananda Bazar Patrika, and Desh magazine.

Objectives and Activities

The Sammelan’s declared objectives encompass promotion of Bengali literature and culture, preservation of literary heritage linked to figures like Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Jibanananda Das, and fostering dialogue among writers from regions such as East Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Tripura, and Maharashtra. Activities include annual conferences, thematic seminars on poets like Nazrul, Rabindranath Tagore, and Jasimuddin, workshops involving academics from Visva-Bharati University, editorial collaborations with journals like Prabasi and Kallol, and cultural programs referencing works of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, and Joy Goswami.

Membership and Organization

Membership historically included writers, poets, critics, and academicians such as affiliates of Calcutta University, alumni of Scottish Church College, and staff from institutions like the National Library of India. Organizational structure comprises an executive committee, state chapters in Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and units linked with literary societies such as the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and the Asutosh Museum of Indian Art. Office-bearers have had contemporaneous links with personalities from All India Radio, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and municipal cultural bodies like the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Conferences and Publications

Annual conferences have been convened in venues including Kolkata Town Hall, Victoria Memorial Hall, and auditoria associated with Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University, attracting delegates from literary platforms such as Desh and institutions like the Sahitya Akademi. Proceedings and journals produced by the Sammelan have published essays, poems, and translations by contributors who also appeared in periodicals like Anandabazar Patrika, The Telegraph (Calcutta), and literary presses including Sahitya Akademi Publications and Ananda Publishers. The Sammelan has issued commemorative volumes marking anniversaries that engage with works of Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Dina Bandhu Mitra, and modernists like Sunil Gangopadhyay and Santosh Kumar Ghosh.

Notable Members and Contributors

Notable members and contributors have included poets, novelists, and critics connected with the Bengali canon and national literature, such as Rabindranath Tagore (influence and participation through institutions), Kazi Nazrul Islam (poetic resonance), Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Jibanananda Das, Manik Bandopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Joy Goswami, and scholars affiliated with Visva-Bharati University, University of Calcutta, and Jawaharlal Nehru University. The Sammelan has also hosted speakers and contributors from across India including delegates associated with Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Amrita Pritam, Amiya Chakravarty, Suresh Chandra Ghosh, and critics linked to the Sahitya Akademi.

Impact and Cultural Significance

The Sammelan has played a role in sustaining Bengali literary networks amid migratory flows after the Partition of India, influencing cultural policy debates involving the Sahitya Akademi and regional arts councils, and supporting translation projects between Bengali and languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Gujarati. Its conferences and publications have contributed to preservation of texts by authors such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, shaped curricula at institutions including Rabindra Bharati University and Calcutta University, and fostered interactions with cultural festivals like the Kolkata Book Fair and media institutions such as All India Radio and Doordarshan. Through networks connecting diasporic Bengali communities in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai, the Sammelan remains a node in the wider constellation of South Asian literary organizations, comparable in function to bodies like the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and the Sahitya Akademi.

Category:Bengali literature Category:Literary organisations based in India