Ananda Chandra Agarwala, who made his literary debut through Jonaki, is not only the main popular person of modern Assamese literature, but he is the national hero who infuses the life of the intellectual consciousness of the Assamese nation. The handful of people who continued to do their duty in the renaissance process of Assam’s culture, which began in the 19th century, of them is Chandra Kumar Agarwala.
Biography of Ananda Chandra Agarwala
| Name | Ananda Chandra Agarwala[1] |
| Date of Birth | September 5, 1874 |
| Place of Birth | Borangabari, Tezpur, Assam |
| Father | Kashiram Agarwala |
| Mother | Radhika |
| Education | Borangabari Primary School |
| ME | Borangabari Medium Student Scholarship School |
| High School | Tezpur Government Higher Secondary School |
| College | Kolkata Metropolitan College |
| Awards | Title of Raisahab (1916) |
| Title of Raibahadur (1921) | |
| Death | 1939 |
Early Life:
Anand Chandra Agarwal was born in the famous Agarwala family. He was born in Kalangpur Mouza under Tezpur Sadar subdivision of the Sonitpur district. Chandra Kumar Agarwala’s father’s name was Kashiram Agarwala. The father was an in charge of a fiscal officer of Kalangpur, Gomiri and Bihali mouzar/division of a district. Chandra Kumar Agarwala’s mother’s name was Radhika. Chandra Kumar Agarwal’s wife’s name is Aparajita Agarwala. She is the youngest daughter of Lambudhar Borah’s elder brother Haricharan Borah.
Ananda Chandra Agarwala’s academic life began in Borangabari. He was educated up to the age of about ten years at primary school of Borangabari village and medium student scholarship school. Later, Ananda Chandra Agarwala studied at Government High School in Tezpur under the supervision of his grandfather Haribilasah Agarwala.
Importantly, at that time Chandra Kumar Agarwala was not only confined to school courses/education alone. At that time, he also practiced writing poems in parallel with studying a variety of books to gain knowledge on various subjects for his inquisitive mind. While studying in school, Ananda Chandra Agarwala along with his classmates published a book of dharma songs called “Dharma Sangeet”. Apart from this Ananda Chandra Agarwala along with Krishna Prasad Agarwala and Karunaviram Baruah at that time took up the plan of child friendly paper and published the first children’s text in Assam called ‘Lara Bandhu’. However, after the publication of 3/4 numbers the expression of the Lara Bandhu stopped due to some special reasons.
Read Also: Biography of Raghunath Choudhary
After Chandra Kumar Agarwala passed the entrance exam in 1981 from Tezpur Government High School with distinction, he enrolled for FA at Metropolitan Institute in Kolkata. But he was unable to pass the FA exam. Chandra Kumar Agarwala who was upset over the test results at that time, a few days after helping his grandfather at the business, worked as a teacher at Sivasagar Bezbaruah High School for nearly a year.
Career:
Ananda Chandra Agarwala subsequently joined the police department on father’s order. Agarwala, who first joined the police as head constable, was subsequently promoted to the post of sub-inspector. He was subsequently promoted from the post of Sub Inspector to Senior Police Superintendent for his discretion, efforts and work strategy. Importantly, Chandra Kumar Agarwala, who was appointed as the then Police Superintendent, was the first Assamese Imperial Officer. He voluntarily retired in 1930 after working with fame for 35 years.
Ananda Chandra Agarwala also served as an Honorary Magistrate of Tezpur and also served as president of the Municipality of Tezpur after retiring from the government service. Other than this he was also involved in various social activities.
Ananda Chandra Agarwala while studying at metropolitan institute in Kolkata besides serving as an active member of Assamese Language Improvement Sadhini Sabha he also wrote regularly in The Jonaki magazine. Importantly, Ananda Chandra Agarwala published various writings in Jonaki magazine at that time under the pseudonym ‘Shri Harsha’.
Madhav Chandra Bordoloi was the president at the meeting formed by students while actually studying in school even though Ananda Chandra Agarwala’s literary and poetic consciousness developed on the leaves of Jonaki. Importantly, it was in this meeting that Ananda Chandra Agarwala recited his two poems titled ‘New Year’ and ‘Assam’ written by himself. He has never had to stop since then.
Literary works and life:
Growing up in a cultural and intellectual environment, the mother’s influence on the life of Anand Chandra Agarwal was immense. Ananda Chandra Agarwala’s devout mother is his original guru.
Ananda Chandra Agarwal’s first published collection of poems was called ‘Jilikani’. Anand Chandra Agarwal, who continued to beautify the original in the translation of foreign poetry, is known as Bhangani Konwar in Assamese poetry literature. There is no comparison of the poems broken by Ananda Chandra Agarwala, who occupied a distinct place in Assamese poetry and literary world as a Bhangani Konwar. He broke the poems by applying pure Assamese language without damaging the beauty of the original poem. His first collection of poems, Jilikani, also included several broken poems.
Mahendra Borah commented on Ananda Chandra Agarwala that Anand Chandra Agarwal’s ‘Balam‘, ‘Paneshai’, ‘Jun’, ‘Devkanya Manvi Beshere’, ‘Suma’, ‘Sabi’, these six basic poems will remain the inexhaustible tressures/assets of Assamese poetry literature for the ages. According to Satyananda Nath Sharma Poems like ‘Jeevan Sangeet’, ‘Saha and Pandit’, ‘Sukhar Thai‘ written by Ananda Chandra Agarwala are the basic assets of Assamese literature.
Apart from Jilikani, other poetry collections published by Ananda Chandra Agarwala are ‘Padumani‘. Ananda Chandra Agarwal’s poems are rich in real poetic qualities, pleasant feelings and rich in easy expression style. Importantly, Ananda Chandra Agarwal’s contribution to the creation of modern poetry traditions is immense even if it is few in numbers.
Chandra Kumar Agarwal started literature through the early poems of his life but later he researched various subjects like language theory, caste theory, archaeology etc. and wrote/composed various articles about these subjects. He published various articles in Assamese papers like Jonaki, Bijuli, Usha, Banhi Magazine etc.
Ananda Chandra Agarwala, the owner of the inquisitive mind, also had a lot of knowledge of Sanskrit language. Anand Chandra Agarwal, who is proud of his country and heritage, studied books like Rigveda, Kalika Purana, Yogini Tantra etc. and wrote various articles to make the future generation sway to understand their tradition and past with modern interpretations.
The articles he has written are: ‘An Account of Assam’, ‘Aspects of history and culture’, ‘Old details of Goalpara’ etc.
Agarawala’s Contribution to society:
After taking over as president at the Mangaldai session of Assam Sahitya Sabha in addition to the president’s address given to Ananda Chandra Agarwal as president in 1934, the spiritual articles are written by him, the rules of Assamese letter alliance, etc., are currently considered as the national treasures of Assamese. Importantly, Ananda Chandra Agarwala, who performed his duty in different parts of Assam including Silchar, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, etc., while working in police department, wrote a book in English in 1906 on the law and regulations of the police called ‘Police Manual’.
Two textbooks written by Ananda Chandra Agarwala are soft texts published in 1910 and original texts published in 1920. Importantly, these two are two important books used today to learn Assamese languages.
Importantly Ananda Chandra Agarwala also focused on women’s education. Anand Chandra Agarwal was sensitive to mothers and women. He took up the pen against gender based divisions and injustices prevalent in the society. Ananda Chandra Agarwala reflected the modernity that can be embraced while keeping India’s heritage and tradition alive through articles like ‘Domestic Household Duties’, ‘BraxmaYatri Diary’ etc.
Importantly, social activist person Ananda Chandra Agarwala gave all the rights and copyrights of Jilikani and all the textbooks published by him to the George Institution in 1920. And the money received from it helped in funding the Tezpur Girls High School.
Ananda Chandra Agarwala, popularly known as Bhangni Konwar, was given the title ‘Raisahab’ in 1916 and ‘Raibahadur’ in 1921.
Conclusion:
Ananda Chandra Agarwala, who possessed versatility in 1939, died by being well established in his life, for the cause of the nation, in a lifetime service to the country. This man, who is inspired by human values, is the pride of the Assamese people and the Assamese nation. Ananda Chandra Agarwala, who has a devoted pursuit of Assamese literature and history, is the pride of Assam and the self-reliance of Assamese. Ananda Chandra Agarwala’s inartificial and immense love for the homeland is the path for the new generation.
FAQ
1. When and where was Chandra Kumar Agarwala Born?
Ans: Chandra Kumar Agarwala was born on September 5 1874, at Borangabari Tezpur, Assam.
2. Name some of the poems of Chandra Kumar Agarwala?
Ans: Jiban Sangeet, Saha and Pandit, Jilikani,etc.
3. Who is known as Bhagania Konwar?
Ans. Chandra Kumar Agarwala is known as Bhagania Konwar.
4. What is the first poem collection of Chandra Kumar Agarwala?
Ans: Chandra Kumar Agarwala’s first collection of poem is ‘Jilikani’.
5. What are the two textbooks written by Chandra Kumar Agarwala?
Ans: Two textbooks written by Chandra Kumar Agarwala are – Soft texts published in 1910 and Old texts published in 1920.
6. When did Chandra Kumar Agarwala died?
Ans: Chandra Kumar Agarwala died on 1939.
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