Suvadip Bhattacharjee Writes

Bengal is treasure trove of timeless tales. Since the language took its shape from the Buddhist mystical poems Charyapada, the storytellers of Bengal made a magic on people. Known as Kathaks or traveling bards, they moved from place to place to tell their stories associated with mainly religion, moral values and society. This acted as a bridge between the ancient scripture and society. People could easily connect with those stories as they often reflected their grief-stricken lives though there was always a heavenly connection too. Some of those storytellers, who had poetic skills, penned down the well-known stories in their own narration. As literary creators they applied their emotion, imagination and interpretation while bringing the well-known characters to life. This creative pursuit made those characters somewhat different from the original. Shri Krittibas Ojha, a 14th century poet, rewrote the entire Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayan in Bengali. Shri Kashiram Das, another Bengali poet bo...