RAMKUMAR MUKHAPADHYAYER ‘DHANAPATIR SINHALYATRA’ : NABARUPE CHANDIMANGAL/ রামকুমার মুখোপাধ্যায়ের ‘ধনপতির সিংহলযাত্রা’ : নবরূপে চন্ডীমঙ্গল

Abstract

Ramkumar Mukherjee's novel 'Dhanpati's Sinhala Yatra' is also medieval in terms of language. The novel has been reimagined by Chandimangal. Ramkumar Mukherjee has adopted the first part of the narrative of the merchant section in his novel. From Dhanpati's Sinhala Yatra to captivity. Here, the novelist has looked back at medieval Bengal and Bengalis from a distance of several centuries, keeping Mukund's poetry in front of him. He has made no attempt to drag the past into the present. Nor has he taken the present into the past and placed it there. In this book, the past cannot be seen in the present and the present in the past. A pure historical setting has been created where there is no shadow of the twenty-first century. Chapters such as the lifting of the Saptadinga, Dhanpati's journey to the Dingaghata, Ajay Yatra, Muktabeni, and the journey of rivers and streams describe extinct rivers, towns, etc. The novel contains themes such as mythological consciousness, religious ideals, and a reevaluation of divine consciousness. Dhanpati traveled to the southern country in the hope of prosperity. However, his fate and destiny were determined by the hideous plots and cruelty of two goddesses. Ignoring many ominous signs and the desperate pleas of Khulna, Dhanpati has to travel helplessly towards the inevitable end. This is his destiny. Ramkumar Mukherjee has presented the novel 'Dhanpati's Singhal Yatra' in a magical bond of intense fascination with the tradition of Bengali cultural heritage. The novel has a unique and modern reconstruction of the well-known Afghan poem of the medieval 'Chandimangal'. The novelist has kept the basic structure of the story intact here, but has analyzed the psychological depth of the characters and the socio-economic context of the time from a modern perspective. As a result, it emerges as a picture of the conflict between man and time instead of the story of the greatness of the Goddess. In the novel, Dhanpati is a prosperous merchant of Ujjainnagar, but he has endless questions and doubts about the social system of the time. He wants to magnify the efforts and logic of man instead of the miracles of the conventional gods and goddesses. This rational mind has taken him against the conventional beliefs and conventional customs. And later it has become the main reason for the conflict in his life. On the king's orders, Dhanpati has to undertake a journey to Sinhala despite his reluctance. Before the journey, the wish of his husband for his well-being did not open, so when the puja of Goddess Chandi was organized, the rational, confident, and realistic leader trampled the auspicious place of the Goddess with contempt. To him, the greatness of the Goddess is irrational and miraculous. However, the author portrays this insult not only as an insult, but as a clash between traditional beliefs and modern logic. The novel is not just a religious story, but also a story of human survival in the face of adversity. Overall, the novel has become a reinterpretation of the medieval 'Chandimangal' poem.