New Delhi: In the beginning of the 20th century, the golden rays of Bengali literature were more or less confined to Bengal only, and did not touch other parts of the country. With a view to spread the essence of Bengali literature outside Bengal so that the bengalees residing there for a long time could have a taste of their own culture, Dr. Surendranath Sen started the annual festival of Banga Sahitya Samaj at Kanpur.
He invited a few celebrated Bengalees of North India there. From Lucknow came Atulprasad Sen, Radhakamal Mukhopadhyay, Radhakumud Mukhopadhyay and Srish Chandra Sen. As proposed by Dr. Sen, Atulprasad led the foundation of Uttar Bharatiya Banga Sahitya Sammelan on February 2, 1922. The present name Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan (NBBSS) came up much later, in 1953.
The century old organisation has prospered day by day. At present, it has more than hundred branches across India with approximately fifteen thousand life members. The first and the most auspicious one was on February 11 in Varanasi. The concluding ceremony will be held from December 25 to 27, 2022 at the campus of Sister Nivedita University (SNU) at New Town, Kolkata, patronised by Satyam Roychowdhury, the chancellor of SNU and the chairperson of the Centenary Reception Committee of NBBSS.