Mamata pays tribute to Sarat Chandra on his birth anniv

Kolkata: Marking the anniversary of ‘Kotha Shilpi’ Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government has sanctioned Rs 1.82 crore for renovating his birthplace in Hooghly’s Debanandapur.

In a post on X, Banerjee said a ‘Sarat Smriti Udyan’ (memorial garden) and an information centre are also being developed at Chattopadhyay’s residence in Howrah’s Deulti. She expressed confidence that Debanandapur will soon become a prominent tourism destination in Bengal and paid homage to the legendary author in her message.

“We feel proud as our government has been renovating his birth place at Debanandapur while his residence on the bank of River Rupnarayan at Deulti in Howrah has been renovated.

We have decorated his residence at Deulti which is a heritage house. Many tourists come to visit the place. To ensure that visitors do not face any difficulties, road infrastructure, lights, and drinking water supply have been ensured,” Banerjee wrote on X.

She also stated that work for the renovation of Chattopadhyay’s birthplace at Debanandapur will begin soon.

Funds have already been given in this regard. Indian Literature and Cinema will always be indebted to him who authored so many novels, including ‘Pather Dabi’, ‘Grihadaha’, ‘Srikanta’, ‘ Devdas’, ‘Datta’ etc.

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was born on September 15, 1876, in Debanandapur. He spent his childhood and received his primary education there.

In Chattopadhyay’s various novels and other works, the skill with which he portrayed the joys and sorrows of Bengali life, love and separation, social injustice and reform in simple language is rare in world literature. Banerjee, on Monday, once again remembered his works, which have enriched the Bengali language and culture and immortalised him.