Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi

Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (Bengali : পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বাংলা আকাদেমি), popularly known as Bangla Akademi (Bengali : বাংলা আকাদেমি), is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in West Bengal. Modeled after France’s Académie française, the Bangla Akademi was founded on May 20, 1986 in Kolkata to act as the official authority of the language and is entrusted with the responsibility of reforming Bengali spelling and grammar, compiling dictionaries, encyclopedias and terminologies and promoting Bengali language and culture in West Bengal. Though the Akademi has no enforcement power over their rules and regulations, yet they are widely accepted by the Governments of West Bengal and Tripura as well as a considerable number of private publishing houses and institutions like the Oxford University Press and the Ramakrishna Mission.

The Akademi is housed in two separate buildings, one at Nandan-Rabindra Sadan Complex (also mentioned as Bangla Akademi-Rabindra Sadan or Nandan-Bangla Akademi Complex during the Akademi festivals and book fairs) in South Kolkata and the other at Rabindra-Okakura Bhaban, Bidhannagar (Salt Lake). Annadashankar Roy became the first President and Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay the first secretary of the Akademi.

The Bangla Akademi has been successful in extending its activities and programs to different districts of West Bengal and even to other states in India. In Kolkata, the Bangla Akademi organises different programs in collaboration with such bodies like Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Sahitya Akademi, Publishers and Book Sellers' Guild, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, National Book Trust and also with different universities and cultural organizations.

History

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad

*"See Also": Bangiya Sahitya Parishad

Bengal Academy of Literature, the first academic association to regulate and promote Bengali language and literature was set up in Kolkata under the chairmanship of Benoy Krishna Dev in 1893. On April, 1894, the Academy was reorganized and rechristened as Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, and Romesh Chunder Dutt became the first president of it. Scholars like Chandranath Bose, Dwijendranath Tagore, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Roy, Satyendranath Tagore, Haraprasad Shastri, Ramendra Sundar Trivedi later served the Parishad as presidents. Rabindranth Tagore (Vice-President: 1894-96, 1901, 1905-1909, 1917; Special Delegate: 1910) himself was closely associated to the institution since its inception.

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is the first academic institution on matters pertaining to Bengali language. It endeavored to compile standard Bengali dictionary, grammar and terminologies, both philosophical and scientific, to collect and publish old and medieval Bengali manuscripts, and to carry out translation from other language into Bengali and research on history, philosophy and science.

Regulations of the University of Calcutta

*"See Also": University of Calcutta

During the 20th Century, the affairs concerning the promotion of Bengali language did not remain a sole responsibility of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. As language prospered and literature enriched, a need of linguistic reform as well as an authority to enforce the reforms was felt by the scholars of the time.

In the late 1930s, Rabindranath Tagore asked the University of Calcutta to determine the rules of Bengali spelling and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University, set up a committee to look over the subject on November, 1935. On May, 1936, a standard rule for Bengali spelling was first imposed. These rules were later amended by Rabindranath Tagore and other scholars and practiced at academic level in all over Bengal for next 70 years.

Bangla Academy in East Pakistan

* "Main Article": Bangla Academy

After the partition of India in 1947, the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) felt a need for a new Bangla linguistic body suiting their new nationality. As a result, Bangla Academy in Dhaka was established in 1955. In 1990, the Bangla Academy enforced new regulations for Bengali spelling which is quite similar to the 1937 regulation of the University of Calcutta.

Unofficial Regulators of Bengali Language in West Bengal

In West Bengal, various prominent institutions backed the process of development of the language, but that resulted in inconsistencies in it. For example, Rajsekhar Basu and Ananda Bazaar Patrika tried to simplify Bangla spelling; but instead of rationalize the spelling system; it aroused controversy over the authority of such bodies. Even institutions like Visva-Bharati University failed in the task.

History of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi

In 1962, the Government of West Bengal started using Bengali for all official purposes. Since then, a need for an official regulator of the language has been felt. In 1986, with the general consent of Bengali intellectuals of the time, Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, a wing of the Information and Cultural Affairs Department of the Government of West Bengal was set up. Afterward it was converted into a society and registered under Societies Registration Act. On December 8, 1994, it was declared an autonomous Governmental body.

Members

At the time of its foundation, the Akademi had 30 members in its "Karma Samiti" (Working Committee) and 78 in "Sadharan Parishad" (General Council) including the government delegation. The Chairman is called "Sabhapati" and "Vice-Chairman" is called "Saha-Sabhapati". Members, officially known as "Sadasyas", remain in the Akademi for life. However, any member can resign from his office by his will. In 2007, after the Nandigram massacre, some of Akademi members including Sankha Ghosh and Ashru Kumar Sikdar resigned from the Akademi. There is also a post of Secretary, or "Sachib", who is the chief governmental delegation at the Akademi. The office of the Secretary of the Akademi is held by Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay since its inception.

The members of the first Working Committee were: Annadashankar Roy (Chairman), Prabodh Chandra Sen (Vice-Chairman, but died after the foundation of working committee), Nanda Gopal Sengupta (Vice-Chairmen), Lila Majumdar, Khudiram Das, Nepal Majumdar, Shubhendu Shekhar Mukhopadhyay, Chinmohan Sehanbish, Pabitra Sarkar, Kanak Mukhopadhyay, Krishno Dhar, Jagadish Bhattacharya, Bhabatosh Dutta, Jyotirmoy Ghosh, Sankha Ghosh, Arun Kumar Basu, Nirmalya Acharya, Ashru Kumar Shikdar, Arun Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Prabir Roy Chowdhuri, Bhudeb Chowdhuri, Somendranath Bandyopadhyay, Bijit Kumar Dutta, Pallab Sengupta, Bhakti Prasad Mallick, Prashanta Kumar Dasgupta, Nirmal Das, Santosh Chakravarty (Later Ashok Dutta) - Director of Culture, Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay- Secretary (Government Delegate), Amitabha Mukhopadhyay- Officer-in-Charge (Government Delegate).

The members of the first General Council were: (including the members of the Working Committee) Hirendranath Dutta, Manmatha Roy, Gopal Haldar, Debipada Bhattacharya, Sushil Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Gourinath Shastri, Rama Ranjan Mukhopadhyay, Nishith Ranjan Roy, Manindranath Ghosh, Manindra Kumar Ghosh, Dr. Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Rabindra Kumar Dasgupta, Haraprasad Mitra, Arun Mitra, Satyajit Ray, Satyendranath Roy, Ajit Kumar Ghosh, Khsetra Gupta, Arabinda Poddar, Nirendranath Chakravarty, Golum Kuddus, Ashin Dasgupta, Khsitindra Narayan Bhattacharya, Saroj Mohan Mitra, Sukumari Bhattacharya, Subir Roy Chowdhuri, Manabendra Bandyopadhyay, Sourin Bhattacharya, Ashok Mukhopadhyay, Malini Bhattacharya, Bratindranath Mukhopadhyay, Manas Majumdar, Mohit Chattopadhyay, Narayan Chowdhuri, Samarendra Sengupta, Amitabha Dasgupta, Debesh Roy, Purnendu Patri, Shyam Sundar Dey, Amitabha Chowdhuri, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Debesh Das, Manas Roy Chowdhuri, Shibendranath Kanjilal, Sabitendranath Roy, Bibhas Bhattacharya, Dipankar Sen, Prasun Dutta, Dilip Bhattacharya – secretary, Information and Cultural Affairs Department.

Now the Akademi works under various sub-committees and editorial boards concerning different affairs. Some of these bodies are depicted below:

"Akademi Banan Upo-Samiti" or Akademi Spelling Sub-Committee was created to reform and rationalize Bangla spelling system. This Sub-Committee includes Nirendranath Chakravarty, Sankha Ghaosh, Pabitra Sarkar, Jyoti Bhushan Chaki, Nirmal Das, Ashok Mukhopadhyay, Subhash Bhattacharya, Amitabha Chowdhuri, Amitabha Mukhopadhyay, Sourin Bhattacharya, Prasun Dutta, Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay, Arun Kumar Basu and Shubhomoy Mondal. On the recommendation of this Sub-Committee, the Akademi did its historical reforms on Bangla spelling.

Another important sub-committee is "Paribhasha Upo-Samiti" or Terminology Sub-Committee which is entrusted to compile standard Bangla terminologies for both academic and administrative purposes. This sub-committee includes Ananda Ghosh Hazra, Alapan Bandyaopadhyay, I.A.S., Krishno Dhar, Jyoti Bhushan Chaki, Nirendranath Chakravarty, Pabitra Sarkar, Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay, Swapan Chowdhuri and Bhabatosh Tapadar.

Editorial boards are generally founded to edit works of great authors. One of such bodies that compiled the Complete Works of Kazi Nazrul Islam, includes Annadashankar Roy (advisor), Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal (advisor), Kalpataru Sengupta, Arun Kumar Basu, Pabitra Sarkar, Golum Kuddus, Krishno Dhar, Manas Majumdar, Sumita Chakravarty, Bandhan Sengupta, Biswanath Roy, Prabhat Kumar Das, Shyamal Moitra And Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay.

Functions

The Akademi is the official authority on Bangla language in West Bengal; although its recommendations carry no legal power — but still the educational boards and the universities of West Bengal and Tripura have deep regard for its rulings.

The Akademi accomplishes all its activities in close liaison with other academic and educational institutions including universities engaged in various aspects of Bengali language, literature and culture. Apart from its own programs, it also arranges programs in cooperation with different such societies. Such activities are not confined to Kolkata only, but also in districts and sub-divisions, even in the other states.

The function of the Akademi was initially settled by a seminar held at Shishir Mancha, Kolkata from 24 February to 1 March. These seminars determined the rationale of the Akademi and proposed to make a design and blue print to achieve its goals.

The tasks entrusted on Bangla Akademi are:

(1) to rationalize and reform Bangla Script and spelling;

(2) to compile standard dictionaries, encyclopedias and grammar;

(3) to compile terminologies;

(4) to bridge the gap between Bangla and other languages through translations and other activities;

(5) to publish books for children;

(6) to perform research-oriented works on Bangla language, literature and culture and arrange scholarships for researchers;

(7) to distribute civil literary prizes;

(8) to publish books on different subjects;

(9) to publish an Akademi Magazine;

(10) to preserve an outstanding library;

(11) to preserve a world-class archive and museum;

(12) to conduct seminars and conferences and cultural festivals and fairs.

Work of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi

Scholars at the Bangla Akademi work to promote the Bangla language in various ways. They are doing research on spelling, grammar and the origin and development of Bangla. They are publishing works by prominent writers in the language. They have built a large library to preserve original manuscripts. The government of Japan has donated Rs. 500000 for research in the Academy. The government of West Bengal has also given a lump some amount of money. The Academy is spending the money on the Indo-Japan Cultural Center in Bidhannagar.

Festivals Conducted by Bangla Akademi

Various festivals are being conducted nowadays by Bangla Akademi, e.g., Kabita Utsab (Poetry Festival), Little Magazine Mela (Little Magazine Fair), Kathasahitya Utsab (Fiction Festival), Chhara Utsab (Rhyme Festival) etc.

Awards Awarded by Bangla Akademi

Selected Bibliography

Dictionaries/Terminologies

*"Akademi Bidyarthi Abidhan" (Akademi Bangla-Bangla Dictionary for Students)

*"Akademi Banan Abidhan" (Akademi Bangla Spelling Dictionary)

*"Paribhasha Sankalan" – Prashashan (Collection of Administrative Terminologies)

*"Sahityer Shabdartho-Kosh" (Dictionary of Literary Terms)

*"Bhasha-Tattwer Paribhasha" (Terminology of Linguistics)

*"Byutpatti-Sidhyartha-Bangla Kosh" (Dictionary of Bangla Word Origin)

*"Bangla Bhashay Arthaniti Charcha Granthapanji" (Catalogue of Economic Studies in Bangla)

*"Bangla Bhashay Itihaas Charcha Granthapanji" (Catalogue of Historical Studies in Bangla)

*"Dhatubidya Paribhasha" (Terminology of Metallurgy)

*"Saontali-Bangla Samashabda Abidhan" (A Dictionary of Santali-Bangla Identical Words)

Complete/ Selected Works of Legendary Authors

*"Sanchayita, Vol. II", (Ed. By Arun Kumar Basu) – an alternative anthology of Tagore Poems other than Sanchayita

*"Manik Bandyopadhyay Rachana Samagra, (Ek-Ekadash Khanda)" - Complete Works of Manik Bandopadhyay, Vols. I-XI

*"Manik Bandyopadhyay Kishor Rachana Sambhar", (Ed. By. Parthojit Gangopadhyay) – Collected Juvenile Literature of Manik Bandopadhyay

*"Kazi Nazrul Islam Rachana Samagra, (Ek-Saptam Khanda)" - Complete Works of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Vols. I-VII

*"Budhhadeb Bose Prabandha Samagra, (Ek-dui Khanda)" - Complete Works of Budhhadeb Bose, Vols. I-II

*"Nirendranath Chakravarty Gadya Samagra" - Complete Prose Works of Nirendranath Chakravarty
*"Rezaul Karim Prabandha Samagra" - Complete Essays of Rezaul Karim

*"Jyoti Bhattacharya Prabandha Samagra" - Complete Essays of Jyoti Bhattacharya

*"Dwijendra-Giti Samagra" – Complete Songs of Dwijendra Lal Roy

*"Somen Chada Nirbachito Galpa Sangraha" – Selected Stories of Somen Chanda

*"Samparka (Sampriti Bishayak Galpa)" – Samparka: Stories on Communal Hermony (Ed. By Ashok Kumar Mitra and Bishnu Basu)

Collected Essays

*"Bhasha-Bhabna: Unish-Bish Shatak" – Thoughts on Language, A Collection of 37 Essays on Bangla dated from 1850 to 1950.

*"Prasanga Bangla Byakaran, Prothom Khanda"- On Bangla Grammar, Vol. I, (20 essays on Bangla Grammar from old periodicals)

*"Prasanga Bangla Byakaran, Dwitiyo Khanda"- On Bangla Grammar, Vol. II, (Contemporary Essays on Bangla Grammar)

*"Saraswat" – A History of Bangla Literary Academies (Ed. By Arun Kumar Basu)

*"Bangalir Gaan" – Songs of Bengal, A Golden Treasury of Bangla Music (Ed. By. Durgadas Lahiri)

*"Akademi Pratishtha Barshiki Bhashan Sankalan" – Akademi Collection of Foundation Day Lectures

*"Akademi Bhashan Sankalan" – Akademi Collection of Lectures

*"Puratan Gadyagrantha Sangraha" – Collection of Old Texts (Ed. By Dr. Asit Kumar Bandyaopadhyay)

*"Sangbad-Samayikpatre Unish Shataker Bangali Samaj (Ek-Dui Khanda)" – Nineteenth Century Bengali Society in Periodicals, Vols. I-II (Col. & Ed. By Swapan Bose)

*"Manaswi Annadashankar" – Annadashankar Roy, A Great Thinker (Ed. By Dhiman Dasgupta)

*"Bangla Primer Sangraha" – A Collection of Bangla Primers (Ed. By Ashish Khastogir)

ee also

*Annadashankar Roy
*Bangiya Sahitya Parishad
*University of Calcutta
*Rabindranath Tagore

External links

* http://paschimbangabanglaakademi.org/images/index.html.htm