Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya

Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit. He was the principal of the Sanskrit College for over 18 years. He was a Companion of the Indian Empress (C.I.E.), and a member of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1877.

He was a close friend and colleague of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and played an important role in the Bengal Renaissance. He revived the "Tol" system in Sanskrit education, and introduced titles or "Upadhi". He was one of the most eminent Bengalis in Kolkata of the nineteenth century.

He was the younger son of Sanskrit's leading exponent, Harinarayan Tarkaratna. Originally from Narit in Howrah, he shifted to Kolkata for higher studies, and stayed on. Nyayratna Lane [http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=22.599798&lon=88.37184&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2] in Shyambazar (North Kolkata) is named after him. Many of his descendants have left their mark in the pages of Kolkata's rich history. Manmatha Bhattacharyya Street [http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=22.599568&lon=88.371084&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2] in Shyambazar is named after his eldest son, Manmatha Nath Vidyaratna Bhattacharyya, the first Indian Accountant General of Madras. Manmatha Nath was a close friend and confidante of Swami Vivekananda [ [http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/reminiscences/057_ksi.htm Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda ] ] who was based at his palatial establishment in Madras, when he toured South India [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_6/Conversations_and_Dialogues(Translated_from_the_diary_of_a_disciple)/XII] . Vivekananda kept in touch wit Manmatha Nath on a regular basis and wrote to him regularly from the USA [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_7/Epistles_-_Third_Series/XXIII_Mr._Bhattacharya] . Manmatha Nath's daughter was worshipped by Vivekananda as the Kumari, during the first ever Kumari Puja in 1902, at the historic Belur Math in Howrah.

References

External links

* [http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/reminiscences/057_ksi.htm Ramakrishnavivekananda.info]
* [http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EtcoeaQIQdAC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=manmatha+nath+bhattacharya+vivekananda&source=web&ots=a5wIeUxYr4&sig=_2vQJ74R4C0n_tXjHzepTFSJN74&hl=en Swami Vivekananda in India: A Corrective Biography by Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya]
* [http://commonground.ca/iss/0303140/lost_teachings_of_yoga.shtml Commonground.ca]
* [http://books.google.co.in/books?id=_Wptq3dOqZYC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=manmatha+nath+bhattacharya+vivekananda&source=web&ots=mn6g8VUVsu&sig=lQlCK7IX4OPHM3yp60gPzFVefmY&hl=en Myth and Mythmaking by Julia Leslie]
* [http://www.frankreport.com/vivekananda/KnownLetters/Bhattacharya.html Frankreport.com/vivekananda/KnownLetters]
* [http://glorine.firehead.org/~pturing/occult/vivekananda/volume_6/conversations_and_dialogues/xii_sharat_chakravarty_frame.htm Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 6, Conversations and Dialogues]
* [http://www.vivekananda.net/PDFBooks/Reminiscences/SrinivasaPai.html Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda by A. Srinivasa Pai]