Jnanadanandini Devi

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Jnanadanandini Tagore
Social reformer
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1857)​
Children
Indira Devi Choudhurani
Surendranath Tagore
FamilyTagore family

Jnanadanandini Tagore (

Parsi style drapes she encountered while living in Bombay.[1]

Early life

Jnanadanandini was born to parents Abhaycharan Mukhopadhyay and Nistarini Devi of Narendrapur village in

Civil Service, Jnanadanandini went to live with her husband in Bombay.[6]

Bombay

While in

Calcutta was Mrs. Soudamini Gupta, the wife of Behari Lal Gupta, ICS.[9] The style soon became popular among the Brahmo women of Calcutta developing the eponym Brahmika Sari.[10]
While in Calcutta, Jnanadanandini, breaking the customs of the upper-caste household, accompanied her husband to a Christmas party thrown by the
Viceroy, Lord Lawrence in 1866. Prasanna Coomar Tagore of Pathuriaghata, who was also among the invitees was deeply outraged by Jnanadanandini's boldness and left the viceregal palace in shock.[11] Her father-in-law, Debendranath Tagore did not take kindly to her independent spirit either. It is speculated that this caused much discord in the Tagore household.[12] Jnanadanandini left Jorasanko in 1868 to live by herself in a mansion on Park Street, adjacent to Debendranath's residence. In spite of this proximity, the two of them never interacted.[13] However, around this time she developed a fondness for her younger brother-in-law, Rabindranath Tagore, who became a frequent visitor in her Park Street house. Jnanadanandini returned to Bombay with her husband in 1869. The same year she lost her first child within a few days of birth.[14] Her son, Surendranath was born in 1872 while the couple was living in Poona and the following year, her daughter Indira Devi was born in Bijapur. In yet another undaunted act of courage, Jnanadanandini appointed a Muslim woman as wet nurse for her children.[15] In those days it was common for affluent Hindu families to leave their newborns to the care of a wet nurse or governess, but always a Hindu.[16] However, Jnanadanandini resented leaving her children in the custody of servants—often against the wishes of her own husband—making evident the emotional contours of a nuclear family that were already beginning to evolve in her mind.[17] Her third son Kabindranath was born in 1876(?) during the family's brief sojourn in Hyderabad, Sindh.[18]

England

In 1877 Jnanadanandini Devi set sail for

Calcutta
with her children.

Calcutta

Standing L-R: Jnanadanandini Devi, Satyendranath Tagore, Kadambari Devi. Seated: Jyotirindranath Tagore

In

Calcutta glitterati of her time.[29] That Calcutta society was not favourably disposed towards Jnanadanandini either is evident from an article in the October 1889 issue of the popular Bengali journal Bangabasi, which slandered her for acting in the play Raja O Rani.[30] Ironically, the Tagore house at Birjitalao where the performance took place is today occupied by a ritzy gentlemen's club.[31]

"My aunt Gyanada, brought with her from Britain a new custom called 'Birthday'. We had never heard of this strange celebration before. In fact most of us did not even know when we were born. Once, after returning from Suren's birthday party, I distinctly remember the frenzy among the Jorasanko children – and not just the children – of finding out when they were born. Our westernized family, of course, promptly took to the idea as did the Brahmo Samaj. And lo and behold, before long the whole country was celebrating their birthdays."

Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, Jeebaner Jharapata

In 1890, Jnanadanandini moved in with

E.B. Havell who at the time was the principal of Government College of Art. The collaboration between these two artists would eventually lead to the development of the Bengal School of Art.[32]
Jnanadanandini's position in the
Santiniketan ashram in 1921.[35] Yet, her relationship with Rabindranath remained untarnished all her life. In the words of her daughter Indira Devi, "my mother had ... a quality of centrality, that is the power of attracting people around her, owing to her hospitable and hearty nature".[36]

In 1907, Jnanadanandini and Satyendranath visited Jyotirindranath Tagore in his house at Morabadi Hill in Ranchi and started living there permanently from 1911.[37] She died in 1941.

Literary accomplishments

Among the Tagore family women, after Swarnakumari Devi, Jnanadanandini participated most actively in the rich literary ambiance of the family. Upon her return from England in 1880, Jnanadanandini began writing articles in the Bengali journal Bharati. Her flair was soon noticed by the intelligentsia.[38] In 1881 - four years before the establishment of the Indian National Congress - Jnanadanandini published an article titled Ingrajninda O Deshanurag (Criticism of the British and Patriotism), in which she called for the establishment of a nationwide organization which would have branches in the remote district towns. She argued "every benefit that the British have bestowed upon us is a blow to our mission of national liberation".[39] In 1885, Jnanadanandini Devi established Balak, the first children's literary magazine in Bengali. Rabindranath contributed a number of short stories, poems and plays to Balak.[40] She wrote two plays for children - Takdumadum and Saat Bhai Champa - both of which were highly appreciated in the literary circles.[41] In spite of her many literary achievements, Jnanadanandini Devi did not write an autobiography. However, a couple of years before her death, Pulinbihari Sen did persuade her to write a set of memoirs that were later published as Smritikatha O Puratani.[42]

References

  1. ^ "How Jnanadanandini Devi taught Bengali working women to wear the Sari". 4 July 2022.
  2. ^ Sengupta, p. 74
  3. ISBN 978-93-5040-066-1
    .
  4. ^ Sengupta, p. 75
  5. ^ Deb, p. 18
  6. ISBN 81-7476-355-4
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-4725-9084-8
    .
  8. ISBN 978-1-84788-314-8
    .
  9. ^ Chaudhurani, Indiradevi. Das, Anathnath (ed.). Smritisamput (in Bengali). Viswabharati. p. 265.
  10. ^ "Jnanadanandini Devi". bdlinks. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  11. ^ Deb, p. 21
  12. ISBN 978-81-7215-274-1
    .
  13. ^ Sengupta, p. 284
  14. ^ Sengupta, p. 75
  15. ^ Devi, p. 31
  16. ^ Chaudhurani, Saraladevi (1975). Jibaner Jharapata, Dey's Publishing, p. 13
  17. ^ Devi, p. 31
  18. ^ Devi, p. 32
  19. ^ Sengupta, p. 76
  20. ^ Indira Devi, p. 82
  21. ^ Deb, p. 21
  22. ^ Anathnath Das, p. 38
  23. ^ Devi, p. 34
  24. ^ Tagore, Rabindranath. Europe-Prabasir Patra (Letter 6). Visva-Bharati, 1935
  25. ^ Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, p. 55
  26. ^ Indira Devi Chaudhurani, Prabasi, February 1942
  27. ^ Sengupta, p. 76
  28. ISBN 978-81-89801-01-4
  29. ^ Indira Devi Chaudhurani, Prabasi, February 1942
  30. ^ Sengupta, p. 77
  31. Bennett, Coleman & Co.
  32. ^ Sengupta, p. 77
  33. ^ Deb, p. 188
  34. ^ Deb, p. 142
  35. ^ Sengupta, p 77
  36. ISBN 81-7201-332-9
  37. ^ Sengupta, p. 286
  38. ^ Sengupta, p. 76
  39. ^ Indira Devi Chaudhurani, p. 39
  40. ISBN 978-93-81640-34-0
  41. ^ Indira Devi Chaudhurani, p. 40
  42. ^ Indira Devi Chaudhurani, p. 39

Further reading

External links


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