112-516: Lores Genres Institutions Awards Folk genres Devotional Classical genres Modern genres People Instruments Dance Theater Organizations People The Vaishnava Padavi ( Bengali : বৈষ্ণব পদাবলী ) movement refers to a period in medieval Bengali literature from the 15th to 17th centuries, marked by an efflorescence of Vaishnava poetry often focusing on the Radha - Krishna legend. The term padavali (also written padaabali ) has
224-500: A bid to lessen this burden on young learners, efforts have been made by educational institutions in the two main Bengali-speaking regions (West Bengal and Bangladesh) to address the opaque nature of many consonant clusters, and as a result, modern Bengali textbooks are beginning to contain more and more "transparent" graphical forms of consonant clusters, in which the constituent consonants of a cluster are readily apparent from
336-399: A dance lila by dressing himself as a peacock to please Radha, Gopadevi lila (Krishna took form of female to meet Radha) and Lilahava in which Radha Krishna dressed in each other clothes. Radha and Krishna share two kinds of relationships, Parakiya (Love without any social limitation) and Svakiya (married relationship). Radha asked Krishna why he can't marry her, the reply came "Marriage
448-405: A dark diaphanous veil over her head. The famous Bani Thani portrait by artist Nihâl Chand was inspired by Radha's physical features which includes sharp eyebrows, lotus-like elongated eyes, thin lips and a pointed nose and chin. In religious art forms, Radha also appears as Ardhanari with Krishna, that is an iconography where half of the image is Radha and the other half is Krishna forming
560-596: A different word from a speaker of Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, even though both words are of native Bengali descent. For example, the word salt is লবণ lôbôṇ in the east which corresponds to নুন nun in the west. Bengali exhibits diglossia , though some scholars have proposed triglossia or even n-glossia or heteroglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing have emerged, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax : Linguist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar categorises
672-480: A diphthong. The total number of diphthongs is not established, with bounds at 17 and 31. An incomplete chart is given by Sarkar (1985) of the following: In standard Bengali, stress is predominantly initial. Bengali words are virtually all trochaic ; the primary stress falls on the initial syllable of the word, while secondary stress often falls on all odd-numbered syllables thereafter, giving strings such as in সহযোগিতা shô -hô- jo -gi- ta "cooperation", where
784-692: A large scale and were communally limited. Owing to Bengal's geographic location, Bengali areas bordering non-Bengali regions have been influenced by each other. Small numbers of people in Midnapore , which borders Odisha , have used the Odia script to write in Bengali. In the border areas between West Bengal and Bihar , some Bengali communities historically wrote Bengali in Devanagari , Kaithi and Tirhuta . In Sylhet and Bankura , modified versions of
896-682: A majority in Bangladesh speaks dialects notably different from SCB. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to SCB. The dialect in the Chittagong region is least widely understood by the general body of Bengalis. The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one variety – often, speakers are fluent in Cholitobhasha (SCB) and one or more regional dialects. Even in SCB,
1008-527: A part in the adoption of the English alphabet to write Bengali, with certain social media influencers publishing entire novels in Roman Bengali. Radha Traditional Radha ( Sanskrit : राधा , IAST : Rādhā ), also called Radhika , is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna . She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha
1120-475: A place as a deity. Prior to Gita Govinda, Radha was also mentioned in text Gatha Saptasati which is a collection of 700 verses composed in Prakrit language by King Hāla . The text was written around first or second century AD. Gatha Saptasati mentioned Radha explicitly in its verse: Mukhamarutena tvam krsna gorajo radhikaya apanayan | Etasam ballavinam anyasam api gauravam harasi || "O Krishna, by
1232-747: A poem of Bhakti, depicts Radha and Krishna as divine, but in human love. Though not named in the Bhagavata Purana , Visvanatha Chakravarti (c. 1626–1708) interprets an unnamed favourite gopi in the scripture as Radha. She makes appearances in Venisamhara by Bhatta Narayana (c. 800 CE), Dhvanyaloka by Anandavardhana (c. 820–890 CE) and its commentary Dhvanyalokalocana by Abhinavagupta (c. 950 – 1016 CE), Rajasekhara's (late ninth-early tenth century) Kāvyamīmāṃsā, Dashavatara-charita (1066 CE) by Kshemendra and Siddhahemasabdanusana by Hemachandra (c. 1088–1172). In most of these, Radha
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#17328026054651344-576: A rounded total of 280 million) worldwide. The Bengali language is native to the region of Bengal , which comprises the present-day nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . Besides the native region it is also spoken by the Bengalis living in Tripura , southern Assam and the Bengali population in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Bengali is also spoken in
1456-408: A special diacritic, called the hôsôntô (্) , may be added below the basic consonant grapheme (as in ম্ [m] ). This diacritic, however, is not common and is chiefly employed as a guide to pronunciation. The abugida nature of Bengali consonant graphemes is not consistent, however. Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôsôntô , may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in
1568-581: A state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan . On 21 February 1952, five students and political activists were killed during protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka ; they were the first ever martyrs to die for their right to speak their mother tongue. In 1956, Bengali was made a state language of Pakistan. 21 February has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh and has also been commemorated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO every year since 2000. In 2010,
1680-463: A vowel in isolation from any preceding or following consonant, the independent form of the vowel is used. For example, in মই [moj] "ladder" and in ইলিশ [iliʃ] "Hilsa fish", the independent form of the vowel ই is used (cf. the dependent form ি) . A vowel at the beginning of a word is always realised using its independent form. In addition to the inherent-vowel-suppressing hôsôntô , three more diacritics are commonly used in Bengali. These are
1792-500: Is Bangladesh's national march, written by The National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali in 1928. It was adopted as the national marching song by the Bangladeshi government in 1972. Additionally, the first two verses of Vande Mataram , a patriotic song written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , was adopted as the "national song" of India in both the colonial period and later in 1950 in independent India. Furthermore, it
1904-523: Is Raval which is a small town near Gokul in Uttar pradesh , but is often said to be Barsana where she grew up. According to popular legend, Radha was discovered by Vrishbhanu on an effulgent lotus floating in Yamuna river. Radha was nine months older than Krishna. She didn't open her eyes until Krishna himself in his child form appeared in front of her. " Ashtasakhis " (translated to eight friends) are
2016-468: Is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs , and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. The letters run from left to right and spaces are used to separate orthographic words . Bengali script has a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the graphemes that links them together called মাত্রা matra . Since
2128-436: Is a poem from Chandidas , where Radha is talking to a friend: How can I describe his relentless flute, which pulls virtuous women from their homes and drags them by their hair to Shyam as thirst and hunger pull the doe to the snare? Chaste ladies forget their wisdom, and clinging vines shakes loose from their trees, hearing that music. Then how shall a simple dairymaid withstands its call? Chandidasa says, Kala
2240-570: Is a power potency of Krishna, who is a playful adventurer. Radha and Sita offer two templates within the Hindu tradition. If "Sita is a queen, aware of her social responsibilities", states Pauwels, then "Radha is exclusively focused on her romantic relationship with her lover", giving two contrasting role models from two ends of the moral universe. Yet they share common elements as well. Both face life challenges and are committed to their true love. They are both influential, adored and beloved goddesses in
2352-527: Is a union of two souls. You and I are one soul, how can I marry myself?" Several Hindu texts allude to these circumstances. The Sanskrit texts, Brahma Vaivarta Purana and the Garga Samhita mention that Krishna secretly married Radha in the presence of Brahma in the Bhandirvan forest before leaving Vrindavan . The place where Radha Krishna 's marriage was conducted is still present in
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#17328026054652464-572: Is also spoken by the Bengali diasporas ( Bangladeshi diaspora and Indian Bengalis) across Europe, North America, the Middle East and other regions. Bengali was accorded the status of a classical language by the government of India on 3 October 2024. It is the second most spoken and fourth fastest growing language in India , following Hindi in the first place, Kashmiri in the second place, and Meitei ( Manipuri ), along with Gujarati , in
2576-400: Is an abugida , a script with letters for consonants, with diacritics for vowels, and in which an inherent vowel (অ ô ) is assumed for consonants if no vowel is marked. The Bengali alphabet is used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura). The Bengali alphabet is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE (or 10th–11th century). It
2688-739: Is because she is the secret treasure hidden within the sacred scriptures. During the Bhakti movement era in the sixteenth century, she became more well known as her extraordinary love for Krishna was highlighted. Radha's first major appearance in the 12th-century Gita Govinda in Sanskrit by Jayadeva , as well as Nimbarkacharya 's philosophical works. Thus in the Gita Govinda Krishna speaks to Radha: O woman with desire, place on this patch of flower-strewn floor your lotus foot, And let your foot through beauty win, To me who am
2800-707: Is believed by many that the national anthem of Sri Lanka ( Sri Lanka Matha ) was inspired by a Bengali poem written by Rabindranath Tagore , while some even believe the anthem was originally written in Bengali and then translated into Sinhala . After the contribution made by the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force in the Sierra Leone Civil War under the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone ,
2912-721: Is considered a separate language, although it shares similarities to Northern Bengali dialects. During the standardisation of Bengali in the 19th century and early 20th century, the cultural centre of Bengal was in Kolkata , a city founded by the British. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia and Kushtia District . There are cases where speakers of Standard Bengali in West Bengal will use
3024-550: Is depicted as someone who is deeply in love with Krishna and is deeply saddened when Krishna leaves her. But, on contrary, Radha of the Rādhātantram is portrayed as audacious, sassy, confident, omniscient and divine personality who is in full control at all times. In Rādhātantram, Radha is not merely the consort but is treated as the independent goddess. Here, Krishna is portrayed as her disciple and Radha as his guru. Charlotte Vaudeville theorizes that Radha may have inspired by
3136-429: Is described as the chief of Braj Gopis (milkmaids of Braj) and queen of Goloka and Braj including Vrindavan and Barsana . She has inspired numerous literary works, and her Raslila dance with Krishna has inspired many types of performance arts. The Sanskrit term Rādhā ( Sanskrit : राधा ) means "prosperity, success, perfection and wealth". It is a common word and name found in various contexts in
3248-581: Is frustrated with the past, obligations to social expectations, and the ideas she inherited, who then longs for real meaning, the true love, the divine (Krishna). This metaphoric Radha (soul) finds new liberation in learning more about Krishna, bonding in devotion, and with passion. An image of Radha has inspired numerous literary works. For modern instance, the Shri Radhacharita Mahakavyam —the 1980s epic poem of Dr. Kalika Prasad Shukla that focuses on Radha's devotion to Krishna as
3360-429: Is just her most intimate subordinate. As a precursor to this view can be understand Jayadeva , in whose Gita Govinda (10.9) Krishna is beneath Radha. Radha is also considered as the personification of Krishna's love. According to doctrines attributed to Vaishnavite saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , It is said that, Krishna has three powers: the internal which is intelligence, the external which generates appearances and
3472-404: Is known as Apabhraṃśa , by the end of the first millennium. The Bengali language evolved as a distinct language over the course of time. Though some archaeologists claim that some 10th-century texts were in Bengali, it is not certain whether they represent a differentiated language or whether they represent a stage when Eastern Indo-Aryan languages were differentiating. The local Apabhraṃśa of
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3584-590: Is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Mūlaprakriti , the Supreme goddess, who is the feminine counterpart and internal potency ( hladini shakti ) of Krishna. Radha accompanies Krishna in all his incarnations. Radha's birthday is celebrated every year on the occasion of Radhashtami . In relation with Krishna, Radha has dual representation—the lover consort as well as his married consort. Traditions like Nimbarka Sampradaya worship Radha as
3696-502: Is mentioned in Brahma Vaivarta Purana ( Krishnajanma Khanda, Chapter 96 ) and Garga Samhita ( Ashvamedha Khanda, Chapter 41 ) that after the curse of 100 years of separation ran out, Krishna revisited Braj and met Radha and gopis. After performing the divine pastimes for sometime, Krishna summoned a huge divine chariot which took the residents of Braj along with Radha and gopis back to their celestial abode Goloka where
3808-445: Is said to have come out from primordial body of Krishna, forming his left side, and is eternally associated with him in his amorous sports in this world as well as the world of cows ( Goloka ). Radha is often identified with the "sweet" aspect of goddess Lakshmi 's essence and thus also worshiped as an avatara of Lakshmi. In Shri Daivakrita Lakshmi Strotam , Lakshmi is praised and glorified in her form of Radha In Goloka, you are
3920-490: Is set out below in the International Phonetic Alphabet (upper grapheme in each box) and romanisation (lower grapheme). Bengali is known for its wide variety of diphthongs , combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable . Two of these, /oi̯/ and /ou̯/ , are the only ones with representation in script, as ঐ and ঔ respectively. /e̯ i̯ o̯ u̯/ may all form the glide part of
4032-439: Is sometimes referred to as Ardharadhavenudhara murti , and it symbolizes the complete union and inseparability of Radha and Krishna. D.M. Wulff demonstrates through a close study of her Sanskrit and Bengali sources that Radha is both the "consort" and "conqueror" of Krishna and that "metaphysically Radha is understood as co-substantial and co-eternal with Krishna." Indeed, the more popular vernacular traditions prefer to worship
4144-743: Is the second-most widely spoken language in India . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura and the Barak Valley region of the state of Assam . It is also the second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. It is the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal , and is spoken by significant populations in other states including Bihar , Arunachal Pradesh , Delhi , Chhattisgarh , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , Odisha and Uttarakhand . Bengali
4256-689: The Varaha Purana (as consort of Krishna), the Narada Purana (as goddess of love), the Skanda Purana and the Shiva Purana . The 15th and 16th century Krishnaite Bhakti poet-saints Vidyapati , Chandidas , Meera Bai , Surdas , Swami Haridas , as well as Narsinh Mehta (1350–1450), who preceded all of them, wrote about the romance of Krishna and Radha too. Thus, Chandidas in his Bengali-language Shri Krishna Kirtana ,
4368-509: The Aesop's Fables in Bengali was printed using Roman letters based on English phonology by the Scottish linguist John Gilchrist . Consecutive attempts to establish a Roman Bengali have continued across every century since these times, and have been supported by the likes of Suniti Kumar Chatterji , Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda , and Muhammad Enamul Haq . The Digital Revolution has also played
4480-615: The Arabic , Persian , and Turkic languages . The arrival of merchants and traders from the Middle East and Turkestan into the Buddhist -ruling Pala Empire , from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region. In the 13th century, subsequent Arab Muslim and Turco-Persian expeditions to Bengal heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population. Bengali absorbed Arabic and Persian influences in its vocabulary and dialect, including
4592-474: The Constitution of Bangladesh states Bengali to be the sole official language of Bangladesh. The Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 , made it mandatory to use Bengali in all records and correspondences, laws, proceedings of court and other legal actions in all courts, government or semi-government offices, and autonomous institutions in Bangladesh. It is also the de facto national language of
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4704-544: The Goloka , which is a world of cows and cowherds far above the Vishnu 's Vaikuntha . In this divine world, Krishna and Radha relate to one another in the way body relates to the soul. (4.6.216) According to Krishnaism , Radha is the chief female deity and is associated with Krishna's maya (material energy) and prakriti (feminine energy). At highest level Goloka, Radha is said to be united with Krishna and abiding with him in
4816-657: The Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 237 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, Bengali is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language . Bengali is the official , national , and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh , with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. It
4928-579: The Kaithi script had some historical prominence, mainly among Muslim communities. The variant in Sylhet was identical to the Baitali Kaithi script of Hindustani with the exception of Sylhet Nagri possessing matra . Sylhet Nagri was standardised for printing in c. 1869 . Up until the 19th century, numerous variations of the Arabic script had been used across Bengal from Chittagong in
5040-723: The Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were influential in the first millennium when Bengal was a part of the Greater Magadhan realm. The local varieties had no official status during the Gupta Empire , and with Bengal increasingly becoming a hub of Sanskrit literature for Hindu priests, the vernacular of Bengal gained a lot of influence from Sanskrit. Magadhi Prakrit was also spoken in modern-day Bihar and Assam , and this vernacular eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi . Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what
5152-524: The Nadia region . Bengali shows a high degree of diglossia , with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language. Modern Bengali vocabulary is based on words inherited from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, along with tatsamas and reborrowings from Sanskrit and borrowings from Persian , Arabic , Austroasiatic languages and other languages with which it has historically been in contact. In
5264-607: The University of Karachi (established by East Pakistani politicians before Independence of Bangladesh ) also offers regular programs of studies at the Bachelors and at the Masters levels for Bengali Literature. The national anthems of both Bangladesh ( Amar Sonar Bangla ) and India ( Jana Gana Mana ) were written in Bengali by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore . Notuner Gaan known as " Chol Chol Chol"
5376-499: The boldface represents primary and secondary stress. Native Bengali words do not allow initial consonant clusters ; the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e., one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school". The Bengali-Assamese script
5488-557: The phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalised vowels and an alveolar articulation of what are categorised as the "cerebral" consonants (as opposed to the postalveolar articulation of western Bengal). Some varieties of Bengali, particularly Sylheti , Chittagonian and Chakma , have contrastive tone ; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Hajong
5600-688: The 10th and 11th cantos of the Sanskrit Srimad Bhagavatam (composed c. 9th century), into the Bengali poem SriKrsnaVijay . Maladhar focused on Krishna's divine life, with the 10th canto relating the legends of Krishna as a child, and his Leela with the Gopis in Vrindavana . He was honoured by Rukunuddin Barbak Shah with the title Gunaraj Khan . Although neither Chandidas nor Maladhar Basu were Vaishnavas, they were to lay
5712-623: The 16th century, Portuguese missionaries began a tradition of using the Roman alphabet to transcribe the Bengali language. Though the Portuguese standard did not receive much growth, a few Roman Bengali works relating to Christianity and Bengali grammar were printed as far as Lisbon in 1743. The Portuguese were followed by the English and French respectively, whose works were mostly related to Bengali grammar and transliteration. The first version of
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#17328026054655824-652: The 19th and 20th centuries, there were two standard forms of written Bengali: In 1948, the government of Pakistan tried to impose Urdu as the sole state language in Pakistan, giving rise to the Bengali language movement . This was a popular ethnolinguistic movement in the former East Bengal (today Bangladesh ), which arose as a result of the strong linguistic consciousness of the Bengalis and their desire to promote and protect spoken and written Bengali's recognition as
5936-593: The 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. The ancestor of Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty . During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the elision of the word-final অ ô and the spread of compound verbs, which originated from the Sanskrit Schwa . Slowly, the word-final ô disappeared from many words influenced by
6048-456: The Bengali equivalent of a full stop – have been adopted from Western scripts and their usage is similar. Unlike in Western scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, etc.) where the letter forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms instead hang from a visible horizontal left-to-right headstroke called মাত্রা matra . The presence and absence of this matra can be important. For example,
6160-426: The Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments , but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature. The inherent vowel is usually a back vowel , either [ɔ] as in মত [m ɔ t] "opinion" or [o] , as in মন [m o n] "mind", with variants like the more open [ɒ] . To emphatically represent a consonant sound without any inherent vowel attached to it,
6272-486: The Hindu culture. In worship of Rama, Sita is represented as a dutiful and loving wife, holding a position entirely subordinate to Rama. However, in the worship of Radha Krishna , Radha is often preferred over to Krishna, and in certain traditions, her name is elevated to a higher position compared to Krishna's. Radha in Hinduism , is revered as the goddess of love. She is mostly depicted along with Krishna or gopis in
6384-476: The Indian temples. Through her image, her divine character and her amorous and passionate relations with Krishna, Radha is the constant meditation of practitioners. According to William Archer and David Kinsley, a professor of Religious Studies known for his studies on Hindu goddesses, the Radha-Krishna love story is a metaphor for a divine-human relationship, where Radha is the human devotee or soul who
6496-537: The Lord of All, O be attached, now always yours. O follow me, my little Radha. However, the source of Jayadeva's heroine in his poem remains a puzzle of the Sanskrit literature. A possible explanation is Jayadeva's friendship with Nimbarkacharya, the first acharya to establish the worship of Radha-Krishna. Nimbarka, in accordance with the Sahitya Akademi 's Encyclopaedia, more than any other acharyas gave Radha
6608-619: The Primordial Divine Mother. While the poetry of Jayadeva and Vidyapati from Bengal treat Radha as Krishna's "mistress", the Gaudiya poetry elevates her to a divine consort. In Western India, Vallabhacharya 's Krishna-centric sampradaya Pushtimarg , Radha is revered as the Swamini of Krishna, who is worthy of devotion. According to Jaya Chemburkar, there are at least two significant and different aspects of Radha in
6720-735: The ancient and medieval texts of India. The word appears in the Vedic literature as well as the Hindu epics , but is elusive. The name also appears for a figure in the epic Mahabharata . Rādhikā refers to an endearing form of Radha. In chapter 15th, Goloka khanda of Garga Samhita , Sage Garga elaborates the complete meaning of Radha. In Radha, 'R' signifies Rama , goddess Lakshmi , 'a' means Gopis , "dh" signifies dhara , goddess Bhudevi and last 'a' symbolises River Virājā (also called Yamuna ). The fifth chapter, Fifth night of Narada Pancharatra mentioned 1008 names of Radha under
6832-536: The basis of modern standard colloquial Bengali. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh ( Barisal , Chittagong , Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal and western Bangladesh are pronounced as fricatives . Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [ tɕɔ ] , ছ [ tɕʰɔ ] , জ [ dʑɔ ] correspond to eastern চ [tsɔ] , ছ [tsʰɔ~sɔ] , জ [dzɔ~zɔ] . The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on
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#17328026054656944-616: The body of the Supreme Lord is Srimati Radha, seated blissfully, as beautiful as the Lord Himself; who is served by thousands of gopis: we meditate on the Supreme Goddess, the fulfiller of all desires. In the hymnal Hita-Caurasi of Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu , the 16th-century bhakti poet-saint, founder of Radha Vallabh Sampradaya , Radharani is exalted to the status of the only ultimate deity, while her consort Krishna
7056-427: The combined masculine and feminine form of Ardhanarishvara . In Radha Krishna temples, Radha stands on the left of Krishna, with a garland in her hand. She is often dressed in traditional sari or ghagra-choli along with a veil. Her jewelry from top to bottom is either made of metals, pearls or flowers. The Sanskrit scripture Brahma Vaivarta Purana describes Radha as the beautiful and youthful goddess having
7168-469: The consonant which comes first is put on top of or to the left of the one that immediately follows. In these ligatures, the shapes of the constituent consonant signs are often contracted and sometimes even distorted beyond recognition. In the Bengali writing system, there are nearly 285 such ligatures denoting consonant clusters. Although there exist a few visual formulas to construct some of these ligatures, many of them have to be learned by rote. Recently, in
7280-507: The country. In India, Bengali is one of the 23 official languages . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal , Tripura and in Barak Valley of Assam . Bengali has been a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. In Pakistan , Bengali is a recognised secondary language in the city of Karachi mainly spoken by stranded Bengalis of Pakistan . The Department of Bengali in
7392-475: The couple and often tilt the balance of power towards Radha. Graham M. Schweig in his work " The divine feminine theology of Krishna " in context with Radha Krishna stated that, "The divine couple, Radha and Krishna, comprise the essence of godhead. Radha is therefore acknowledged by Chaitanyaite Vaishnavas to be part of very center of their theological doctrine. Sacred images of the forms of Radha Krishna, standing together side by side, are elaborately worshiped in
7504-483: The court at Bengal , was exposed to the Vaishnavite tradition. With the rise of Vrindavana 14th century onwards, there was an admixture of the strains of devotional music from different regions of India. Followers of Vallabhacharya of Andhra and Nimbarkacharya of Maharashtra rubbed shoulders with Vaishnava composers from Bengal and Bihar. Eminent musicians such as Swami Haridas (16th century), reputedly
7616-604: The development of Dobhashi . Bengali acquired prominence, over Persian, in the court of the Sultans of Bengal with the ascent of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah . Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali, allowing it to become the most spoken vernacular language in the Sultanate. Bengali adopted many words from Arabic and Persian , which was a manifestation of Islamic culture on
7728-404: The differentiated which forms the individual soul. His chief power is that which creates dilatation of the heart or joy. This appears to be the power of love. When this love becomes settled in the heart of the devotee, it constitutes Mahabhava , or the best feeling. When love attains to the highest pitch, it constitutes itself into Radha, who is the most lovable of all and full of all qualities. She
7840-410: The east to Meherpur in the west. The 14th-century court scholar of Bengal, Nur Qutb Alam , composed Bengali poetry using the Persian alphabet . After the Partition of India in the 20th century, the Pakistani government attempted to institute the Perso-Arabic script as the standard for Bengali in East Pakistan ; this was met with resistance and contributed to the Bengali language movement. In
7952-443: The eastern subcontinent, Purbi Apabhraṃśa or Abahatta (lit. 'meaningless sounds'), eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups, the Bengali–Assamese languages , the Bihari languages , and the Odia language . The language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects in this period. For example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around
8064-451: The emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1999, UNESCO recognised 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the language movement. Although Sanskrit has been spoken by Hindu Brahmins in Bengal since the 3rd century BC, the local Buddhist population spoke varieties of the Prakrit . These varieties are generally referred to as "eastern Magadhi Prakrit ", as coined by linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji , as
8176-667: The eternal consort and wedded wife of Krishna. In contrast, traditions like Gaudiya Vaishnavism revere her as Krishna's lover and the divine consort. In Radha Vallabh Sampradaya and Haridasi Sampradaya, only Radha is worshipped as the Supreme being . Elsewhere, she is venerated with Krishna as his principal consort in Nimbarka Sampradaya, Pushtimarg , Mahanam Sampradaya , Swaminarayan Sampradaya , Vaishnava-Sahajiya , Manipuri Vaishnavism , and Gaudiya Vaishnavism movements linked to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu . Radha
8288-466: The final ন in মন [m o n] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla] ). A consonant sound followed by some vowel sound other than the inherent [ɔ] is orthographically realised by using a variety of vowel allographs above, below, before, after, or around the consonant sign, thus forming the ubiquitous consonant-vowel typographic ligatures . These allographs, called কার kar , are diacritical vowel forms and cannot stand on their own. For example,
8400-511: The final reunion of Radha Krishna took place. In Brahma Vaivarta Purana , Radha (or Rādhikā), who is inseparable from Krishna, appears as the main goddess. She is mentioned as the personification of the Mūlaprakriti, the "Root nature", that original seed from which all material forms evolved. In the company of the Purusha ("Man", "Spirit", "Universal soul") Krishna, she is said to inhabit
8512-469: The foundation for much of the following Vaishnava poetry in Bengal. Vaishnavism in Bengal was given a tremendous boost by Sri Chaitanya (1486–1533), whose intense spiritualism infected many and started a movement across many regions of India. Chaitanya emphasized the role of merely uttering God's name in obtaining emancipation, and songs, sung passionately and leading to a trance-like state, were central to
8624-428: The goddess Primordial prakriti (Mūlaprakriti) who is called the "Maker of Universe" or "Mother of All" (Narada Purana, Purva-Khanda, 83.10-11, 83.44, 82.214). In Nimbarkacharya 's Vedanta Kamadhenu Dashashloki (verse 6), it is clearly stated that: Ange tu vaame vrishabhaanujaam mudaa viraajamaanaam anuruupasaubhagaam | Sakhiisahasraih parisevitaam sadaa smarema deviim sakalestakaamadaam || The left portion of
8736-521: The goddess more dear to Krishna than life itself, His own Radhika. Deep in the Vrinda forest, you are the mistress of mesmerizing rasa dance. According to the Garga Samhita (Canto 2, chapter 22, verses 26–29), during the rasa pastime, on the request of gopis , Radha and Krishna showed them their eight armed forms and turned into their Lakshmi Narayan forms. (2.22.26) In Skanda Purana (Vaishnava Khand, chapter 128), Yamuna describes Radha as
8848-726: The government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared Bengali as an honorary official language in December 2002. In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations . Regional varieties in spoken Bengali constitute a dialect continuum . Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji grouped the dialects of Bengali language into four large clusters: Rarhi , Vangiya , Kamrupi and Varendri ; but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed. The south-western dialects ( Rarhi or Nadia dialect) form
8960-499: The graph মি [mi] represents the consonant [m] followed by the vowel [i] , where [i] is represented as the diacritical allograph ি (called ই-কার i-kar ) and is placed before the default consonant sign. Similarly, the graphs মা [ma] , মী [mi] , মু [mu] , মূ [mu] , মৃ [mri] , মে [me~mɛ] , মৈ [moj] , মো [mo] and মৌ [mow] represent the same consonant ম combined with seven other vowels and two diphthongs. In these consonant-vowel ligatures,
9072-412: The graphical form. However, since this change is not as widespread and is not being followed as uniformly in the rest of the Bengali printed literature, today's Bengali-learning children will possibly have to learn to recognise both the new "transparent" and the old "opaque" forms, which ultimately amounts to an increase in learning burden. Bengali punctuation marks, apart from the downstroke । daṛi –
9184-547: The integral part of Radha's childhood and youth. It is believed that all the Ashtasakhis are the intimate friends of Radha Krishna and also have descended from Goloka in Braj region. Out of all the eight sakhis, Lalita and Vishakha are the prominent ones. According to Chaitanya Charitamrita 's Antya lila (2:6:116), Radha also received a boon from sage Durvasa in her childhood that whatever she cooks would be better than
9296-450: The land of Braj . Various art forms based on Radha Krishna are majorly inspired by Gita Govinda and Rasikapriya . In Rajput paintings , Radha represents an ideal of beauty, wearing the traditional sari decorated extensively with patterns and ornamented in jewelry with lighter skin tone and emphasized facial features. In Kishangarh paintings, Radha is represented as beautifully dressed woman in ghagra choli with pearl jewelry and
9408-494: The language as: While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali (SCB), spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. People in southeastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in SCB. Other dialects, with minor variations from Standard Colloquial, are used in other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh, such as the Midnapore dialect, characterised by some unique words and constructions. However,
9520-547: The language. Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include Yusuf-Zulekha by Shah Muhammad Sagir and Srikrishna Kirtana by the Chandidas poets. Court support for Bengali culture and language waned when the Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in the late 16th and early 17th century. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the west-central dialect spoken in
9632-428: The letter ত tô and the numeral ৩ "3" are distinguishable only by the presence or absence of the matra , as is the case between the consonant cluster ত্র trô and the independent vowel এ e , also the letter হ hô and Bengali Ôbogroho ঽ (~ô) and letter ও o and consonant cluster ত্ত ttô . The letter-forms also employ the concepts of letter-width and letter-height (the vertical space between
9744-454: The literal meaning "gathering of songs" ( pada =short verse, lyric; +vali = plural; collection). The padavali poetry reflects an earthy view of divine love which had its roots in the Agam poetry of Tamil Sangam literature (600 BC–300 AD) and spread into early medieval Telugu ( Nannaya , Annamayya ) and Kannada literatures ( Dasa sahitya ). The poetic themes spread rapidly as part of
9856-575: The literature associated with her, such as Sri Radhika namasahasram . One aspect is she is a milkmaid (gopi), another as a female deity similar to those found in the Hindu goddess traditions. She also appears in Hindu arts as Ardhanari with Krishna, that is an iconography where half of the image is Radha and the other half is Krishna. This is found in sculpture such as those discovered in Maharashtra , and in texts such as Shiva Purana and Brahma Vaivarta Purana . In these texts, this Ardha Nari
9968-523: The local languages ( apabhramsha ) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of brajabuli adopted by Vidyapati (14th century) and Govindadas Kaviraj Vidyapati in Mithila (14th century) and Chandidas (late 14th century) in Birbhum . Chandidas was among the earliest poets in the nascent Bengali language, and many of his poems deal with the Radha-Krishna theme. In 1474, Maladhar Basu translated
10080-510: The molten golden complexion and wearing the garlands of gems and flowers. Radha in her human form is revered as the milkmaid ( gopi ) of Vrindavan who became the beloved of Krishna. One of the basic traits of Radha is her unconditional love for Krishna and her sufferings that forms the basis for Radha's exaltation as a model of devotion. Radha was born to Vrishbhanu , who was the Yadava ruler of Barsana and his wife Kirtida. Her birthplace
10192-481: The nectar. Stories of Radha's youth are filled with her divine pastimes with Krishna. Some of the popular pastimes of Radha Krishna include: Raslila , pastimes of Radha Kund , Gopashtami lila , Lathmar Holi , Seva Kunj lila in which Krishna did sringara of Radha, Maan lila ( A special stage in divine love in which the devotee develops so much love for God as to even attain the right of getting angry with him), Mor Kutir lila in which Krishna performed
10304-605: The neighbouring states of Odisha , Bihar , and Jharkhand , and sizeable minorities of Bengali speakers reside in Indian cities outside Bengal, including Delhi , Mumbai , Thane , Varanasi , and Vrindavan . There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in the Middle East , the United States , Singapore , Malaysia , Australia , Canada , the United Kingdom , and Italy . The 3rd article of
10416-749: The outskirts of Vrindavan, called Radha Krishna Vivah Sthali, Bhandirvan . The story mentioned in Brahma Vaivarta Purana indicates that Radha has always been Krishna's divine consort. But to give importance to Parakiya relationship (love without any social foundation) over Svakiya's (married relationship), Radha Krishna's marriage was kept hidden. According to Garga Samhita and Brahma Vaivarta Purana , Radha also left her home post Krishna's departure and went to Kadli vann (forest) leaving behind her illusionary form (also called Chaya Radha, her shadow) in Barsana. Radha with Ashtasakhi also met Uddhava in this forest who delivered them Krishna's message. It
10528-548: The pairing of the goddess Ekanamsha (associated with Durga ) with Jagannatha (who is identified with Krishna) of Puri in Eastern India. Though Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism ) is not known to have worshiped the deity couple of Radha-Krishna, his disciples around the Vrindavan region, affirmed Radha as the hladini shakti ("energy of bliss") of Krishna, associating her with
10640-517: The parliament of Bangladesh and the legislative assembly of West Bengal proposed that Bengali be made an official UN language. As of January 2023, no further action has been yet taken on this matter. However, in 2022, the UN did adopt Bangla as an unofficial language, after a resolution tabled by India. In 2024, the government of India conferred Bengali with the status of classical language . Approximate distribution of native Bengali speakers (assuming
10752-492: The path of bhakti. Chaitanya himself wrote many (source - ? gaudiya-vaishnavas say, that Chaitanya left only one song: Shikshashtaka) songs on the Radha-Krishna theme, and certainly encouraged the composition of new songs. Major poets in the ensuing padavali tradition included Murari Gupta ( srikriShNachaitanyacharitrAmr^ta ), Narahari Sarkar, Basudev Ghosh, Lochandas, Jnanadas, Govindadas , Balaram Das, Syed Sultan and Dwija Chandidas (16th century). The 17th century saw
10864-471: The poetry is the love of Radha and Krishna , on the banks of the Yamuna in Vrindavana; their secret trysts in the forests, Krishna's charms including his magic flute, the love of the gopis for Krishna, Radha's viraha on being separated from Krishna and her anguish on seeing him sporting with the other gopis. Much of the poetry, though written by men, focuses on the feelings of a woman in love. Here
10976-802: The puff of breath from your mouth, as you blow the dust from Radha's face, you take away the glories of other milkmaids." Radha also appears in the Puranas namely the Padma Purana (as an avatar of Lakshmi ), the Devi-Bhagavata Purana (as a form of Mahadevi ), the Brahma Vaivarta Purana (as Radha-Krishna supreme deity), the Matsya Purana (as form of Devi ), the Linga Purana (as form of Lakshmi),
11088-470: The puppet master leads the dance. – trans. Edward C. Dimock and Denise Levertov , In praise of Krishna , p. 18 Many of the poets were influenced by the Maithili poet Vidyapati, and some, such as Govindadas, also composed in the brajabuli language. Vaishnava music was extremely influential in the evolution of Indian musical tradition. In the 14th century, Amir Khusro , who spent some time in
11200-436: The religious Bhakti movement that proposed an intensely personal form of devotion, following the philosophy of Ramanuja and opposing caste distinctions and other brahministic measures implicit in the theism of Adi Shankaracharya . The movement spread out and attained a pan-India status during the 13th–17th centuries. The accompanying literary movements were marked by a shift from the classical language of Sanskrit , to
11312-491: The same body. The relationship between Radha Krishna is that of substance and attribute: they are as inseparable as Milk and its whiteness or Earth and its smell. This level of Radha's identity transcends her material nature as prakriti and exits in the form of pure consciousness ( Narada Purana , Uttara Khana - 59.8). While Radha is identical to Krishna at this highest level, this merger of identities seems to end when she separates from him. After separation she manifest herself as
11424-427: The so-called "inherent" vowel [ɔ] is first expunged from the consonant before adding the vowel, but this intermediate expulsion of the inherent vowel is not indicated in any visual manner on the basic consonant sign ম [mɔ] . The vowel graphemes in Bengali can take two forms: the independent form found in the basic inventory of the script and the dependent, abridged, allograph form (as discussed above). To represent
11536-536: The superposed chôndrôbindu (ঁ) , denoting a suprasegmental for nasalisation of vowels (as in চাঁদ [tʃãd] "moon"), the postposed ônusbar (ং) indicating the velar nasal [ŋ] (as in বাংলা [baŋla] "Bengali") and the postposed bisôrgô (ঃ) indicating the voiceless glottal fricative [h] (as in উঃ! [uh] "ouch!") or the gemination of the following consonant (as in দুঃখ [dukʰːɔ] "sorrow"). The Bengali consonant clusters ( যুক্তব্যঞ্জন juktôbênjôn ) are usually realised as ligatures, where
11648-479: The teacher of Tansen , lived here. The songs are often set to a romantic raga such as Pilu or Desh , and borrow freely from folk tunes and other traditions. This musical tradition continues to be popular in Bengal with the Bauls and other kirtaniya groups, who include Sufi Muslims among their practitioners. Vaishnava padavali left a lasting mark on Bengali literature . Among others, Rabindranath Tagore
11760-654: The third place, according to the 2011 census of India . Bengali has developed over more than 1,400 years. Bengali literature , with its millennium-old literary history, was extensively developed during the Bengali Renaissance and is one of the most prolific and diverse literary traditions in Asia. The Bengali language movement from 1948 to 1956 demanding that Bengali be an official language of Pakistan fostered Bengali nationalism in East Bengal leading to
11872-518: The title Shri Radha Saharsnama Strotam . The 68th chapter, Tritiya paad of Narada Purana also listed 500 names of Radha. Some of the common names and epithets are: Radha is an important goddess in the Vaishnavite traditions of Hinduism. Her traits, manifestations, descriptions, and roles vary by region. Radha is intrinsic with Krishna. In early Indian literature, mentions of her are elusive. The traditions that venerate her explain this
11984-428: The universal lover—"one of the rare, high-quality works in Sanskrit in the twentieth century." The Radha-Krishna and Sita - Rama pairs represent two different personality sets, two perspectives on dharma and lifestyles, both cherished in the way of life called Hinduism . Sita is traditionally wedded: the dedicated and virtuous wife of Rama, an introspective temperate paragon of a serious, virtuous man. Radha
12096-484: The visible matra and an invisible baseline). There is yet to be a uniform standard collating sequence (sorting order of graphemes to be used in dictionaries, indices, computer sorting programs, etc.) of Bengali graphemes. Experts in both Bangladesh and India are currently working towards a common solution for this problem. Throughout history, there have been instances of the Bengali language being written in different scripts, though these employments were never popular on
12208-435: The vocabulary may differ according to the speaker's religion: Muslims are more likely to use words of Persian and Arabic origin, along with more words naturally derived from Sanskrit ( tadbhava ), whereas Hindus are more likely to use tatsama (words directly borrowed from Sanskrit). For example: The phonemic inventory of standard Bengali consists of 29 consonants and 7 vowels, as well as 7 nasalised vowels . The inventory
12320-520: The work of Kaviranjan ( chhoto Vidyapati ), Kavishekhar, Radhaballabh Das, Ghanashyam Das and Ramgopal Das; and were followed in the 18th century by Vaisnavadas, Chandrashekhar, Radhamohan Thakur ( padAmr^tasamudra ), Narahari Chakravarty ( gItachandroday ), Yadunandan and others. Many of the original texts are lost (some may never have been composed, as the songs came down in the kirtan tradition). The later anthology pAdakalpataru collects about 3000 Vaishnava lyrics by 150 poets. The subject matter of
12432-470: Was deeply impressed by the works of Govindadas, and wrote many Vaishnava and Baul pieces. His opera Bhanusingher Padavali was composed in the Brajabuli language and included the song Sundari Radhe Awe Bani written by Govindadas . Bengali language Bengali , also known by its endonym Bangla ( বাংলা , Bāṅlā , [ˈbaŋla] ), is a classical Indo-Aryan language from
12544-420: Was the object of the highest love of Krishna and being idealized as love, some of the agreeable feelings of the heart are considered her ornaments. In Narada Pancharatra Samhita , Radha is mentioned as the feminine form of Krishna. It is described that, the one single lord is represented to have become two—one a woman and the other a man. Krishna retained his form of man while the female form became Radha. Radha
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