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Bharatendu Harishchandra

Indian writer and poet (1850–1885)

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Writing under the pen name "Rasa", Harishchandra explored themes that portrayed the struggles of the Indian people. His works addressed issues such as poverty, dependency, British tyranny, middle-class unrest, and need for societal progress. Harishchandra opposed the conventional orthodoxy of the time and the manipulations of religious leaders. He is described by some as an influential Hindu traditionalist who used Vaishnava devotion to define a coherent Hindu religion.

Biography

Bharatendu Harishchandra was born in Benaras into a wealthy Bania family. His father Girdhar Das was a poet and both his parents died when he was young. His ancestors were landlords in Bengal. An important event in Harishchandra's life was hiss journey at the age of 15 to the Jagannath temple with his family in 1865, described by Acharya Ramchandra Shukla. According to records, during this trip, he was deeply moved by the Bengal Renaissance and decided to translate social, historical, and Puranic plays and novels into Hindi. This decision was reflected in his Hindi translation of the Bengali drama Vidyasundar, three years later, in 1868.

By age 17, Harishchandra was already known for his literary talents. Harishchandra edited the magazines Kavi Vachan Sudha, Harishchandra Magazine, and Bala Bodhini. He wrote under the pseudonym Girdhar Das. He was titled "Bharatendu" ("The moon of India") at a public meeting by scholars of Kashi in 1880 in recognition of his services as a writer, patron, and modernizer. Ram Vilas Sharma refers to the "great literary awakening ushered in under Bharatendu's leadership" as the "second story of the edifice of renascent Hindi", the first being the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Harishchandra was married and had one daughter.

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