Ethnicity Bengali Parents Bansidas Bhattacharya Role Poet Name Chandravati Chandravati | Religion Hinduism Occupation Poet | |
Born 1550 Mymensingh, Bengal (now in Bangladesh) Died 1600, Mymensingh, Bangladesh | ||
Chandravati (Bengali: চন্দ্রাবতী) was a medieval Bengali poet, widely considered as the first woman poet of Bengali language. She is best known for her women-centered epic Ramayana.
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Early life
Chandravati was born to Dij-Banshidas Bhattacharya, in circa. 1550 CE in the village of Patuyari, on the banks of the Fulesshori river in Kishoreganj which is currently located in Dhaka division of Bangladesh. Bansidas was a composer of Manasa's ballads known as Manasar Bhasaner Gan. According to Sambaru Chandra Mohanta, he was one of the composers of Manasamangal.
Literary works
Chandravati was the first woman from the Indian subcontinent to compose the Ramayana in Bengali. She narrated the Ramayana from Sita's point of view and criticized Rama. Chandravati is a highly individual rendition as a tale told from a woman's point of view which, instead of celebrating masculine heroism, laments the suffering of women caught in the play of male ego. She however couldn't finish her work.