Nationality British India Name Ganapati Chakraborty Religion Hinduism | Occupation Magician Ethnicity Bengali Hindu Died November 20, 1939 | |
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Born 1858 Serampore, Bengal, British India Known for Pioneer of modern magic in Bengal Similar Kuda Bux, Ishamuddin Khan, Gopinath Muthukad, | ||
Ganapati Chakraborty (Bengali: গণপতি চক্রবর্তী) (1858 - 20 November 1939) was an magician from Kolkata known for his mesmerizing tricks. He is considered to be the pioneer of modern magic in Bengal. He was the mentor of P. C. Sorcar and K Lal.
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Early life
Ganapati was born in a zamindar family in the village of Chhatra near Serampore in Hooghly district. In his childhood, he was not interested in studies. He was rather interested in singing and music. At the age of 17 or 18, he left his home for the company or Hindu monks in order to learn esoteric knowledge and supernatural healing techniques. He also came in touch with one or two magicians.
Career
Ganapati began his career at the Great Bengal Circus as comedian where he became famous through his fun tricks. Soon he began to show magic tricks. His two acts "Illusion Box" and "Illusion Tree" mesmerized the audience. During his 1908 Singapore tour with Professor Bose's Circus, his tricks with the cards and his vanishing act proved to be successful. He developed his famous trick "Kangsha Karagar". The audience believed that he was endowed with supernatural powers. He earned the accolade of the best performer in Professor Bose's Circus. He was a man of short temper and unruly speech. Because of this nature, his colleagues bestowed upon him the sobriquet - Durbasa Muni.
Later on, he left Professor Bose's Circus and formed his own circus company with few performers from the former. He toured all over India with his own circus and earned lot of fame and money.
Later life
In his later life, Ganapati built a house and a temple in Baranagar near Kolkata. His spent the rest of his life in spiritual pursuit. He penned in book in Bengali titled 'যাদুবিদ্যা'. He decided to donate this property to Sri Bhupendra Nath Roy Chowdhury