Khirer Putul

Khirer Putul
Queen and monkey
AuthorAbanindranath Tagore
LanguageBengali
SubjectChildren's Literature
Published1896
Publication placeIndia

Khirer Putul or Kshirer Putul[1] (lit. 'Doll of Kheer') is a children's fantasy novel written by Abanindranath Tagore in 1896.[2][3][4] Khirer Putul is considered a masterpiece[5] and landmark by writers in Bengali language children's literature.[6] Khirer Putul is a simple and touching tale about the sugar doll, the fate of Duorani and a tricky and extraordinary monkey.[7] Aadi Brahmosamaj press first published this book. Later on, it was translated into other languages.[8]

Plot

The king of Deepnagar had two queens, Suo Rani and Duo Rani. The king gave Suo Rani 7 palaces, 700 female slaves, best ornaments from 7 kingdoms, 7 gardens, 7 chariots. He neglected Duo Rani and gave her a broken home, a deaf and dumb maid, torn clothes and a dirty bed.[9][10][11][12]

Translations

The work has been translated into several languages:

Development

Abanindranath who was Rabindranath Tagore's nephew found this story in Rabindranath's wife Mrinalini Devi's diary after her death. The novel is based on the story written in her diary.[20][21] The illustrations were done by Abanindranath Tagore.[22]

Analysis

Tale type

According to scholar Sanjay Sircar, the story can be classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale type ATU 459, "The Make-Believe Son (Daughter)",[23][24][25] a tale type "widespread throughout North India and other Asian areas, but never found in Europe".[26] Similarly, German scholar Ulrich Marzolph listed four Iranian variants of the same type, which he named Der Prinz verliebt sich in eine Puppe ("The Prince falls in love with a Doll").[27]

Variants

In a tale collected by Sunity Devi, Maharani of Coochbehar, with the title The Monkey, a Maharajah has two Maharanis, the elder good and the younger jealous of the attention their husband dotes on her, so she threatens to leave him or to kill herself if the elder Maharani is still in the palace. Reluctantly, the king moves the elder out to another house outside the kingdom, and he keeps visiting her. One day, the king goes on a journey and asks his co-wives which presents he can bring them: the younger wants emeralds and rubies, while the elder one wants nothing at first. After much insistence from her husband, she asks for a simple request, a monkey. He travels afar and buys the jewels, but remembers on the last day about the monkey and mentions it aloud. Suddenly, he sees a monkey on a branch and orders some soldiers to capture it, but the animal comes down from a branch and walks towards the monarch. The Maharajah takes the monkey and returns home, then gifts the two ranis their respective gifts. The elder Maharani explains that, since she has no child, the monkey can fill that absence. The younger Maharani believes that the monkey would serve to further cause people to dislike her rival, but the monkey does the opposite: the elder Maharani treats the animal like a son and sends messages through him to the Maharajah, who begins to like the monkey, even more so after he learns the monkey can speak. In time, the young Maharani has a son, which hurts the monkey's feelings, since he wishes his mother could have the same happiness. Thus, he meets the king and lies that the elder Maharani also had a son, but the king cannot see him yet. When the king performs the Atkaora festival for the real son's eight day after his birth, the monkey wants to have the same festival done to his "younger brother", so the king gifts the monkey lavish gifts. The monkey also requests money from the Majarajah, which greatly troubles the elder queen if the king discovers their ruse. Years later, the young Maharani's son is old enough and a wedding is arranged for him. The monkey goes to another kingdom on behalf of the Maharajah and arranges a wedding between a princess and the elder Maharani's false son, by saying he is a handsome prince. The animal returns to the elder Maharani's palace and explains she will have a daughter-in-law very soon, but the queen says she has not even a son, so she worries the monkey is acting against her best interest, since the king may learn of everything being a lie and order to be beheaded. The monkey assuages her fears by saying she is the elder queen and should have her proper position, then asks her to fetch milk, cook it into khir and fashion a doll out of it. The young Maharani's son marries an ugly and unclever bride, and people mock him and his mother for it. The monkey comes in the Maharajah's quarters and says his other son, the elder queen's, should have also a wedding feast, but the king wishes to see his son. The monkey, however, tells the king that the prince will appear with his bride in due time. A palki is brought to the elder queen's palace, and only the monkey and the queen arrange the finished khir doll inside the palki, dressed with a red silk costume, and see the doll off as the marriage retinue and the musicians depart with the false prince. On the road, the retinue stops to rest, including the monkey. A cat appears, enters the palki and eats the khir effigy. The monkey wakes up, chastises the cat and orders for the doll back, but the feline cannot return it. However, the cat offers a deal: he can give the monkey a boy from his goddess (since the tale explains cats are the "carriers" of deity Shashthi, who brings children to Earth). The feline takes the moneky to a cave full of living boys of many ages, and the monkey chooses one of the children to replace the missing khir doll. The youth marries the princess the monkey arranged for him in a grand ceremony. Meanwhile, the elder Maharani worries about the monkey and regrets that she requested for one. The Maharajah waits for his son's retinue, but suspects something strange after only the servants return from the other kingdom. The bride and bridegroom arrive some days later in a gold mahapaya. The king rejoices that he can see his "son" for the first time bringing home a beautiful daughter-in-law. The elder Maharani worries that the king will discover the ruse and kill her, but the monkey bids her come to the courtyard to see her son. The elder Maharani finally meets her son. The Maharajah banishes the younger queen and her son, and names the elder Maharani's son as his rightful heir.[28]

Adaptations

The story was adapted into a film of the same name by Indian writer and director Purnendu Pattrea in 1976.[29] Khirer Putul, an Indian television soap opera based on the novel aired on Zee Bangla in 2020.[30]

It was also adapted into a play by the Indian theatre group Nandikar in 2017, with Anindita Chakraborty as its director.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gangopadhyay, Gargi (2013). ""Our Motherland": Mapping an Identity in Bengali Children's Literature". In Kit Kelen; Bjorn Sundmark (eds.). The Nation in Children's Literature: Nations of Childhood. Children's Literature and Culture. Routledge. pp. 139-160 [144]. ISBN 9781136248948.
  2. ^ Children's literature of Bengal. Academy for Documentation & Research on Children's Literature, 1978. 1978.
  3. ^ Khirer Putul (with Cd). Ananda Publishers Pvt. Limited. ISBN 9788177564990.
  4. ^ Goswami, Supriya (2015). Colonial India in Children’s Literature. Routledge. p. 141. ISBN 9781138889217.
  5. ^ The Modern Review, Volumes 91-92. Prabasi Press Private, Limited. 1952.
  6. ^ Khirer Putul(Bangla): Bengali eBook, Children Classic. Pathok Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 30 July 2014. ISBN 9788192979809.
  7. ^ Tagore, Abanindranath. "Khirer Putul". The Pitara. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  8. ^ ঠাকুর, অবনীন্দ্রনাথ (August 2014). ক্ষীরের পুতুল / Khirer Putul (Bengali): Bengali Children's classic storie. editionNEXT.com.
  9. ^ Bardhan, Kalpana, ed. (2010). The Oxford India anthology of Bengali literature. Vol. 1: 1861-1941. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 129–150.
  10. ^ Mitra, Bansari (2002). The Renovation of Folk Tales by Five Modern Bengali writers. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 38.
  11. ^ S., Na. (1949). "Kshirer Putul". In Amaresh Datta (ed.). Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature. Vol. 3. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 2160.
  12. ^ Ghosh, Pika (2020). Making Kantha, Making Home: Women at Work in Colonial Bengal. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 24.
  13. ^ La Poupée de fromage ("Khirère poutoul"). Préface de Selma Lagerlöf. Bois dessinés et gravés par Andrée Karpelès. Éditions Ophrys. 1950.
  14. ^ Tagore, Abranindranath (1 January 1984). La poupée de fromage. Bibliothèque internationale) (in French). Paris: Fernand Nathan.
  15. ^ Ostdockan: en bengalisk saga. K[oop.] F[örb.]:s Bokförl. 1949.
  16. ^ "OSTDOCKAN: EN BENGALISK SAGA". biblio.com/.
  17. ^ Sircar, Sanjay. Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, ‘The Make-Believe Prince’ – Gaganendranath Tagore, ‘Toddy-Cat the Bold’. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2018. pp. 89-151.
  18. ^ Tagore, Abindranath (1946). Caramel Doll. Translated by Bishnu and Pranati Day. Bombay: Kutub.
  19. ^ Bardhan, Kalpana, ed. (2010). The Oxford India anthology of Bengali literature. Vol. 1: 1861-1941. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 129–150.
  20. ^ S., Na. (1949). "Kshirer Putul". In Amaresh Datta (ed.). Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature. Vol. 3. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 2160.
  21. ^ Rabindranath Tagore: Puffin Lives. Penguin UK. 15 May 2013. ISBN 9788184759914.
  22. ^ Ahuja, M. L. (18 December 2012). Eminent Indians: Ten Great Artists. Rupa Publications. ISBN 9788129127501.
  23. ^ Zipes, Jack (2020). "Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance ed. by Sanjay Sircar (review)". Marvels & Tales. 34 (1): 121–122. Project MUSE 766045.
  24. ^ Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 155-156.
  25. ^ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2011). The International Index. Vol. 1: Tales of Magic. Folklore Fellows’ Communications. Kalevala Society Foundation. p. 269. ISBN 978-951-41-1054-2. ISSN 0014-5815.
  26. ^ Flora, Giuseppe (February 2021). "Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, 'The Make-Believe Prince' – Gaganendranath Tagore, 'Toddy-Cat the Bold' . Sanjay Sircar". International Research in Children's Literature. 14 (1): 123–125. doi:10.3366/ircl.2021.0388. S2CID 234091187.
  27. ^ Marzolph, Ulrich. Typologie des persischen Volksmärchens. Beirut: Orient-Inst. der Deutschen Morgenländischen Ges.; Wiesbaden: Steiner [in Komm.], 1984. pp. 93-94.
  28. ^ Devi, Sunity, Maharani of Coochbehar. Indian Fairy Tales. Calcutta: Art Press, 1923. pp. 21-32.
  29. ^ Indian Cinema. Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 1979. p. 66.
  30. ^ "Khirer Putul". ZEE5.
  31. ^ "National Theatre Festival 2017". nandikar.net. 16 December 2017.
Bibliography
  • S., Na. (1949). "Kshirer Putul". In Amaresh Datta (ed.). Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature. Vol. 3. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 2160.
  • Sircar, Sanjay. Fantasy Fictions from the Bengal Renaissance: Abanindranath Tagore, ‘The Make-Believe Prince’ – Gaganendranath Tagore, ‘Toddy-Cat the Bold’. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Further reading

  • Sircar, Sanjay (1995). "A MÄRCHEN AND A KUNSTMÄRCHEN FROM BENGAL: 'PRINCESS KALAVATI' AND ABANINDRANATH TAGORE'S THE CONDENSED-MILK DOLL (1896)". Journal of South Asian Literature. 30 (1/2): 212–52. JSTOR 40873586. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
  • Sircar, Sanjay (1998). "Shashthi's Land: Folk Nursery Rhyme in Abanindranath Tagore's 'The Condensed-Milk Doll'". Asian Folklore Studies. 57 (1): 25–49. doi:10.2307/1178995. JSTOR 1178995. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
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