GUWAHATI, March 9 � The prestigious Ramanath Bhattacharya Foundation literary awards for 2014 in memory of Padmanath Vidyabinod and Ramnath Biswas would be given to Assamese poet Bhaben Barua and Bengali poet Shyamalkanti Das of Kolkata respectively. This was announced at a press meet held at the Guwahati Press Club here on Sunday by the general secretary of the Foundation, Shyamashis Bhattacharya. Both the awards carry a cash prize of Rs 51,000, a citation, a memento and a specially-designed muga scarf.
Bhattacharya, who is a Mumbai-based Hindi TV serial producer, said the awards would be presented to Barua and Das at a function to be held on March 14 at the Vivekananda Kendra auditorium here, where the Pandit Padmanath Vidyabinod Memorial Lecture and the Bhuparjatak (globetrotter) Ramnath Biswas Memorial Lecture will also be delivered by the editor of Dainik Janasadharan Dr Sivanath Barman and D Sudhangshu Shekhar Mukhopadhyay of Kolkata respectively. A souvenir, to be published on the occasion, will be released by poet Toshaprobha Kalita.
He said, the decision of the Foundation to award literary prizes to an Assamese poet and a Bengali poet in memory of the illustrious ancestors of Foundation�s trustee president Ramanath Bhattacharya, was announced five years ago. Awards for the year 2010 were presented to Assamese poet Ajit Barua and Bengali poet Bijit Kumar Bhattacharya on March 13, 2011. The awards for the year 2011 were presented to Assamese poet Hiren Bhattacharya and Bengali poet Pabitra Mukhopadhyay on March 25, 2012. The awards for 2012 were presented to Assamese poet Nilamoni Phukan and Bengali poet Tarun Sanyal on March 17, 2013. The awards for the year 2013 were presented to Assamese poet Hirendra Nath Dutta and Bengali poet Swapan Sengupta on March 9, 2014.
Giving a brief note on Padmanath (1868-1938) and Ramnath (1894-1955), in whose names the two awards would be given, the general secretary of the Foundation said that both of them were born in Baniachang under Habiganj subdivision in the Sylhet district of undivided Assam.
While Padmanath had a bright educational career, who spent major parts of his active life as a professor in the Cotton College and was actively associated with literature and historical research of Assam with his pioneering research work titled Kamarupashasanavali, was instrumental in the establishment of the Assam Research Society and was also one of the founder-members of the Asam Sahitya Sabha.
Ramnath was actively associated with the Indian freedom struggle as a member of the famous Anushilan Samiti and later travelled to four continents on a bicycle, which earned him the title of Bhuparjatak (globetrotter). Ramnath had written over 30 travelogues depicting his vast
