A 93-yr-old academy to give new life to poetic gems

Hindustan Academy to compile works of two noted saint poets in a book form

PRAYAGRAJ: The 93-year-old Hindustani Academy of Sangam city has initiated a project wherein some rare manuscripts, related to noted saint poets will be published in a book form.

Ranging between 300 to 350 years old, the printed version of these manuscripts will be edited by Uday Pratap Singh, chairman of the academy and Uday Shankar Dubey, recipient of the Tulsi Award of the academy.

The poets whose manuscripts would be published in a book form include Bhikha Saheb of Satnami Panth (sect) belonging to Bhurkura (a village in Jakhanian tehsil of Ghazipur district) and Bhomik Saheb of Lakhimpur district.

Bhurkura in Ghazipur is the place closely associated with Bhikha Saheb who was born in 1791 in Azamgarh and was a disciple of Saint Gulal Saheb. He has a special place in ‘Nirgun’ literature. His compositions include, Ram Kundaliya, Kavitta, Rekhta, Ram Shabad and Sakhi (forms of poetry).

“The text of the manuscripts talks of a society which is above religious and caste divide, a beautiful world where love and sacrifice is the basis of all the relations among humans”, said the chairman of the academy.

He said the author used handmade ink on handmade paper, using various colours.

“The Doha (couplet) is written in black while ‘Chaupai’ (quat

rain) is written in golden colour”, said Singh.

The sect of saint tradition has had many branches in the 15th century India. In it, Bhikha Saheb was associated with the Bawri sect. He also has a ‘tapasthali’ at Bhurkura in Ghazipur.

“We are fortunate that some of the masterpieces written on handmade papers and conserved to date, were given by the Math of Lakhimpur Kheri to Hindustani Academy years back”, said Singh.

The manuscripts associated with the Apa Panth from Lakhimpur are 350 years old. Apa Saheb Nirgun was an important poet saint of devotional literature. Their emergence is believed to be in the late 17th century.

Apa used to write in the name of Munidas.

P The text of the manuscripts talks of a society which is above religious and caste divide

CHAIRMAN OF THE ACADEMY

According to Uday Pratap Singh, the manuscripts will be published in five volumes, each having around 250-300 pages. These manuscripts are in Devanagari and Kaithi script. The work of translating and combining the texts mentioned in these manuscripts has started and would take around two years to get completed.