Trailokyanath Sanyal
| Trailokyanath Sanyal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1848 Nabadwip |
| Died | 1915 Kolkata |
| Occupation | Musician |
Trailokyanath Sanyal (Bengali: ত্রৈলোক্যনাথ সান্যাল) (also spelt Trailokya Nath Sanyal) was one of the Brahmo missionaries, who assisted in combining the ideals of traditional Vaishnavism with those of Brahmo Samaj. Through hundreds of devotional songs which he created, he developed Brahma Sangit, devotional songs of Brahmo Samaj, as an art form. Rabindranath Tagore later brought this musical art to perfection and popularised it in Bengal. Sanyal’s songs are till this day sung extensively with prayers of the Brahmo Samaj. He used to set his songs not only to classical tunes but also to a folk tune like Bhatiali and popular Ramprasadi.
The son of Ramnidhi Sanyal, the family belonged to Chakpanchanan in Nabadwip. He joined to Brahmo Samaj under the influence of Vijay Krishna Goswami and Aghore Nath Gupta in 1867. Those were turbulent days in the Brahmo Samaj. Keshub Chunder Sen and the progressives had formed the Brahmo Samaj of India in 1866.
On 24 January 1868, Keshub Chunder Sen, laid the foundation stone of his mandir (temple). On that day, he introduced the Vaishnava mode of propagation, namely a singing procession through the streets, called nagar sankirtan. Early in the morning before the glorious sunbeams had scarcely pierced through the dewy vestures of the retreating night, people in the streets heard the voice of the new band of singers. In the hymn composed for the occasion by Trailokyanath Sanyal, they sang:
As the young reformers marched towards the site of the contemplated mandir, enthusiastically singing characteristic hymn, many thousands of citizens of all classes flocked to the streets, through which the former passed, to witness the new Brahmo street procession. The hymn and its manner of singing deeply impressed them.
Protap Chunder Mozoomdar has added, “Keshub held his nagar sankirtan with great flags inscribed with theistic mottoes… Vaishnava kirtans had degenerated into mobbish assemblies and it required great moral courage and deep religious compulsion to be able to borrow and reform them.”
...
Wikipedia