Weaving Rajputana and Bengal Together
Date: 24 August 2025
Time: 12:00 – 2:00 PM
Venue: KCC, 4th Floor
Recommended Age: 10+ | Free and Open to all
Abanindranath Tagore’s Rajkahini (1909) is a stirring collection of Rajput legends—adapted for Bengali readers to celebrate courage, sacrifice, and Swadeshi nationalist sentiment. Through heroic tales like that of Rani Padmini, Tagore fused Bengal’s literary imagination with the valour of Rajasthan.
Kolkata Centre for Creativity invites you to Weaving Rajputana and Bengal: Reimagining Abanindranath Tagore’s Rajkahini—a performative evening combining theatre and puppetry. Rangroop Theatre and Doll’s Theatre will bring Rani Padmini’s tale to life, framed by a short talk from Dr. Chaiti Mitra, one of the directors of ACGAL and an associate professor of English, who will explore Rajkahini as a cultural bridge across regions.
This event is a celebration of shared heritage through art, storytelling, and performance. Join us for a journey across time, landscape, and narrative.
ABOUT THE TEXT
Abanindranath Tagore’s Rajkahini (1909) is a creative adaptation of Colonel James Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829-1832). Tagore adapted several accounts of Rajput legends described in this imperialist historical account for his Bengali readers, especially children, introducing them to the valour, sacrifice, and honour codes of Rajput kings and queens, as he embedded them within the cultural consciousness of Bengal. However, Rajkahini is not merely a children’s book that narrates Rajput tales of bravery and sacrifice in Bengali language and idiom, but a text with a definite nationalist agenda: that of valourizing Indian history to build nationalist sentiment during the Swadeshi movement. Rajkahini also stands as an enduring cultural document that forges a deep connection between Bengal and Rajasthan, bearing testimony as to how literature can transcend regional boundaries, fostering a shared national identity while celebrating local histories.
