Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
OF HERALDIC DEVICES FROM TOLKEIN
Tolkien went to great depths, in all of his works to improve
the finer details of his world. To make his world “believable”, he created near
perfect languages, inscriptions, runes. He
made maps of the realms, he had created. According to him, believability is one
of the key features in all tales - fantasy or not, a key element which most
writers miss.
Tolkien was a professor and a writer. But he could also
sketch, a talent dwarfed by his writing-skills. He himself dismissed many
illustrators who had come up with their own versions of his texts. He himself
has left many sketches of his tales.
In his Middle-earth saga, he has written about hundreds of
cities and realms in all of Arda. And for many realms he told about, he made
special banners/flags, in other words heraldic devices, for them.
This is a descriptive (and exhaustive) list of the realms
whose heraldic devices he has drawn:
House of Finrod Felagund: Elves under the rule of
Finrod. From “The Silmarillion”. Eldest son of Finarfin, of Alqualonde. One of the high-kings of the Noldor. Ruler of
the secret realm of Nargothrond. He gave his life for an oath to protect Beren.
Valinor: The realm of the Valar. Valar were the
angelic beings sent by Eru (God) to look after Arda. Also known as the Undying
lands, this is the place where all immortal beings (Elves) arrive after their
“death” in Arda. Only exceptions being the mortals Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins
and Samwise Gamgee. The banner describes the two trees of Valinor, one of the
most central concepts of The Sil and LotR.
House of Gil-galad: Elves under the rule of
Gil-galad. From “The Silmarillion” and “The Lord of the Rings”. He was the last
high-king of the Noldor Elves. He was of the house of Finwe. He played a
crucial role in the Last alliance, the battle which led to the first defeat of
Sauron.
Numenor: Also called Westernesse. It was a realm
established on a huge island separated from Middle-earth. Known as the greatest
realm of the Men ever established. A rebellion against the valar lead to the
downfall of Numenor, which is accounted in “The Silamrillion” in “Akallabeth”.
The faithful Numenoreans established the later realms in Middle-earth, such as
Gondor and Anrnor.
House of Elwe: Elwe Singollo, later named Thingol was
the King of Doriath, High-King of the Sindar and Lord of Beleriand. He gave
rise to the Teleri, the “dark” Elves who did not see the land of Valinor
House of Galadriel: Queen of the woods of Lothlorien
. Galadriel was one of the three chief forces of light in The Lord of the
Rings, along with Gandalf and Aragorn. She is also the carrier of one of the
three Rings, Nenya.
Dol Amroth: One of the Principal cities of Gondor
along the coast, in the Third Age. Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth is a key figure
in The Return of the King. The banner depicts a ship in the form of a great
swan.
Mordor: Lies
in the eastern part of Middle-earth. Sauron, the Lord of Mordor, is the chief
antagonist and the titular character of The Lord of the Rings. The flag depicts
the Red eye of Sauron.
House of Cirdan: Lord of the Falas ( east of the Grey Havens) during
much of the First age. Also the chief
Shipwright. He was the bearer of one of the three Elven rings, but he gave it
to Gandalf the Grey.
The Shire: Located in Eriador, west of Middle-earth.
The hobbits live in The Shire. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit begin
in The Shire, “the land of the little-people.”
Fangorn: Fangorn, also called Treebeard was the most
ancient creature in Middle-earth. He was the chief of a race of tree-shepherds
called Ents. The forest
of Fangorn
House of Finwe: First High-King of Noldor to lead his
people into Valinor. Also, the father of the three principal characters of The
Sil: Feanor, Fingolfin and Finarfin.
House of Feanor: One of the main characters of The
Silmarillion. Son of Finwe, he was the most gifted in craftsmanship of all the
Elves. He made the three jewels ,the Silmarils. And he bequeathed the terrible
oath of Feanor upon his sons. Two elements around which the whole of Quenta
Silmarillion revolves.
House of Elrond: A key figure in The Lord of the
Rings, he is one of the three Elven ring-bearers. He also took part in the
battle of the last alliance. The realm of Elrond was in the secret valley of Imladris
Isengard: Saruman was the head of the Istari, angelic
beings who took care of the proceedings in Middle-earth. He turned evil driven
bu his lust for the One Ring. He is the secondary antagonist of The Lord of the
Rings. He is the Lord of Isengard, and resides in the tower of Orthanc
Minas Morgul: Once a part of Gondor and named Minas Ithil (Meaning Tower
Gondor: One of the greatest kingdoms of men in
Middle-earth during the second and third age. An important location in The Lord
of the Rings. The white tree of Gondor, a symbol of the power of the King of
Gondor, is described in the banner beneath 7 stars, describing the seven levels
of Minas Tirith (the chief city of Gondor ).
Rohan: North of Gondor. Another chief location from
The Lord of the Rings. The men of Rohan were simple folk who loved the freedom
of open plains. Hence, their cities were small and much of the land were green
open prairies.
The horses bred in Rohan were the best and all of the
soldiers were horse-riders. It is also known as the land of the horse-masters.
Stewards of Gondor: In the third age, the line of Gondorian kings
was broken when the King strode off to avenge one of his enemies. He gave his
staff to his steward, to rule until he returns. But the King never returned.
The stewards looked after the kingdom in the absence of the King, and hence the
house of steward was established.
Haradrim: One
of the chief allies of Mordor, in The Lord of the Rings. The Haradrim were
evil-men who were the sworn-enemies of the realm of Gondor. They rode giant
Mumakils (or oliphaunts in the common speech) in wars. The Black Serpent is
their symbol.
Angbad: Morgoth was the Lord of Angbad. The original
Dark Lord, whose lieutenant was Sauron. He was the Enemy, the greatest threat
to Middle-earth there ever was. He sat in his iron fortress of Thangorodrim, in
Angbad in northern part of Middle-earth. His banner is black, because darkness
is his symbol.
Easterlings: The land of the easterlings is to the
east, above Mordor. They are allies of Sauron. Men, corrupted by him.
Durin’s Folk: The only banner Tolkien ever drew for
the dwarves. Durin, also known as Durin the Deathless was one of the fathers of
the Naugrim, elvish for the stone-folk, referring to the dwarves.
House
of Fingolfin: One
of the chief characters of the Silmarillion. Fingolfin was one of the mightiest
Elves of the Noldor. He ruled the north-west part of Middle-earth; Hithlum
House of Luthien: Luthien was the daughter of
Thingol, the King of the Sindar. She is described as the fairest of all beings
ever to be born. The Lay of Lithien, a central saga of Tolkien’s legendarium,
describes how she and Beren were able to capture one of the Silmarils from
Morgoth’s crown.
House of Thranduil: Thranduil was the King of the
wood-elves, that dwelt in Mirkwood. He is the father of Legolas Greenleaf, who
has prominent role in The Lord of the Rings.
Such exhaustive heraldic devices conceived and played through various literary creations, leave the fans stunned by the sheer majesty of the work.
Friday, March 22, 2013
THE SILMARILLION
THE
SILMARILLION
The Analysis. The Approach.
What
is "The Silmarillion"?
The Silmarillion is a collection
of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works,
edited and published posthumously
by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay.
The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R. Tolkien's other works, forms an
extensive, though incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Eä in which are found the lands of Valinor,
Beleriand, Númenor, and Middle-earth within which The Hobbit and The Lord of
the Rings take place.
The
significance of The Silmarillion
Often referred to as "the
Sil" by Tolkien-fans, it is one of the many influential works
of high-fantasy literature by the
Professor. Many hard-core JRRT fans consider it to
be his greatest work, better than
his most popular "The Lord of the Rings" and "the Hobbit". Tolkien
himself considered the Silmarillion to be his most important work, with The
Lord of the Rings being acting as a conclusion to the whole Middle-earth saga.The
Sil is basically a creation myth and serves as a base for all the events taking
place in other works like LOTR and The Hobbit. The Silmarillion covers lore of
over six thousands years of Elven, Dwarvish, Nuemenorian, and Middle-earth
history. Reading The Silmarillion is a bit more like doing anthropological or historical
research. Want to know what is Middle-earth? Curious who and from where the
Wizards came? Why are elves immortal while the men or dwarves are not? What are
Balrogs? Who is Sauron? How orc came into Middle-earth?
If you are curious about all such
things, then The Sil is the book for you.
If not, you should walk away.
How is
The Sil different from LotR or The Hobbit?
First of all, it should be noted,
that The Silmarillion is NOT a novel. It's a history or mythology or perhaps a
mix of both. It has no particular protagonist you can stick out with for the
whole. If you read it you would get the feeling of reading very minutely
detailed Celtic mythologies. And that's what makes Sil so special. It is a
source of enjoyment for the interested Tolkien fans even without having a
well-outlined plot.
Secondly, The Sil is a much denser
read than LotR or (of course) the Hobbit. The language and style are very much
related to archived histories of the 12-13th century. That is one of the main
reasons why it has not reached the same level of popularity as the other two
For non-English speaking folks,
it could definitely be boring, especially those who go for findinga sequel of
LotR. The Sil is NOT a sequel of LotR. It is just the starting point of
Tolkien's whole Middle-earth legendarium.
Thirdly, many events and
descriptions could be seen as been highly exaggerated. But we have to keep in
mind that all mythologies of all the cultures in the whole world are
exaggerated results of legends.
While reading Sil, think of it
like this way:
Try to imagine that you are in
Middle-earth and you are one of the elves or men, or dwarves or hobbits. Think that you are reading the history of the
world you belong to. i.e. You are one of the free peoples of Middle-earth and
you are reading it's history. That very much is the perspective from which The
Sil has been written. And the pleasure of reading it increases several folds by
this.
A Brief
Synopsys of The Silmarillion
The Sil has been divided mainly
into five sections:
Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta
Silmarillion, Akkalabeth and Third Age; in chronological order.
Ainulindalë: It tells of
how Eru Illuvatar (God) created the land called Ea (earth) with the help of the
songs of the Ainur (angels). One of the Ainur (Melkor) gets corrupted by his
arrogance and becomes what can be called the antagonist of the Sil (for most
part).
Valaquenta: The Ainur are
sent by Eru to Ea to shape all things on earth. These Ainur are called Vala.
Valaquenta introduces all the Valar, their spouses and the Maia (helpers of the
Valar) alongwith their special characteristics
and abilities.
Quenta Silmarillion: Forms
the main bulk of the book. It deals with the coming of various races like elves, dwarves, men and orcs on
Valinor (land of the Valar) and Middle-earth. The main account follows the
creation of the Silamrils, the most precious jewels on Ea, crafted by the
greatest craftsmen of the elves, Feanor and the struggle to take them back from
Melkor (later named Morgoth, who stole them). It also contains the story of
Beren and Luthien, which was produced concisely as a beautiful song in LotR. It
culminates after the destruction of Melkor.
Akallabêth: It deals with
the events surrounding the land
of Numenor
Of the Rings of power and
Third Age: This is a crucial part linking to The Lord of the Rings. It goes
into much detail about the making of the great Rings and Sauron's passing into
the shadow world, as well as the origins of the Nazguls. It is a great account
of the history of the One Ring till Isildur's
death.
How to
Approach The Sil?
A) Always remember that this work
is a history, and NOT a novel. Names, places, events, etc. tend to appear quite
often, and it's very easy to get as lost as Thorin and company in Mirkwood. Attempting
to skim the book is a very bad idea. Instead, read at a relatively slow pace
(and NEVER when you are feeling
sleepy).
B)Take notes as you read. This
doesn't mean the kind of notes that you'd make for a test in collegel, but
rather important names that you want to keep straight or remember. Perhaps you
might make a chart or a list of the Valar, or your own "tree" to keep
the various branches of Elves straight.
C) In one of the volumes of The
History Of The Lord Of The Rings, Christopher Tolkien explains that his father
worked on the manuscript of The Lord Of The Rings in "waves",
constantly going back a few chapters and rewriting. This is a technique
that I've found works well, especially with
remembering exactly which Elf is the son of another Elf, or which Vala did what. This technique
works I think, because like a history book each chapter builds material for the
consequent chapter.
D) Having a comprehensive map of
Ea never hurts, but it is not a necessity.
Influences
The Silmarillion is a complex
work exhibiting the influence of many sources. A major influence was the
Finnish epic Kalevala, especially the tale of Kullervo. Influence from Greek
mythology is also apparent. The island
of Númenor
Greek mythology also colours the
Valar, who borrow many attributes from the Olympian gods. The Valar, like the
Olympians, live in the world, but on a high mountain, separated from
mortals;But the correspondences are only approximate; the Valar also contain
elements of Norse mythology.
Several of the Valar have characteristics
resembling various Aesir, the gods of Asgard. Thor, for example, physically the
strongest of the gods, can be seen both in Oromë, who fights the monsters of
Melkor, and in Tulkas, the physically strongest of the Valar.[28] Manwë, the
head of the Valar, exhibits some similarities to Odin, the
"All-father". Tolkien also said that he saw the Maia Olórin (Gandalf) as an "Odinic
wanderer".
Influence of the Bible and
traditional Christian narrative are seen in The Silmarillion in the conflict
between Melkor and Eru Ilúvatar, a parallel of the polarity of Lucifer and God.
Further, The Silmarillion tells of the creation and fall of the Elves, as
Genesis tells of the creation and fall of Man. As with all of Tolkien's works, The
Silmarillion allows room for later Christian history, and one version of
Tolkien's drafts even has Finrod, a character in The Silmarillion, speculating
on the necessity of Eru's (God's) eventual Incarnation to save humankind. Medieval Christian cosmology shows
its influence especially in the account of the creation of the universe as the
manifestation of a sort of song sung by God with which the angels harmonize
until the fallen angel introduces discord. St. Augustine 's writings on music, as well as
the extensive medieval tradition of the divine harmony—more familiar to us
today in the notion of the "music of the spheres"—served as bases for
this telling of creation.
Celtic mythology show its
influence in the exile of the Noldorin Elves, for example,
that borrow elements from the story of Irish
legends of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Welsh influence is seen in the
Elvish language Sindarin, that Tolkien gave "a
linguistic character very like
(though not identical with) British-Welsh ... because
it seems to fit the rather
'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".
Sunday, December 16, 2012
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman ( Bilbo Baggins )
Gandalf (
Sir Ian Mckellen )
Thorin ( Richard Armitage )
Gollum ( Andy Serkis )
Ken Stott (
Balin )
Graham
Mctavish ( Dwalin)
James
Nesbitt ( Bofur )
Aidan Turner
( Kili )
Ian Holm (
old Bilbo Baggins )
It was exactly 11 years ago, when one of the greatest
fantasies of all time was brought on the big screen by someone named Peter
Jackson. The LOTR series not only went on to become one of the greatest
blockbusters ever but also took Jackson
to the pinnacle of success.
11 years since, nothing has changed. The Hobbit: An
unexpected journey faced many obstacles before finally hitting the screen
on 14th December. Starting with director issues, lawsuits and
opposition from animal right activists to the controversial high frame rates
and finally the decision to split up the 300 page book into 3 movies.
All these controversies added to the negative reviews that
came out initially. Most of these complained especially the HFR and the length
of the film.
I viewed the film in 3D 24 fps format and hence cannot
comment on the HFR. But one thing is definite that the film is never boring (in
fact it’s quite the opposite).
Bilbo Baggins is a traditional hobbit with a distaste for
‘unexpectedness’. On the persistence of Gandalf the wizard, he is whisked off
into a quest to reclaim the lost realm of Dwarves, Erebor. What follows is an
extraordinary quest full of wolves, goblins, elves and the infamous Gollum. The
fight, flight and respite formula introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring
is highly effective here. The film also expands our knowledge of Middle-earth.
The Shire and Rivendell are shown in much more detail than in LOTR.
Jackson’s ‘God’s eye view’ camera spanning the spectacular
landscapes of New Zealand, mesmerizing performances by Freeman ( Bilbo),
Mckellen(Gandalf), Serkis (Gollum) and Armitage (Thorin); and the right amount
of humour ( which prevents the movie from being a bit shabby) culminates into a
worthy prelude to LOTR.
Serkis is truly at his best and provides the best of Gollum.
If this performance still doesn’t fetch him an Oscar, then Oscars should be
disqualified.
Though with 169 minutes of running time (shorter than all of
LOTR films) it covers the exact grandeur of LOTR and it left me wanting for
more. The Hobbit is more true to it’s source than LOTR, and that can never be
bad ( Some critics have even mentioned their disgust for the movie to be ‘
too true to Tolkien’s book!)
Overall, Jackson ’s
latest adventure to Middle-earth is as good ( if not better ) than it’s
predecessors. I was doubtful about the movie’s pace before, but considering
what Jackson
has done with only a few chapters of The Hobbit and a lot still to come,
the future of The Hobbit series should get even better. It is sad that the next
film will arrive almost a year later, and then I will be waiting, hungry for
more!
DIRECTION: ****
Director Peter Jackson has mixed the correct proportion of
magic, humour and CGI, though some battle sequences need not be in slo-mo.
STORY: *****
Tolkien’s book is regarded as a classic tale. The material
added by writers Jackson, Boyens, Walsh and del Toro only enhances the effect.
However most of the dwarves lack character development ( which I presume will
improve in the following films).
ACTING *****
Richard Armitage brings
majesty and pride to Thorin Oakenshield. But the greatest performance of
all is given by Andy Serkis. Gollum never looked this much better in LOTR.
Here, we see a more “innocent” Gollum. The scene of the riddles is definitely
the best of the movie.
ANIMATION: ***1/2
The hobbit is full of visual effects and CGI animations. I
must agree that Gollum’s look has much improved. However, Jackson ’s decision to create CGI orcs may
backfire. None of the orcs here ( except for Azog and the Goblin King ) are
significant compared to the orcs in LOTR trilogy ( which were actually men in
make-up and not CGI). However other animations, like the wargs, the trolls or
the Necromancer are really wonderful.
SOUNDTRACK: ***
CINEMATOGRAPHY: ****
The camera crew have done a wonderful job covering the
mountains and plains of the Middle-earth we imagined. This film contains more
‘God’s view’ scenes than it’s
predecessors.
OVERALL: ****1/2
VERDICT:
The Hobbit is an enchanting adventure providing a lot for
believers as well as non-believers. It is a must for fantasy-film lovers.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Durga Puja - An unique global festival of art ,culture and literature
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| The Pandal - the four-day abode of Mother Durga and her siblings |
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| Taj Mahal in the street |
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| Harry Potter's Wizardy School |
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| A temple and a peep at the idols from a distance |
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| Looks like an ancient temple but it's a 4-day make shift art work |
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| All roads lead to Mohammad Ali park - a popular north-Kolkata puja |
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| The giant Ox-head symbolising the Devil Mahisasura |
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| An enchanting but painstakingly made interior of a pandal-I |
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| An enchanting but painstakingly made interior of a pandal-II |
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| A Buddhist Monastery - the home for Hindu Goddess |
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| The famous art of Dhunuchi Dance - a fire dance before the idols in a dancing style (with the beats of Dhak and Kasor - not in the picture) |
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| An usual late evening cultural show |
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| Puja offerings - fruits are cut into pieces |
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| A classical dance show in the evening - part of Puja entertainment for free |
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| Audience at a cultural evening |
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| Devotees just not always inside the pandal to show reverence to Goddess but also to admire the work of art scattered everywhere - someone picking up snap for posterity. |
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| The pandal-hoppers at rush hours in night |
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| Idols are ferried by porters into the transport van |
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| The potters colony and the idols in the making |
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| The two dhaki( drummers) and a kashor-player at the centre playing in front of a pandal gate. |
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| Eyes are getting painted by the potters |
I don’t know why the Writers and the Publishers galore
and they become one of the focal points in the gala Durga Puja festival spread over five days of beautiful Autumn! I also fail to find logic why atheists in
hordes come down to see the Mother power and stealthily offer a silent quick
prayer.
The
Mother Goddess and her siblings, folklore descend from Himalayas, stay in
mythic paternal home amidst the glitter of fantastic newly worn street
lightings; loudspeakers at every street corner blare popular songs; and the
food stalls with new enthusiast teenage sellers out to earn a few quick bucks and
a goodwill for well cooked popular hot jhal Alu-doom with accompanying Luchi
, Ghugni served in sal leave, or Biriyani with Kasha-Mansa.
Organiser’s booth just always adjacent to the mandap and the occupiers busy in
talks as they keep a watch on the crowd that is moving and turn into a sea as
midnight approaches. A few moving toy pheriwalas – the foot hawkers – one of them sending out intermittent
queer sound by squeezing the skins of full
blown balloons and an equally teasing shrill low voice call like a shark’s “b
aaaaaaaa looooon” and a noiseless pause and again on a little higher B
pitch“bbbbbbbbloonn”. Parents having a trying time to manage parse (somewhat
full with Puja Bonuses) amidst so much provocations around to lose money,
letting the kids forget hygiene and indulge in the forbidden greed of a foodie
that Bengalis are known for. The city of six millions come down on the streets and
move from one pandal to another – admire the crafts of artisans who silently
worked for three months to a week( depending on Puja Budget) and put up
unbelievable show of great art – Themes pandals..
While
thousands of artisans across toil to put up fantasy Taj Mahal, a Gwalior Fort
or a Dakhineshwar Kali temple, another hundreds and their family of clay
artists, give up daily routines to complete the earthen idols. Organizers come
down on the eleventh hour with big trucks and tens of helpers and hordes of
cheer leaders to pick up the holy idols, now complete with color, ornaments and
wearing and weapons.
While
the land of kash phools blooms – the flowers announce the arrival of Sarat kal
– the Autumn as the drummers:Dhaki and accompanying Kasor cross miles and hit
the city streets and organizers gather
for a demo and picking up the best at a bargain. Dhang Kur Kur ! Dhang Kur Kur!
The beats of the drums and book lovers spread across the globe eagerly put the
slippers on for enquiring the arrival of Puja Collections – some call it
Sarodiya Collection hinting its arrival with beautiful Autumn nature in its
splendour in rural Bengal . Late poet
Jibanananda Das’s immortal lines – If I ever return, I wish to live here again
in the rural Bengal ….that’s the theme so dear
to all writers who are rooted to their earth.
As
the Mahishasurmardini day – the beginning of Pitri Tarpan -revivrates with the
ancient Sanskrit slokas of “Yea Devi Sakti rupeno Sansthita Namastashay
Namastashay Namastashay Namay NomoHo” ,
the writers smile , the publishers smile and the editors go on a long sleep and
a vacation - the months of maddening follow up, keeping up with deadlines of
first proof, the editor’s scissor cuts, and tackling the request from hundreds
of fans who want to be author as well.
In this madness of joy and euphoria, here I present a thorough net-searched few facts about
publications - that hit the stand a few days before the Puja and each family
decide for a choice of Puja Publication.These are my Puja Freebies to WritersOwnHome members. A puja that all communities and all religions participate so spontaneously while the book stalls spring up - some set up by the Communists ( 150 stalls in Kolkata alone) who dont believe in the existence of God and yet again stalls set up by the religious sects like Bharat Sevashrarm, Ramakrishna Mission et cetra who draw religious inspiration from Shakti puja and mother Goddess. Wish you all my sincere wish for a happy and prosperious Durga Puja festival.
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| The famous pandal at College Square - reflection in the adjacent lake and the lighting make it look real. |
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| Another pandal - a different look |
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| Ak-chala - a traditional style of single frame idol placement - a happy family and mother - the protector |
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| Modern style of idol making - each idol stand and present a different story |
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| Theme Idols - look like standing inside an alien's living room and hailing from another planet |
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| A Puja theme on a wall |
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| A different style |
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| The gorgeous ornaments |
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| The Indian celebrity film artist is serving big round sweet meat Golabjamun to the guests in the family Durga Puja in Mumbai |
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| Famous Bangla Music Band: Bhoomi hops and trotes from one city to another |
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| Puja brings new Music CD releases |
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| The procession of people from all walks of life as they approach near the famous and popular Puja mandaps |
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| And finally - the spare time for an adda and the reading of new stories and poems in special Puja publications that hit the stand |
First, some of
the Bengali Online Magazines, many of whose Puja Special Issues one can read online and it is FREE!Some are Bi-lingual and can be enjoyed by a wider audience.Writers Golden Door is Open Here.Write a good article - a short story, a poem , an essay or even a novel. These are stepping stone of getting networked with writers, publishers.
http://www.parabaas.com/ [ one of the oldest mag ]
www.maadhukari.com/ [ bi-monthly ]
www.papyrus.sonartoree.com
http://sonartoree.blogspot.in/ [ interesting cover ]
http://www.kalimatirjhurogalpo.blogspot.in/
[ Jamshedpur old mag now hugely popular]
http://www.sonajhuri.com
http://www.kobitaogaan.com
http://www.shatorupa.com/
http://home.bascweb.org/ [ English – A Puja Organising Committeee in USA]
http://www.batj.org/Anjali.htm
[ Yearly Tokyo Puja Magazine in Bengali, English, Hindi, Japanese by Puja Organising Association]
http://www.washingtonbanglaradio.com [ Online Mag Section ]
http://www.syandanpatrika.com/ [ Agartala.]
http://in.asmania.org/
http://calcuttans.com/palki/ [ Bengali-English bilingual ]
http://www.ichchhamoti.org/ [ Children’s ]
http://coffeehouseradda.in/
http://diyala.kochiknacha.com/ [ Children’s ]
http://krishnokolee.blogspot.in/
http://www.bengalisinhyderabad.com/kolaj.htm [ Kolaj - Hyderabad's first Bengali magazine ]
http://www.kolkatabengalinfo.com/2012/04/chhelebela-bengali-magazine-online.html [ Chelebela - Online Subscription ]
http://tofudi.com/read/MTI4Njc3NA==/ [ mag KheyaTori ]
http://bengaliatbhopal.blogspot.in/2011/07/joydhak-online-bengali-magazine.html [Joydhak mag ]
www.kaurab.com[ a trend setter and huge fan following ]
www.kallol.com/ [ popular ]
www.banglabiswa.org/doc/BOB-Magazine.pdf [ United States ]
http://www.freewebs.com/khananer_ayojan/
www.littlemag.com/ghosts/antaradevsen5.html
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/puja-sonkhya/
http://www.calcuttayellowpages.com/adver/108702about-anustup.html [anustup mag ]
http://www.kobitaarkalimati.blogspot.in/ [ jamshedpur ]
www.boimela.in/ [ online Card payment]
www.boipara.com [ online booking ]
And the last but not the least - Ogrobeej [ A multi-continental hugely popular subscription based Bengali publication ]
Kolkata Book Fair Little Magazines List 2012 - many of them bring out Durga Puja Special issues. Here is the list.
Here are some of the Bengali hugely popular big scale
magazines busy with Puja Editions - A devotee thinks the puja incomplete without managing to get at least one publication at home.
Anandabazar
Anandomela
( Children’s)
Desh
Suktara
( Children’s)
Prasad
Nobokallol
Nonte-Phonte(
Children’s)
Sananda
Also can check
http://www.bengalspider.com/resources/5459-Sahitya-Bhabna-Attractive-small-Bengali.aspx [Sahitya Bhabna from Asansol ]
A few words about the various little magazines and not so little magazines who are still sticking out their head to announce - We Are Not Dead. Here is a small peek into the world that often is known through words of mouth than big time ads. [ The reference of the details below is from wikipedia ]
# Kabita Campus, New Poetry has begun to gain immense acclaim from the young contemporary poets of Bengal. In 2003 some poets of this genre have started a journal named Natun Kabita . Another new age poetry magazine in the same sphere is Boikhoribhashya..
# Little Magazine Library and Research Centre at Tamer Lane, Kolkata - keep record of any Little Magazine published around the world in Bengali. The publisher has to submit there a copy.
§
Aadorer Nauka-Bengali little magazine
§
Baundule-Bengali little magazine
§
Aikya-Quarterly Bengali Literary and Cultural Magazine
§
Amritalok-An influential
Bengali Literary and Cultural Magazine, Station Road
- Crimson Feet Magazine - Bimonthly journal for writers and poets
from the Indian sub-continent.
- Duende - Bengali little
magazine.
- Guruchandali - Bengali e-zine
- Graffiti - A Bengali little
magazine that repeatedly promoted hungrialist movement & literature as
well as postmodern literary movement, Graffiti has contributed a remarkable part
of it in the field of translation & transcreation literature.
- Haowa 49 - Quarterly Bengali Magazine of changing poetry and
literary theories.
- Joydhak - Quarterly Bengali
Magazine for children- www.joydhak.com
§
Kaurab -
Perhaps the most influential of the contemporary Bengali little magazines with
both online and print editions. www.kaurab.com
§
Kledaja Kusum - an exceptional
poetry magazine of West Bengal ,10/1 S.B.Roychowdhury Rd.
§
Kavya Bharati - An
annual journal, The Study Centre for Indian Literature in English and
Translation .- www.scilet.in
- Kritya- A bilingual journal of international poetry.-
www.kritya.in
- Maadhukari - Online Bengali
literary magazine
- Natun Kabita - The Bengali little
magazine promoting the 'Notun Kobita' or new poetry movement, newest
literay movement in Bengali
- Nabamanab - Bi-monthly Bengali
little magazine edited by Enamul
Kabir.
- Abosardanga - A contemporary
Bengali Little magazine gaining immense popularity
- Parabaas - a Bengali literary
e-zine
- Patrika - Online Bengali
literary magazine
- Pratishedhak - A new little magazine run by a young group of new-age
writers in Kolkata
- Purwai - London-based quarterly magazine on Indian languages
- Somoyer Shobdo - Kolkata-based Bengali little magazine dedicated to
fostering new talents. Edited by Argha Roy and Kumaraditya Sarkar
- The Brown Critique - Literary quarterly
for Indian writings in English.
- The Journal of The Poetry Society (
- The Little Magazine - English literary
magazine
- Ultodurbin - Tetra-monthly Bengali little magazine from
- Utsab - Bengali literary magazine
- Kledaja kusum - Quarterly Bengali
poetry magazine.http://www.kledajakusum.in
- Vapra - Bengali little
magazine....
- Resurrection - Bengali little
magazine....
- Purba (ISSN 2229 6344) - a
literary and cultural magagine, started publishing from 2005 from
Medinipur of west
- Jachhetai-Bengali
little magazine.Chinsurah.9339649976,9051329312
- The
Postcard—Bengali little magazine
Quarterly Bangladesh
Keep Reading , Keep Thinking, Keep Writing, Keep Reviewing Others' Writing. :))
Copy right @Siddharth M 2012
Copy right @Siddharth M 2012
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