First Staged 'Balmiki Pratibha' - Rabindranath As Balmiki

In the year 1881,
on this day,
Rabindranath's 'Balmiki Pratibha' staged for the first time at
Jorasanko Thakurbari in the presence of the then intellectuals of
Kolkata. Rabindranath himself played the lead role as Balmiki.
Pratibha - daughter of the poet's elder brother Hemendranath played as
Saraswati; Akshoy Chowdhury - the first robber and the other robbers
of the play depicted by Abanindranath and Arunendranath. The poet's
'Jyoti Dada' helped in the production. --
A. B.