Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was an important person in Indian printing technology. He started the Bengali childrens magazine Sandesh in 1913 and worked on it until he died in 1915. He was the editor and illustrator of Sandesh magazine. Made most of the content for Sandesh magazine.
The picture shown here is from one of Ray's books called "Chheleder Ramayana". This book was first printed in 1897. When Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury first made the pictures for this book using wood blocks they did not turn out well. Ray took the story of Valmiki Ramayana and made it shorter by picking the most important parts. He made the story fun for kids to read and included some parts. The story has six parts, which're like small books. You can find the Chheleder Ramayana" book by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, on the Internet Archives website
The story of Rama and Ravana makes up the central conflict in the Hindu epic Ramayana, and it symbolises the victory of the good (dharma) over evil. Rama, prince of Ayodhya, goes into exile, and his wife gets abducted by the devil king of Lanka, Ravana. Rama defeats Ravana in a war, saves Sita, and returns to get his kingdom back. In this story, Rama embodies virtue, duty, and justice, while Ravana represents supreme intelligence destroyed by arrogance and ego. Before this book, children usually encountered the Ramayana through oral traditions or complex religious texts. Upendrakishoreās version essentially "democratized" the epic for the younger generation, making it a staple of Bengali households for over a century.
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By: Sesil Kavrak
Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhuryās is considered to be a pioneering figure in the field of modern printing in India. His version of the Ramayana is a captivating retelling of the Indian epic, which was adapted especially for the young readers. It is written in accessible language, and presents the adventures of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman while retaining the moral and cultural significance of the original narrative. The story highlights themes of duty, loyalty, courage, righteousness and the triumph of good over evil. It is an illustrated version which combined with the engaging storytelling was aimed at making the epic easier to understand without losing its sense of wonder and tradition.
